Pokemon Emerald: Legends in Hoenn
by devilrose87
Summary: A fanfic based mostly on the game Pokemon Emerald and revolves around an original character named Alex, May, and many other familiar and original characters. Rated T for the odd PG13ish stuff that pops up every now and then.
1. Prologue: The Legend Begins

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Note: Revised prologue. Same story but hopefully easier to read and more descriptive.**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Prologue:**

**The Legend Begins**

Melany Stone carefully read over the inscriptions with her flashlight, yet her hand was shaking with excitement. Melany was only 10, but like most 10 year olds in the world of pokemon, she was already having adventures of her own. Her adventures were different from most though. Any other child her age would probably either be home or getting their first pokemon and starting on a journey to try to become the Pokemon Champion. Not Melany though.

Melany was the daughter of the presidetn of Devon Inc., as well as Steven Stone's little sister. She wasn't really interested in pokemon, however, not in the same way as a trainer would be. She was wearing the stereotype archeologist outfit, a beige colored shirt and shorts with many pockets and a similarly colored hardhat. She was one of the most famous archaeologists in the world not only because she was the youngest, but because she had made many discoveries, including the discovery that Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn were all one region at one point millions of years ago.

Melany was usually not alone on her expeditions, of course, and today was no exception. Two other archaeologists were also with her. The first was Maxie, an young red-headed man who was interested mostly in Groudon, and the other was Archie, another young man with a beard and wore a blue bandana under his hardhat and was interested mostly in Kyogre. Melany had invited these two archaeologists in particular because of their studies concerning those two pokemon, although she found them difficult to get along with at times and the two of them almost seemed to be bitter rivals.

The three of them had managed to piece together pieces of rubble that had fallen from the wall of the temple they were in near Meteor Falls. An ancient story seemed to be played out in pictures on the wall, but there was also ancient texts along with it to better tell the story. Included with the ancient writings was what seemed to be an alphabet of some sort, which Melany had already managed to decode and was now writing down the message written in the stone on a piece of paper, as Maxie and Archie watched intently.

_The origin of the two titans, Kaiorga of Water and Groudon of Land, is unknown. When they appeared, they soon began fighting, their overwhelming power threatening to destroy the three tribes of Hoenn, Kanto, and Johto. The leaders of these tribes, however, put aside their differences and united in an attempt to end their battle, each holding a gem that had been fused with their own powerful spirits, as well as powerful magic._

_The leader of the Hoenn tribe, holding the Emerald, summoned forth Rekkuza of the Sky. Rekkuza's power weakened the two titans, who then had their own powers trapped inside the other gems. Groudon's power to raise mountains and intensify the sun's rays had been completely sealed in the Kanto leader's Ruby, while Kaiorga's power to create oceans and summon storms had been sealed in the Johto leader's Sapphire. _

_Their powers completely drained, the two titans reverted to a stone-like state. Rekkuza of the Sky placed the statues far from each other in hopes that they may never awaken unless provoked. The statue of Groudon was placed inside a volcano, while Kaiorga was placed in a deep ocean cave. The Sky Tower was built in honour of Rekkuza's feat, where he now rests. _

_The Ruby and Sapphire, which contained the full powers of Groudon and Kaiorga, were placed atop the highest mountain peak so that they may never be used to awaken the two titans. The Emerald is also said to have been hidden, but its location is unknown. To future generations who may read this, heed our warning: Disturb not the sleep of Groudon and Kaiorga._

"Interesting..." Maxie said aloud, a smirk on his face. "So the key to awakening Groudon is the Ruby, now all I have to do is find where the 'highest mountain peak' would be..."

"Not a chance, Maxie!" Archie shouted angrily. "I will find the Sapphire first and awaken Kyogre, and using the Sapphire containing his powers he will be completely under my control!"

"You two can't be serious..." Melany said in disbelief. "Don't you realize what might happen if you awaken them? This warning is here for a reason!" Maxie chuckled.

"It matters not...as long as I have the Ruby, Groudon will be under my control." Maxie said as he turned to leave.

"I will create an organization dedicated to expanding the land mass to aide in finding the Ruby... You should not worry so much, Mss Stone, as you have been a great help in creating a better future for Hoenn in which there will be more than enough land for everyone to live on. Until then, farewell." Maxie said before leaving the temple.

"Not if I have anything to say about it Maxie..." Archie said through gritted teeth. "I will create my own organization and resurrect Kyogre first! I'll create more water for water pokemon and for fishing! And then you'll be sorry!" Archie then took off towards the exit as well, leaving Melany behind.

"Wait! You two don't know what your doing!" Melany called out, but neither of them paid any attention and soon Melany heard the sound of their helicopters taking off outside.

"They're...they're going to awaken those two legendary pokemon...and its all my fault...I never should have brought them here...I knew something wasn't right about them...but why this...why me?" Melany collapsed against the wall and sunk to the floor, sobbing.

"There has to be something I can do...but what? There's no way the authorities will believe me over them...and by the time they do it will be too late...what can I do...?"

Archie and Maxie spent the next two years putting their organizations together, but neither had yet accurately pinpointed the location of the gems. However, they were getting closer...


	2. Chapter 1: New Journeys

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter One:**

**New Journeys**

"Melany Stone, daughter of the president of Devon Inc., has been reported missing after having not been seen out of her home for almost two years. The famous archaeologist..."

Alex suddenly lost interest in the tv in the pokecenter. He would have changed the channel, but there were other people watching it. _"People go missing everyday..."_, Alex thought to himself.

_"Why should it matter if some rich brat disappears anymore than if an average citizen disappears? Oh right, because stories like that get better ratings for the media..."_

Alex was an average looking 12 year old boy, just getting ready to start out as a pokemon trainer. He had just recently gotten his trainers card, and was currently in the Petalburg Pokemon Center on his way to Littleroot to receive his first pokemon. He was older than most beginner trainers, as he had no real interest in pokemon. He decided to study a bit though, more than most other trainers, and prepared some special equipment. Although he appeared average, short brown hair, brown eyes, and a slightly athletic looking build, he was fairly smart. He already had a pokedex, and downloaded information on all known species of pokemon. He was wearing a brown vest over a green shirt, pair of blue jeans, and a pair of running shoes. He had a belt strapped around his waist that had hooks for 6 pokeballs, his custom pokenav/pokedex on the opposite side, and a brown backpack for holding his items.

Alex wasn't in the pokecenter to get his pokemon healed, mainly because he had none. He was taking a short break in Petalburg after spending a week getting through the Petalburg Woods. He was lucky getting through the woods, since there weren't many pokemon that could bother him in the woods and he stayed in the open by jumping down the high ledges. He determined from looking at a map that he should be able to get through to Oldale with little to no trouble and then from Oldale to Littleroot. He was actually fairly lucky, because if he ran into a wild pokemon he was stuck fending for himself.

Alex left the pokemon center and started on his way out of the city. However, on his way out of the city he happened to hear something from one of the alleys, sounded like a fight.

He looked down the alley and saw 3 teenagers picking on a green haired kid. Alex decided to check it out. The three teenagers had the kid cornered into a wall, and were taking turns throwing punches at him. They didn't notice Alex enter the alley though.

"L-leave...me...a-a-lone..." the boy begged them. "Not a chance, Wood! Since your leaving soon we need to pound you extra!" The bully speaking threw another punch into the kid's chest. Alex could tell he was in a lot of pain. "Hey! Leave him alone!" he yelled to them.

The three of them turned to face him, "Want to try to stop us!" Alex backed away, holding his hands up as if surrendering. "N-now lets not do anything rash boys...I-I just don't think you should be picking on him!" The three of them sneered and started to move towards Alex, "I think you should join your little friend here then!" The one doing all the talking threw a punch at Alex, but as the bully made his assault, Alex's expression suddenly changed to that of a more determined one.

Alex moved to the side slightly, the bully's fist just inches from his face. Alex wasn't overly strong, but he knew these three would have a hard time landing a hit on him. Or dodging his own hits. Before the bully even had time to register what happened, Alex brought his fist up, connecting with the boy's chin, knocking him back slightly. "You're going to pay for that you little pest!" "Try me..." The bully backed up slightly, then charged at him. Alex quickly dropped to the ground, and shot his elbow into the boy's knee as he ran toward's him, causing him to fall over and miss Alex completely, and smashing his face off the ground. Alex turned to the other two, "Wanna try your luck? Your both what? 3? 4 years older than me? Shouldn't be too hard for you to take down a kid right? ...But I suppose your buddy's been thinking the same thing."

The two looked at each other, then ran by Alex and out of the alley. The one Alex had been fighting soon got up and followed behind them, and Alex could have sworn he heard him crying. He quickly turned his attention to the kid, "You ok?" The boy slowly stood up. Alex could tell he was hurt, but nothing serious. "Y-yeah...I'm fine...thanks..." "Don't mention it. I can't stand bullies. Name's Alex, by the way." "I'm...I'm Wally." Alex nodded, "Do they pick on you often?" Wally nodded slowly. "Have you told the police? Or your parents?" "N-no...they'd just beat me up more...I'm moving in a few days anyway..." "You should learn to stand up for yourself...if you don't deal with your problems, they'll just get worse. Its a lesson I learned the hard way. " Wally looked at him, "Your strong though..." Alex laughed, "Strong? Naw! I am quick though, and bullies often aren't used to being bullied back. They only go after whoever they think would be easy...anyway I have to go, I'm supposed to be heading to Littleroot to get my first pokemon. You should probably head home."

Wally suddenly looked nervous, "N-no! They'll be waiting for me! I wish I had a pokemon...then they wouldn't pick on me..." Alex sighed, and looked back the way he came, _"I really need to get to Littleroot..but..."_, he thought, then looked back at Wally. "Tell you what, I'll walk you to your place. Those three are probably afraid of me at this point." "R-really? But...why would you help me?" "...Why should I need a reason to help someone? There's nothing to be gained from letting others suffer. Now come on." Wally nodded, and started to walk out of the alley and towards his home, Alex following behind him and keeping an eye out for those three. He doubted they'd try anything out in the open though, especially with him there. He knew he hurt them very little physically, but he might as well have smashed their pride with a sledge hammer.

Wally soon stopped at a house near the other end of town, opposite the exit that'd lead Alex to Oldale. "This is my place...thanks for your help." "Anytime. Good luck on the whole moving thing by the way. Maybe you'll manage to get your own pokemon someday. Anyway, I really have to get going. See ya!" "Bye...and thanks again..." Alex turned and began walking back toward the other side of the city, where the exit to the route that leads to Oldale is. On his way he passed by the city's gym. Alex looked over the sign in front of the gym, it read, "Leader: Norman Maple." Alex thought to himself, _"Despite this being the first gym I'll run across in my journey, it'll actually be the fifth I'll have to face as I recall. I hear this Norman guy is pretty good though..."_ Alex quickly ran toward the city's exit, he had lost time to make up for.

Lucky for him, though, it was a relatively short distance from Petalburg to Littleroot. He planned to make a quick stop in Oldale though.

Meanwhile...

A 10 year old girl was riding in the back of a moving truck. She had short brown hair, but it went down to her shoulders on each side of her head, almost like a pair of drooping bunny ears. She was wearing a green bandana that she was almost never seen without, a red top with a white pokeball on the right side of it, a pair of black shorts and red shoes. She was May Maple, daughter of Norman Maple. As to why she was riding in the back of a moving truck...she was asking herself the same thing.

_"This was a stupid idea, mom...I swear these boxes are all going to fall on me if we hit another..."_, her thoughts were interrupted as the moving truck hit a bump causing the boxes to shift around her. One of the boxes stacked above her looked like it was just about ready to fall on her, so she moved to the other end of the truck, sighing. _"We better get there soon...and I am never doing anything like this again..."_.

The truck finally came to a stop, the boxes shifting around some more as the truck's brakes were applied. Shortly after stopping, the back of the truck was opened and May eagerly made her way out of the truck. As soon as she got out, her mother came out of their new home to greet her. The house didn't look like anything overly fancy, in fact the town seemed fairly small and the only building she saw worth noting was the pokemon lab, the only one in Hoenn. In addition to studying pokemon there, it was also where you went to get your first pokemon. May was actually contemplating getting one, since she was old enough to become a trainer now.

"Oh hi honey! You must be exhausted from riding in the back of that truck!" her mother exclaimed. May's mother was a tall woman with brown hair, wearing a yellow dress. May sighed, "Thats one way of putting it...never doing that again..." "Isn't this town wonderful? Its quiet...peaceful...and not that far from Petalburg either! Why don't you come inside and check out our new home?" May's mother seemed to be ecstatic about moving here, but she herself wasn't overly excited. The town actually seemed kinda boring to her.

She followed her mother into the house, and couldn't believe what she was seeing. There were a pair of vigoroth moving furniture around her house! "Umm mom...do you really think Vigoroth should be trusted to do all this?" Vigoroth was a white, ape/sloth-like pokemon with long claws on its hands and a lot of energy. Vigoroth didn't seem like a very intelligent pokemon to May though, and didn't see anyone giving them instructions...

"They're doing all the work of moving everything into the house for us! Aren't pokemon movers convenient?" May's mother seemed to be in a state of pure bliss over everything and didn't seem to care about the Vigoroth. May wasn't half as excited as she was. "Oh May, you get your own room too! Your father bought you a new clock, it should be on the wall in your room but its not set. You should go set it." her mother continued. May decided it'd be best to just go along with whatever her mother said at this point, there was just no way for her to get through to her mother when she was like this.

"Sure, mom." May went up the stairs and easily found her bedroom. It didn't seem to be anything special, but all her stuff was already there, including her computer. She decided to turn it on and make sure everything was ok on it. When she checked out the item storage feature though, she found there was a potion stored. "Huh? When did I put that there..." She double clicked on the potion, and suddenly a potion formed on a device next to her computer. She shrugged, "Oh well, maybe I'll have a use for it soon enough..." She then opened her dresser and pulled out a large green belt pouch, that was actually more like a backpack worn about her waist. She put it on, with the pouch part of it behind her. The belt also had clips for a pokenav, pokedex, and 6 pokeballs in front, but she never had a need for them yet.

She finally decided to set the clock hanging on the wall. Looking at her watch, she carefully set the clock to 10:35 AM. Her mother came into her room shortly after, "Oh good everything is put away neatly! Did you make sure everything was on your desk, dear?" May looked over at the desk her computer was on, "Yeah...everything's there..." "Oh! Good! You should go introduce yourself to the neighbours then!" Her mother then left the room and went back downstairs. May followed shortly, thinking to herself, _"This is going to be one hectic day I can see it now..."_.

As May finally reached the bottom of the stairs, her mother called out to her yet again. "Oh honey! Hurry! They're showing Petalburg Gym on the news!" May quickly made her way over to the TV just in time to hear, "We bring you this news from outside Petalburg Gym." May's mother sighed, "I think your father was on, but we must have missed him..." "Oh, too bad." May replied, then left the house to look around town.

In Oldale Town...

"Mr. Norman, is it true that there have been talks of the Hoenn League getting involved in the disappearance of miss Melany Stone?" "I have heard no such talks, myself. But with criminal groups using pokemon around, the possibility is there." "Thank you, Norman. We bring you this news from outside Petalburg Gym." Alex rolled his eyes, yet another announcement about this Melany person. "If they're so damn worried about her why aren't they looking for her? Damn media..." he said, mostly to himself. But his comments did not go unnoticed.

"You seem to be quite interested in this...situation..." Alex looked over towards the source of the voice, and saw an older man wearing a brown overcoat. "...And you are?" The man grinned, "Detective Dirk. I've taken it upon myself to investigate this disappearance...and you are?" "...Alex. Wouldn't it make more sense to be searching in...say...Rustboro? Since, ya know, she lived there and all...?" "Why search Rustboro? I think I've found the best clue right here..." _"...He doesn't honestly think..."_ Alex's began thinking to himself, "I believe you may have something to do with this! Yes, your actions are very suspicious indeed..."_ "...What a dork." _Alex thought to himself, not amused by this "detective" in the slightest. "I'll be keeping my eye on you...Alex...don't leave town." With that, the detective left the Oldale Pokemon Center.

_"Don't leave town huh? Just try to stop me... Bah. I can see this guy is going to really become a nusiance in my travels. He suspects me! Just because I'm not interested in hearing the media talk about her!_ Alex's thoughts were apparently being made more public than he thought, "Don't let that detective bother you. He accuses everyone of everything. Everyone just considers him a nusiance." the nurse behind the desk piped up. "I don't plan to. If he even tries to get in my way...I'll see what it takes to knock him down a few notches."

Alex left the pokecenter and made his way toward the town's southern exit. It was a fairly small town, and thankfully he could see no sign of Detective Dork. He left the town, heading south toward Littleroot. He didn't get far, however, before he heard someone yelling. He ran off to see what it was...

Back in Littleroot...

"Oh! So your our new neighbour May Maple! Welcome to the neighbourhood, May!" "Thanks." May was visiting one of her neighbours, apparently it was Professor Birch's home. Or at least it was when he wasn't at the lab or doing field work. Which he was doing now. "We have a son around your age, May. He was excited to hear he'd be getting the chance to make a new friend. He should be upstairs." Mrs. Birch said. May nodded and went upstairs.

May entered a bedroom that seemed like it'd belong to the woman's son, but there was no one there. She noticed there was a pokeball on the floor though. _"I wonder if there's a pokemon in it...?"_, she thought to herself, _"Hmm...a qucik peek couldn't hurt!"_ she giggled and walked over to the pokeball. She was just about to pick it up when someone yelled from behind her, "HEY!" She turned to see a white haired boy about her age wearing a green headband, black t-shirt, a pair of long black shorts, and a pair of black shoes. "Who do you think you are!" "Oh uh...I'm your neighbour...May Maple..." "...Oh. So your the one who moved in next door. I figured you'd be a guy, since I heard a gym leader's kid was moving in next door." May twitched slightly hearing that, _"And just why does a gym leader's kid have to be a boy!"_ she thought to herself angrily.

She noticed him looking at the empty pokeball slots on her belt, "You don't have your own pokemon yet?" May shook her head. "Hmm...how about I go catch you one? ...Oh right I have to help my dad with some research...sorry. Maybe some other time." May nodded, "I'll leave you alone then." May left the Birch residence, and as she left she thought she heard someone yelling from the route north of Littleroot.

She made her way to the town exit, and this time she definitely heard someone yelling. She ran out of the town, and didn't have to go far before she saw a man running from a very angry looking racoon-like pokemon. The man quickly climbed up a tree...but seemed to forget that this pokemon could climb trees. He then noticed May, "Hey! You! Help!" "Huh? I can't! I don't have a pokemon!" "Look, in that basket over there! There should be three pokeballs! They have pokemon in them! Use one of those!"

May noticed the basket and ran over to it, and quickly grabbed a pokeball from it. She threw it near the racoon-like pokemon, and an orange chicken-like pokemon popped out. She remembered it as Torchic, one of the three starting pokemon. "Torchic! Use scratch!" The Torchic looked at May curiously, not used to taking orders, and leaped at the Zigzagoon that was climbing the tree, landing a scratch attack on its back. The Zigzagoon fell off the tree and ran off. May recalled the Torchic.

The man in the tree breathed a sigh of relief and jumped down, "Thanks...I was researching the wild pokemon around here when suddenly that Zigzagoon jumped out at me...by the way I don't remember seeing you around here before. My name's Professor Birch."

"I'm May Maple, I just moved to Littleroot." "Oh! Your May! A pleasure to meet you. I heard you don't have your own pokemon, but you seemed to handle yourself fine. How about I give you that Torchic you battled with?" May smiled brightly, "Really!" Professor Birch nodded, "Of course. I already know your a qualified trainer from talking with your father, and there's only one other trainer coming by that I know of anyway."

May was about to ask who the trainer was, when they heard someone yelling out in pain. May and Professor Birch went to investigate...and found the Zigzagoon from before latched on to Alex's arm, and Alex was trying to pull it off. "Let go already! My arm's not a chew toy!" May and Birch couldn't help but laugh at the scene, and Alex finally noticed them, "Its not fun...oh! Er...hello professor..." "Greetings Alex...having a little trouble I see?" Alex sighed, "I made it this far without any problems whatsoever and then this Zigzagoon comes out of nowhere and bites onto my arm...and refuses to let go."

The Zigzagoon then noticed Professor Birch and finally let go of Alex's and ran after Birch! May quickly released Torchic again, and the Zigzagoon stopped in its tracks. "Torchic, use scratch!" Torchic leapt at the Zigzagoon, delivering another scratch attack. This was more than it could handle, though, and the Zigzagoon collapsed. Torchic started jumping up and down happily at its victory. "Way to go Torchic! You showed that racoon!" May yelled.

"Your pretty good for someone just starting..." Alex commented. May smiled, "Thanks! My name's May Maple." "May Maple? As in...the daughter of Norman Maple?" May nodded. "...Your just getting your first pokemon though? I mean...you look like your older than I am. And I'm 12..." "Huh? I'm only 10..." Alex stared in disbelief. _"She's only 10...? Sheesh. Quite the figure for a 10 year old...and whats with her hair?"_ May noticed him staring, "What?" "Errr...nothing. Anyway, Professor, I'd like to get my starting pokemon now. If your not busy that is..." "Of course. Why don't we go back to my lab?" Alex and May nodded, and the three of them followed Birch back to his lab in Littleroot.

Once they got there, Professor Birch placed the pokeball containing Torchic in some device to restore its energy. Not that it used up much while fighting the Zigzagoon anyway, but he figured better safe than sorry. "Now, I'll need to see your training cards so I can put my stamp of approval on them." Professor Birch stated. May and Alex handed over their cards, and Birch stamped the corners of them with his personal marking, signifying that they had his approval and were given starting pokemon from his lab.

"Now, May, Torchic is yours. Alex, you can pick from the remainign two, which are Mudkip and Treecko. Do you know anything about either of them?" Alex nodded. "I've been studying. Mudkip is a water type, small blue pokemon with a fin on its head. Treecko is a grass type, green lizard-like pokemon. And I think I'll choose Treecko." "An excellent choice! Of course, all of my pokemon are good choices anyway. And I see you already have a pokedex." "Actually, its a pokenav. But I've made my own modifications to it. It has a built in pokedex, phone, as well as the standard functions of any pokenav." Birch smiled, "Ah, you seem to be quite well prepared for all this. You'll both make fine trainers I'm sure."

Birch took Torchic's pokeball from the machine and picked up Treecko's pokeball as well, handing them to their new trainers. "Hey Alex! Why don't we have a quick fight?" Alex shook his head, "As much as I'd like to...it wouldn't be much fun at this point. Our pokemon only know very basic attacks. Maybe if we meet up again we can battle then." May sighed, "Alright then..." "Hey May, why don't you go visit my son Brendan? I'm sure he'd like that." "Sure! Maybe I could battle him instead!" Professor Birch chuckled, "Well I don't see why not, but just to warn you he's been helping me with my research for a while so he's pretty good. You can find him on Route 102, its north of Oldale." "Alright! I'll meet him there for a battle before I start my journey then!"

May and Alex left the lab, and decided they'd travel together as far as Oldale since they were both going in that direction anyway. Alex didn't have any intention of making additional stops though, so they'd be going their separate ways once they reached Oldale. However, as they were passing through Route 101 on their way to Oldale, someone was watching them from the bushes...

"Hmm...there's that Alex character..." Detective Dirk muttered to himself. "And if my suspicions are correct, then it would seem that his next target is May Maple...the daughter of the Petalburg gym leader Norman." Dirk chuckled to himself. "Yes its all clear to me now! This 'Alex' works for some sort of underground child pornography ring! They use Alex to befriend unsuspecting girls...and then kidnap them! Well me and my Poochyena will put a stop to that right now!"

Alex stopped, "Did you hear that?" "Hear what?" "I thought I heard something moving through the bushes...could be a wild pokemon..." Alex reached for Treecko's pokeball, ready for a fight. "I think your being paranoid." Alex ignored her, and then suddenly out of the bushes jumped...Detective Dirk! "...Oh great. Its Detective Dork." "Thats Dirk, kid. And I'm on to you now! Don't worry Miss Maple, I'll protect you!" "...Protect me? From what?" "From him!" "...You honestly think I'm a criminal?" "I KNOW your a criminal now! Go, Poochyena!" Dirk threw the pokeball about halfway between him and Alex, and a black pokemon that looked like a cross between a dog and a hyena pup came out, growling.

"...If its a fight you want, its a fight you'll get. Go, Treecko!" Alex released Treecko from its pokeball for the first time, and it glanced around cautiously at its surroundings, its eyes resting on the Poochyena with a determined look on its face. Alex took out his pokenav and aimed it at the Poochyena to get an estimate of its strength. He knew Treecko was a level 5, and the Poochyena was level 6 apparently. Alex knew Poochyena were particularly weak, though, so he wasn't worried. No dumb detective was taking him in today.

"Treecko start off with a pound attack!" Treecko rushed toward the Poochyena, bashing it across the face with its tail. Poochyena already seemed like it was taking a serious pounding after the first attack. "Heh...so you have a pokemon now huh. No matter. Poochyena, tackle attack!" The Poochyena rushed toward Treecko, but the green lizard pokemon just stepped aside of the attack. "Treecko, hit it with another pound attack!" Treecko nodded in agreement and leaped toward the Poochyena, slamming its tail into the pooches back, slamming it into the ground. It didn't get back up either. "Dammit...this isn't over kid! Poochyena, return!" The detective called back his pokemon into its pokeball and ran off toward Oldale.

"...Ok, what was that all about Alex?" Alex returned Treecko to its pokeball. "Just a screw up of a detective...seems to think just because I don't like the news, I have something to do with the kidnapping of Melany Stone." "Wow. He sure jumps to conclusions." "No kidding...anyway we're almost to Oldale." May nodded, and the two of them continued walking. It wasn't long before they reached Oldale town, and no sign of the detective either.

"Well, be seeing you around May." "Yep. Bye Alex!" Alex started heading toward Route 103 while May started heading to Route 102, but then Alex remembered something.

"Hey, May! Wait!" May turned to face him, "Huh? What is it?" "Are you taking the Hoenn League Challenge?" May nodded, "A tip then, the first gym is run by Roxanne. She uses rock type pokemon. According to my research her team consists of two Geodude and a Nosepass, which means it'll be a 3 on 3 battle. You started with a Torchic, so you might want to consider finding at least one good pokemon to challenge her with, or try to get your Torchic to evolve into Combusken, then it'll be a fighting type as well as fire and will learn Double Kick." "Wow...you sure know a lot. Well thanks. See ya!" "Bye."

And with that, May and Alex, having just met, went their separate ways after starting their own adventures. What challenges await them along the way?

May's Pokemon:

Torchic, Lv.5: Scratch, Growl

Alex's Pokemon:

Treecko, Lv.6: Pound, Leer, Absorb

Comments? Criticism?

E-mail me at 


	3. Chapter 2A: Teaching a Bully

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Two (A):**

**Adventures in Petalburg**

"Zigzagoon, use tackle attack!" the other trainer yelled out. Alex's Treecko hardly seemed to consider the Zigzagoon a challenge. It took the hit and was knocked to the ground, but quickly got back up. "Treecko, finish it off with Absorb!" Treecko happily obliged, as the last of the Zigzagoon's energy was drained out of it, green bubbles of energy moving between the racoon pokemon and Treecko. The other trainer's zigzagoon collapsed as the last of its energy was drained from it, and the damage done to Treecko was restored.

"Great job Treecko! All that extra training seems to have paid off." Alex recalled his Treecko to its pokeball, and the other trainer recalled her fainted Zigzagoon. "Wow...your Treecko is pretty tough..." "Thanks. Your Zigzagoon isn't half bad either." Alex passed this trainer before on his way to Oldale, but he didn't have any pokemon to challenge her with then. Her only pokemon was a Zigzagoon.

The battle won, Alex once again found himself entering the city of Petalburg. "Alright...I should probably heal Treecko up at the pokemon center...maybe spend the night at a hotel since its getting a little late, and before I head out tomorrow I should probably stock up on supplies a bit at the local pokemart. I probably could have gotten here quicker if all those trainers didn't want to fight...oh well. I'll get to sleep early and get an early start tomorrow. Beats camping out anyday."

Alex made his way to the pokecenter, and handed his treecko's pokeball to the nurse once he got in. It only took a few seconds for his Treecko to be healed, which was his only pokemon still. He hadn't seen any pokemon yet that interested him, and he wasn't one for collecting either. He knew of at least one pokemon on the next route he wanted to catch, though. He decided to quickly duck over to a nearby restaurant for a quick meal. The whole time, though, he was being watched.

"I bet that kid makes a lot of money from turning in celebrity daughters...", Dirk muttered to himself, "but soon his days in the child pornography business will be over! I, the great Detective Dirk will put an end to him! ...Tomorrow. For now...I observe." Dirk went back to observing Alex's every move through his binoculars. "He needs to contact his boss at some point...and when he does I'll catch him in the act."

Alex sat down at one of the tables in the restaurant after ordering a club sandwich, fries, and a soda.This was the first thing he had to eat since leaving Petalburg for Littleroot earlier that day, and he was starved. As he ate, he thought about what he'd need to restock before setting out for Rustboro tomorrow._ "Funny"_ , he thought, _"I left from Rustboro, and now I'm going back there. Interesting how things work out like that."_

As Alex looked out the window next to him, he could have sworn he saw a red light in some bushes nearby. When he looked again though, it was gone. _"I bet that detective is still tailing me...wonder what he meant when he said he was going to 'save' May? ...Probably figures I intended to kidnap her. Well, if I was going to do that, one would think I would have. And he certainly wouldn't make a good hero. He ran as soon as I beat his Poochyena. What if I WAS going to kidnap her? He would have been no help at all. Wonder how he became a detective anyway..."_

Alex finished his soda and tossed his garbage in the garbage can and left the restaurant, then started looking around for the hotel. Eventually he came across a place called "Maple Inn". It wasn't run by any of May's relatives, however it was apparently named for the gym leader Norman. Seemed he had a fair amount of respect in Petalburg. Alex checked into the inn, paying for just a basic room, which only had a bed, bathroom, and a tv. Alex didn't bother getting into bed or anything. He just flopped on the bed lazily and fell asleep.

The next day...

Alex didn't waste any time checking out of the inn. In fact, he was out of there by 8:00 AM in the morning. He stopped for a quick breakfast, and then decided, against his better judgement, to head to the pokecenter to check out the news. The whole Melany thing actually seemed to have died down. ...And now they were reporting a UFO sighting around Mt. Moon in the Kanto region. Alex didn't even bother sticking around to hear it.

After leaving the pokecenter Alex quickly made his way to the pokemart and stocked up on supplies for his journey. By the time he had finished all preparations, it was 9AM in the morning. Alex started on his way out of the city, after which it'd be a short walk to Petalburg Woods. As Alex was making his way out of the city, however, he noticed someone hiding in the shadows next to Petalburg Gym. As he went to inspect it, he realized it was the bully he beat up just yesterday.

"Well now...planning to challenge Norman? I doubt you'd win. Or are you just trying to hide your shame?" The bully sneered at him, "Actually, I was waiting for Wood to ambush him! He's supposedly going to ask Norman for a pokemon. But since you got here first, I'll take you on instead! And this time I have my Tailow to teach you a lesson!" The boy tossed a pokeball and out came a Tailow. A mean looking Tailow.

_"This might not be good...my only pokemon is Treecko, and grass is weak to flying..."_ Alex took out his pokenav to check the Tailow's level. _"...Level 5...and to think I was worried."_ Alex grabbed the only pokeball on his waist, "I've got a pokemon now too...go Treecko!" In a flash of white light, his Treecko appeared from its pokeball, looking confident as usual.

"Grass type huh? This will be a piece of cake! Hit it with Peck, Tailow, and finish it off quickly!" "Treecko, use Pound!" The bully's Tailow attempted to peck at Alex's Treecko, but before it could even attack Treecko slammed it hard with its tail, instantly KOing it. "No way! How can your lizard be that strong!" "I could have it show you just how strong it is..." At Alex's statement, his Treecko shot the bully an intimidating look. "N-no way man! Keep your lizard away from me!" "Alright then...but if I hear anymore about you picking on my friend Wally Treecko will be using you for practice." Hearing this the bully immediately recalled his Tailow and ran off crying. Nearby, Dirk saw the whole thing.

"Hmm...that kid is strong...his Treecko took down that Tailow in one hit...perhaps he is also this organization's assassin...it'd make him the perfect choice for...recruitment. No one would be able to say no...I'll have to act quickly. With any luck his Treecko is tired out after that fight! Poochyena will have a field day with it!" Dirk gathered up his gear and prepared to face off against Alex once again.

Alex recalled his Treecko and continued on his way, "Bullies...sometimes they just never learn.Oh well. When I catch my Tailow I'll train it to be much stronger than his...Hmm now that I think of it there should be Marill hiding around just outside Petalburg too. Maybe I'll be able to add a water type to my team..." Alex stopped as her heard footsteps in front of him. He looked up and saw Detective Dirk standing in front of him. "...Shouldn't you be off chasing real criminals?"

"You are the real criminal, kid! I've figured you out! Your working as an assassin and some sort of recruitment officer for an underground child pornography company, befriending young girls then kidnapping them!" Alex stared at the detective in disbelief, then gave a sarcastic clap. "Congratulations, Detective Dork, you figured me out..." he replied sarcastically. "HA! Thought so! Now I can finally get my job back once I turn you in!" "...Get your job back? Why am I not surprised that your out of a job...and I suppose you think your Poochyena will bring down my Treecko?"

"As a matter of fact I know it will! Your Treecko will obviously be tired out after that last fight!" Alex tried to keep from laughing, _"Tired out...right...what an idiot..."_ he thought to himself. "Yeah your right...my Treecko is probably pretty tired...but nevertheless it will fight your Poochyena...go, Treecko!" "Get'em Poochyena!" The two pokemon appeared facing each other, and Treecko rolled its eyes when it realized who its opponent was. "Poochyena, use Howl!" "That won't do you any good...Treecko, use pound!"

Dirk's Poochyena howled loudly, and suddenly seemed to be slightly stronger. Treecko rushed in and slammed its large tail into the Poocyena. It staggered, and Alex figured it must have gotten a bit stronger since last time, otherwise it'd already be down and out. "Poochyena, hit it with tackle!" "Treecko, hit it with another pound attack!" Poochyena ran in to attack Treecko, but since Treecko was faster than it it managed to bring its tail around to whap Poochyena in the side of the head, knocking it out. Another flawless victory for Treecko.

"No way! That Treecko is just too powerful...this isn't over yet kid!" "Yeah...sure..." Dirk recalled his Poochyena and ran off into the city. Alex recalled his Treecko, "Now, assuming no more distractions, we will be leaving Petalburg..." Alex looked around him, double checking before heading out of the city.

One outside, Alex began scanning around. "Now...I know Tailow live on this route somewhere...and they're supposed to be pretty common..."Alex didn't have to look around long before a bird with green feathers on its back, white underneath, and orange around its neck landed in front of him. "Hey! There's one! ...Hey wait a sec...I thought Tailow were usually blue with red feathers around their neck...Wow, guess this is one of those "shiny" pokemon as they call them. This one's mine then! Go get it, Treecko!" Alex tossed the pokeball containing Treecko, and Treecko popped out in front of the Tailow. Tailow looked at it, prepared to fight.

Alex took out his pokenav, "Level 6 Tailow...this should be an easy catch. Treecko, hit it with pound!" Treecko obliged, bringing its tail down on top of the 'shiny' Tailow before it had much chance to react, instantly knocking it out. "Alright, my turn now!" Alex reached into his pack and got out a pokeball and threw it towards the Tailow. The Tailow was sucked into the pokeball, which then dropped to the ground. It wasn't able to put up much of a fight against the pokeball, and soon the pokeball clicked shut, confirming the capture. "Great job, Treecko! We caught our first pokemon now!"

Alex recalled his Treecko, "I haven't gotten very far from Petalburg yet...so maybe once I find a Marill I'll heal my pokemon one last time at the pokecenter before heading off. Treecko is doing fine, of course, but Tailow is already fainted and Marill will probably be in similar condition once I find one." Alex looked around him, and remembered there was a beach nearby that he went through before to avoid any pokemon ecnounters. "I might find some Marill closer to the water..."

Alex hopped down the short hill and onto the beach, and began looking around. As he got close to the water, he saw a Marill splashing about in the waves. "Well that was easy enough...this isn't taking me long at all." Alex checked his pokenav. It was level 9, and had a trainer id assigned to it. "Guess someone's just letting their own Marill play in the water...thought that was too easy..." Shortly after he realized this, a boy walked up to the water and called back his Marill. "Alright then, back to searching."

Alex combed the beach for about 30 minutes before he saw a Marill. This one was level 4 and had no trainer id. "Alright, this one's mine! Go Treecko!" Treecko appeared behind the Marill, who still had its back to him. "Alright Treecko, hit it with Absorb. That should weaken it plenty." Treecko nodded, and in a burst of green energy bubbles Treecko drained the Marill's energy. Alex got out another pokeball and threw it, again catching the Marill without much trouble. "Good job, Treecko! Now we have a Marill too! Return!" Alex retruned Treecko to its pokeball. "Having a complete pokedex is a big help...now all I have to do is heal up my pokemon and give them a bit of training before heading to Rustboro. Need to make sure they'll be strong enough to make it through the woods easily."

Alex headed back to Petalburg to heal his pokemon, and then started to train his newly caught pokemon against the wild pokemon in the area. After a few hours of this, he headed into Petalburg forest, ready to start the next part of his journey.

Alex's Pokemon:

Treecko, Lv.12: Pound, Leer, Absorb, Quick Attack

Tailow, shiny, Lv.10: Peck, Growl, Focus Energy, Quick Attack

Marill, Lv.10: Tackle, Defense Curl, Tail Whip, Water Gun

Comments? Criticism?

E-mail me at 


	4. Chapter 2M: Helpful Friends

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Two (M):**

**Adventures in Petalburg**

May sighed as she continued her trek through Route 103. "I've seen so many pokemon here...but I don't have a single pokeball!" She looked at the pokeball containing Torchic, "At least your getting plenty of training fighting off these pokemon...but that Wingull we ran into took

hurt you pretty badly with its Water Gun attack...I hope Brendan doesn't have a water pokemon or we'll really be in trouble! ...Wait why am I talking to myself anyway?"

May then noticed that just up ahead was Brendan, standing in front of a patch of grass holding a notebook. "Alright...so that pokemon appears here...but not there..." she heard him muttering to himself as he took notes. May giggled softly,_"Well...guess I'm not alone on the 'talking to myself' thing anyway...wonder what he's doing anyway?"_

Brendan felt like there was someone behind him, and turned and saw May standing behind him. He quickly noticed the pokeball at her waist as well. "Hey May! I see you've got your own pokemon now!" "Yep! Your father gave it to me." "How about a practice battle then?" May smirked, "Alright, your on! Go, Torchic!"

May tossed the pokeball to the ground, and out popped a somewhat weakened Torchic. "Go, Mudkip!" Brendan shouted, tossing his own pokeball to the ground. The blue pokemon appeared and gave a soft cry. _"Oh great!", _May thought, _"He would have a water type wouldn't he? ...I guess I should have that potion ready just incase."_

"Torchic! Use that new move you learned, Focus Energy!" May's Torchic glowed as it gathered energy to itself. "Mudkip, hit it with Tackle!" Brendan's Mudkip rushed toward Torchic, slamming into it. Torchic immediately recovered from the attack, though, and still looked ready for more despite its injuries. "Torchic, use Scratch!" "Mudkip, use Growl!" Torchic raised its clawed feet and brought them down on Mudkip, scratching it hard. Mudkip then growled at Torchic, weakening it slightly.

_"Maybe Alex was right...this battle certainly isn't very interesting...neither of our pokemon seem to be able to do much at this point. Wonder what level his Mudkip is anyway?"_ "Torchic, use Scratch again!" "Mudkip, hit it with Tackle!" Torchic once again raked the Mudkip with its small claws, seeming to do less damage than the last because of Mudkip's Growl. Mudkip once again slammed into Torchic, but Torchic still looked like it could at least take one more hit.

"Torchic, hit it with another Scratch attack!" Torchic complied, and this time its attack managed to hit Mudkip's weakpoint, and it instantly fainted. "Alright, Torchic! We won!"

Torchic chirped and hopped up and down happily, flapping its tiny wings. May and Brendan recalled their pokemon. "I think I see why my father gave you that pokemon now...you just got it and it already seems to like you. Why don't we head back to his lab?"

May nodded, and the two of them took a shortcut back to Professor Birch's lab in Littleroot to avoid any encounters with wild pokemon. Brendan ran all the way there, and got there long before May did and told his father about how she beat him on her first try. Birch was impressed by this, since his son already had a history as a trainer before she even had a pokemon.

May finally arrived at the lab and found Brendan and Professor Birch waiting for her. "Ah, May, there you are! Brendan told me how you beat him on your first try. Brendan already had an extensive history as a trainer, it must have taken a fair amount of skill to beat him. I have something here for you, May." May nodded and watched curiously as Birch walked over to his disk and picked up a small, handheld device and walked back over to May with it.

"I was saving this for my research, May, but I think you'd be better off having it." he said as he handed her the device. May looked it over, "What is it...?" "Its a pokedex, it gathers information on any pokemon you've seen or caught." "Oh...thanks!" Professor Birch nodded, then Brendan spoke up. "So you have a pokedex now huh? Here, you can have these then." He handed May 5 empty pokeballs. "You probably know this already, but you need to use those to catch pokemon." May nodded, "Thanks guys!" May turned to leave, and Brendan and his father wished her luck as she left.

May yawned, standing just otuside the lab, "Boy...I'm exhausted...I've never walked this much in a while, and its getting late...maybe I'll head home for today and then set out tomorrow morning after breakfast. Mom would probably want to see me off anyway...and I guess I should visit dad when I get to Petalburg. ...And I'm talking to myself, again."

May headed to her place, and found her mother was outside waiting for her. "Welcome home, dear! You've been gone all day!" "Uh yeah sorry mom...got a bit carried away with things I guess...Professor Birch gave me a pokemon!" May realeased Torchic from its pokeball and it chirped happily. "Oh, its so adorable! I suppose you'll be going on an adventure of your own then?" May nodded. "Thought so...you have your father's blood in you afterall." "I think I'll stay the night here though and leave in the morning." "Ok then, dear, but I have something to give you before you leave tomorrow!"

May nodded and recalled her Torchic, heading into her house. Her mother made her a quick meal and then May decided to research Torchic a bit using her computer and her pokedex. While she was doing that she had released Torchic from its pokeball, and it was happily hopping around on her bed. May watched it for a bit, "Your a very energetic little pokemon huh?" Torchic chirped happily in response, taking a big hop off the bed and landing in May's lap. May smiled, cuddling it gently, "Aww your so cute!" May put her Torchic back in its pokeball, then took a quick shower before heading to bed.

May woke up the next morning with a yawn. "What a strange dream...I dreamed I got my first pokemon yesterday..." May looked over at the pokeball next to her computer. "Oh, it wasn't a dream...well guess I should get ready to go then!" May quickly hopped out of bed and changed into an outfit similar to the one she had yesterday, and threw some supplies into her belt pouch.

May went downstairs to find her mom was already up and had prepared breakfast. There was a plate with some bacon, fried eggs, toast, and a glass of orange juice set out for her. She only planned to eat a bowl of cereal. "Mom...whats all this?" Her mother smiled, "Well since your leaving today, I figured I'd make you a special breakfast. Oh, and here!" Her mother handed her a shoe box, "Try those on, dear! They're running shoes!"

May took the shoes out of the box and looked at them. They looked exactly like the shoes Alex was wearing when she met him just yesterday, and Brendan had a similar pair of shoes as well. She tried them on and they fit perfectly. "They fit fine, mom. Thanks!" "Your welcome, dear. The box says they'll put a zip in your step!" They both laughed a bit at the cheap advertising, but May did find them more comfortable than her old shoes.

May quickly ate her breakfast and set out after saying goodbye to her mother. She decided to try out her new shoes, and ran through Route 101. She managed to get to Oldale Town very quickly and didn't really feel tired either, despite running so much. "Wow, these shoes really are good! Too bad I didn't run into any pokemon though...I would have liked to catch one...Oh well."

May looked around the small town. She was in such a hurry during her previous visits that she never noticed what was in the town. There didn't seem to be much. Usual pokemart and pokecenter, but other than that nothing. She decided to check out the pokemart's selection, and bought a couple of pokeballs and potions, but made sure she still had enough money left incase she needed some supplies.

After her brief stop in Oldale, May set out once again toward Petalburg. She didn't get very far, though, before she was challenged by another trainer. "Hey! You have pokemon with you! You can't say no to my challenge!" May stared at the boy blankly. _"I can't say no? I don't see why not...but, whatever."_ she thought to herself. "Alright, have it your way...go, Torchic!" "Go, Poochyena!"

_"Poochyena huh? I remember how easily Alex beat that detective's Poochyena..."_ "Torchic, use Scratch!" "Poochyena, Tackle attack!" The Poochyena got ready to hit her Torchic with Tackle, but before it could Torchic scratched the dog-like pokemon with its claws and it instantly collapsed. _"...Yeah, that was easy."_ May thought. Torchic didn't seem to care that it was easy, though, as it hopped about happy from its victory.

"Grr...you should have told me you were strong...I only challenged you because you looked weak..." May had to restrain herself from hitting the boy because of his comment, and decided to ignore him and continue on toward Petalburg.

Soon May came across a small pond, and stopped by it. The lily pads in the pond seemed to be moving! May watched curiously as one of the lily pads seemed to approach her. The lily pad rose out of the water slightly, and under it she could see a pair of eyes staring at her, and whatever it was had a duck's bill for a mouth. She pointed her pokedex at it, and it immediately registered the pokemon as Lotad and showed a picture of it. It had a blue body and four legs. That was the only info it was showing her though.

"Lotad huh? I think I'll catch it! Torchic, go!" May tossed out Torchic's pokeball, and the pokemon appeared with a loud chirp. "Torchic, use Scratch!" Torchic complied, and clawed at the Lotad. Lotad was still standing but barely. Lotad then attempted to scare Torchic with Astonish. Torchic was frightened momentarily but quickly recovered. May reached for a pokeball, "Now lets see if I can catch it!" She threw the pokeball at the Lotad and it was sucked inside. It landed, half submerged in the shallow water. It shook three times before it clicked shut, indicating she successfully captured Lotad.

"Woohoo! We caught a Lotad Torchic!" Her Torchic chirped happily in response as she recalled it. She then decided to check Lotad's entry again. The pokedex read, "This pokemon lives in ponds with clean water. It is known to ferry small pokemon across ponds by carrying them on the broad leaf on its head." May smiled, "Wow, what a helpful little pokemon..."

May continued on toward Petalburg, letting both her pokemon train a bit against any wild pokemon she encountered along the way as well as battling a few trainers. She ended up having to use a potion on her Lotad since it was still weak from when she had Torchic fight it.

Eventually, she managed to make it to Petalburg and immediately stopped by the pokecenter to heal her pokemon. She decided to check out any information on her Lotad on the PC while she was there. Afterwards, she decided to head to the gym to see her dad.

As May arrived at the gym, another trainer was just leaving, muttering to himself, "Man...I can't believe how strong that guy is..." May didn't really pay any attention to him, and went into the gym. Inside the gym was a large, wooden floor with markings on it that designated it as a battle field.

"Welcome, challenger." She heard from the other side of the gym. "Dad...its just me..." Norman looked up from where he was at the other side of the gym, "Oh...sorry. Habit. Are you and your mother finished unpacking, May?" May walked over to where her father was, "Yep, and Professor Birch gave me a pokemon!" "Ah...I figured he might. Are you setting out on your own journey then, May?" She nodded. Her father was about to say something else, but was interrupted by the sound of the door opening and closing.

"Umm...excuse me...is umm...Norman here?" Norman smiled, "Ah, Wally, glad you could make it." "S-sorry I'm late, sir...c-could I get a pokemon?" Norman was about to reply when the door opened again, and an angry looking trainer stepped in. "I want a rematch!"

Norman sighed, "Well as a gym leader I can't say no...hmm..." Norman turned to May, "May, could I get you to help Wally here catch a pokemon?" May nodded, "Sure, dad."

Norman handed Wally an empty pokeball, "You can use this to catch a pokemon once you find one you like." He then handed him another pokeball, "And you can use one of my pokemon to help you catch it." "Wow! Thanks sir!" Norman nodded and made his way to the other side of the gym, "Well good luck you two." May and Wally nodded and left the gym just as the battle was starting to get underway.

May led Wally toward a small patch of grass in Route 103. "Alright, we'll search here for a pokemon." Wally nodded, and began searching for a pokemon in the grass. There didn't seem to be many around, though, and they were looking for a few hours before May finally spotted a Ralts. "Hey Wally, over here! I've spotted a Ralts you can catch!" Wally quietly made his way over to where May was and saw a timid looking Ralts.

"Ok, now that we've found a pokemon, send out the pokemon my dad gave you and have it fight the Ralts." Wally nodded, and tossed the pokeball Norman gave him containing a pokemon. A Zigzagoon came out of the pokeball near the Ralts. "Ok... umm... use... uh... Tackle!" Wally looked at May, "It does know Tackle...right?" May nodded, "Tackle is a pretty safe bet, but a pokenav would show you exactly what it knows."

As the two of them talked, the Zigzagoon rushed in and slammed its body into the Ralts. It quickly hopped back up and growled at the Zigzagoon. "Do I...use the pokeball now?" May shook her head, "Ralts is still pretty strong...it'll probably break free. Try using Tackle again." Wally nodded, "Ok, Zigzagoon...use Tackle again!" The Zigzagoon used Tackle again, and the Ralts seemed to be weakening. All it did to retaliate was use Growl again.

"Now... do I use it?" May nodded, "It should be weak enough now." "Alright... umm... here goes!" Wally tossed his only pokeball at the Ralts, and it was sucked inside. The pokeball fell to the ground and started shaking. It shook three times before it clicked, locking shut and holding the pokemon inside. "I...I did it! I caught my first pokemon!" May smiled, "Congratulations!" "Thanks May...I need to return Norman's pokemon now..." May nodded and the two of them started on their way back to the gym.

On the way there, though, they ran into a familiar face. Or familiar to Wally anyway. "Well well well... so now you need a girl to protect you Wood?" an older looking boy sneered.

Wally looked scared, and stepped away from him. The boy snickered, "Don't worry, Wood. I'm not going to torture you today...you'd probably go and rat me out to that friend of yours. He said if I pick on you anymore his Treecko would beat me up, and he already beat my Tailow. So you're getting off easy today, Wood." With that, the boy left.

"Umm...who was that?" May asked. "Th-that was Danny...he and his friends are always picking on me and beating me up...they were beating me up two days ago when a guy named Alex stopped them..." "Alex? I met a guy named Alex back in Littleroot. He took a Treecko for a starting pokemon." "Really? Someday I'm going to be just as strong as him...and my newly caught Ralts will help me...and I'll never have to put up with bullies like Danny again..."

The two of them continued toward Norman's gym, and found there were no challengers when they got there. Wally handed Norman his pokemon back, "Umm...thanks for lending me your pokemon sir...and thanks for your help May...I should get home now before my parents worry." "Your welcome, Wally. Hope you do well in Verdanturf." Norman replied, and Wally left for home.

"Now, May. If your going to be taking the Hoenn League Challenge you should start with Roxanne in Rustboro." "I know, Alex told me about her. She uses two Geodude and a Nosepass." Norman seemed a bit surprised, "Alex huh? He seems to know what he's talking about. He a trainer too?" May nodded, "He also said if I wanted to beat her I should raise my Torchic until it evolves into Combusken."

Norman laughed, "He really knows what he's doing then if he knows that much about pokemon. You could probably learn a thing or two. I suppose you'll be on your way to Rustboro then... Of course, I'm a gym leader as well. We'll battle someday when your stronger." May nodded, "Alright. Bye dad." "Goodbye."

May left the gym and noticed it was close to evening, "Guess I'll just train my pokemon a bit and spend the night in Petalburg... it'll be better than navigating the woods at night... I'll probably be camping out in the forest a bit anyway but still I think I'd rather stay here for tonight. ...I'm doing it again! I really need to start keeping my thoughts in my head instead of talking to myself..."

May had a quick meal at a nearby restaurant, then headed back to Route 103 for some quick training, and managed to catch a Ralts of her own while she was out there. Once she was satisfied her three pokemon were strong enough to get her through the woods, she healed them up at the pokemon center and headed over to the "Maple Inn". After going there, she quickly decided it'd be best if she didn't tell people her last name, since being the daughter of Norman would probably draw more attention than she wanted.

She paid for a room. When she got to it, she found it wasn't much. She wanted to let her pokemon out but apparently the inn had a rule that pokemon had to be in their pokeballs at all times, so she couldn't. She decided to take a quick shower and went to sleep.

May's Pokemon:

Torchic, Lv.12: Scratch, Growl, Focus Energy, Ember

Lotad, Lv. 10: Astonish, Growl, Absorb

Ralts, Lv. 10: Growl, Confusion

Comments? Criticism?

E-mail me at 


	5. Chapter 3A: Ridiculous Rustboro

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Three (A):**

**Rocky Road to the First Badge**

"Wurmple, go!" the bug catcher yelled, releasing the pink caterpillar pokemon. "What! Thats your third one!" Alex yelled, clearly annoyed at the boy's repetitive pokemon team. "...What? I like bug pokemon." Alex and his Tailow both shook their heads at the boy's incompetence. Alex could tell he wasn't a serious trainer. "Tailow...finish this one with Peck too..." Tailow complied, albeit with very little enthusiasm. It pecked at the Wurmple hard with its beak, and down went number three.

"I've still got one more pokemon!" "...It better not be another Wurmple." Alex's Tailow squawked its agreement. It was getting tired of the same thing over and over. "Uh...no...this one is...uh...special! Yeah! Go, Wurmple!" "...Special...right...Tailow, use Quick Attack for a change of pace." Tailow flapped its wings quickly, rising off the ground, then quickly flew into the Wurmple for a high speed attack. The fourth fell just as easily as the rest. "Now...are you done?" The bug catcher sighed and nodded. "I suggest you either raise those Wurmple so they'll evolve into something more formidable, or catch more pokemon." Alex stated as he recalled his Tailow.

Alex continued on his trek through Petalburg Woods. He had been travelling for a day before he ran into that bug catcher, and he wished he avoided him somehow. That was probably his most boring battle yet, and he expected it to keep that title. It took another couple of days before Alex finally emerged from the other side of the Petalburg Woods.

Alex shielded his eyes as he finally emerged from the dark forest. After living in mostly darkness for roughly a week, his eyes had to adjust to the sunlight. "Stupid bug catchers...they seem to be the only people interested in going into that forest...At least I'm almost to Rustboro now." Alex muttered to himself. He then looked around cautiously, "Wonder if that dumb detective followed me...maybe with some luck he decided to stick around Oldale..."

Alex sighed and continued along the path leading to Rustboro, which lead him across a lake. He passed by the lake before, but he still felt nervous crossing it. On his way across he engaged in a double battle with two girls on the bridge. He used his Tailow and Treecko against them and won easily. He was a bit nervous battling in such close quarters on the lake, but he pulled it off.

It was a relatively short walk across the bridge, but for whatever reason to Alex it seemed like an eternity. Almost immediately on the other side of the bridge was the entrance to the city of Rustboro, where Alex would be facing his first gym battle. "Well...finally made it back to Rustboro...and somewhere nearby I bet Detective Dork is thinking 'So...the culprit has returned to the scene of the crime...'" Alex sighed as he thought this and headed into the city.

Meanwhile, in some nearby bushes, someone was watching Alex enter the city. "So...the culprit has returned to the scene of the crime..." Detective Dirk smirked, proud of himself for tailing Alex this long. "Lets see just what he's after in Rustboro this time..."

The first thing Alex did upon arriving in Rustboro was get his pokemon healed at the pokecenter. He knew they'd be exhausted from travelling through the forest and would need them at their top form for the battle with Roxanne. Although he had two pokemon with a type advantage, he knew gym battles were no walk in the park like most of the other battles he'd been in so far. After his pokemon were healed, Alex decided to sit down and think of a battle strategy.

_"Lets see...first I should probably train my pokemon to around level 16. Tailow especially will need the extra training since it has a huge disadvantage against Roxanne's rock type pokemon, and I plan to lead off with Tailow. If I train Treecko, it will probably evolve into Grovyle, but still its best attack will only be Absorb. Marill I'll use last against her. Its Water Gun attack will do the most damage to her pokemon."_

Alex looked around the pokecenter. He seemed to be the only person there today. Of course it was also early in the morning, some people were probably still asleep. Just as Alex started to think about where he should go to train, though, a white haired boy wearing a green bandana walked into the pokecenter and handed his pokemon over to the nurse.

Brendan soon noticed Alex sitting down by one of the benches, and recognized him from a picture that Professor Birch had from his trainer's card. He also knew his father seemed to have high hopes for this trainer. Brendan figured he might as well introduce himself.

"Hey, your Alex right?" Alex snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the white haired boy standing before him. "...Have we met before?" Brendan shook his head, "I'm Brendan Birch. If I'm not mistaken, my dad, Professor Birch, gave you a pokemon?" Alex stood up, "Yeah I got my Treecko from him...and I guess that explains how you know me then." "Err...by the way...are you aware there's a strange guy wearing a cloak outside the pokecenter that seems to be spying on you?"

Alex looked out the window, but didn't see anyone. "Probably that dumb detective from Oldale again, Detective Dirk..." Brendan laughed at this, "Dirk's following you around? What, does he think you stole Treecko or something?" Alex rolled his eyes, "I wish it was that simple...he seems to think I'm part of some criminal organization involved in the disappearance of Melany Stone just because I didn't like the news broadcasting her disappearance so much and because he saw me with May. I'd rather not get into what else he thinks..."

Brendan stared in shock, "Wow...Dirk's done some dumb things in the past before, which of course resulted in him being fired, but thats really gotta be at the top of his list...don't feel too bad though. He accused me of impersonating myself once, with absolutely nothing to go on. He's pretty much the laughing stock of the Oldale Police Force. He used to be a good detective, but people say that the lack of cases caused him to start looking for them and well...now he accuses anyone of almost anything. If he's followed you this far though, then he's probably focusing entirely on you now."

"Wonderful..." Alex sighed. "Anyway...", Brendan continued, "What do you say to a pokemon battle? My dad seems to think your good." Alex nodded, "Alright then. My pokemon could do with a little more training before I face off against Roxanne anyway." Alex and Brendan left the pokecenter and stood several meters apart just outside.

Brendan and Alex simulataneously released their first pokemon. "Go, Torkoal!" Brendan yelled. "Go, Tailow!" Alex's green Tailow appeared facing a red turtle pokemon with a black shell and steam billowing out of its nose, a hole on the top of its shell, and a hole in both sides of its neck.

"Tailow, use Quick Attack and try to aim for its head!" "Torkoal, try to move out of the way and use Curse!" Alex's Tailow flew up a bit and tried to quickly strike Torkoal with Quick Attack, but Torkoal managed to move its head out of the way of the attack and Tailow ended up hitting its shell instead, causing minimal damage. Torkoal then started to glow and appeared stronger, yet at the same time more sluggish.

"Tailow, try to hit it with a Wing Attack!" "Torkoal, use Ember!" Alex's Tailow flew in to attack again, this time striking the Torkoal's head with its wings. Unfortunately, due to Curse Tailow's attack still didn't do a whole lot and left it open for Torkoal's attack. As Tailow flew by it, it launched a fireball at Tailow. Tailow was knocked off balance, but managed to recover before it hit the ground. Alex noticed that Tailow suddenly appeared more determined, though, and noticed the Ember attack left a burn mark on it. Alex smirked as he saw this.

"Tailow, hit it with another Wing Attack!" "Torkoal, Ember!" Tailow flew in for another attack, striking Torkoal hard in the neck with its wings. Torkoal staggered as it took the hit and tried to fire off another Ember, but didn't even come close to hitting Tailow. "Now finish it with Quick Attack!" Tailow immediately turned around, flying back quickly towards Torkoal for another attack and striking it hard in the side. Torkoal was flipped over onto its back as it was hit, and was out cold.

"Not bad...Torkoal, return!" "Tailow, good job, return!" Alex and Brendan both reached for their next pokemon. "Mudkip, Go!" "Treecko, your turn!" Treecko and Mudkip appeared facing each other with a cry. "Mudkip, use Mud Slap!" "Treecko, try to dodge it and strike back with Quick Attack!" Treecko ran to the side as Mudkip sent a small splash of mud at Treecko. Treecko easily evaded the attack, then slammed into Mudkip, sending it sprawling. Mudkip quickly recovered though.

"Treecko, hit it with Pound!" Treecko leapt towards Mudkip, ready to strike it with its thick tail. "Mudkip, now, hit it with Mud Slap!" Mudkip kicked some mud at Treecko just as it was about to strike. Treecko was hardly hurt from the attack, but now its eyes were covered in mud and it could hardly see. Mudkip's attack didn't help it to avoid Treecko's Pound, though, as Treecko's tail slammed into it full force. Mudkip got right back up again as Treecko was trying to get the mud out of its eyes.

"Mudkip, use Tackle!" Brendan's Mudkip started to run towards Treecko, who was still trying to get the mud out of its eyes and couldn't see Mudkip. Alex knew it'd be hard for Treecko to hit Mudkip since it couldn't see it. "Treecko, try to hit it with Absorb!" Treecko turned toward Mudkip to use Absorb... but ended up trying to drain energy from the air. Mudkip then slammed into Treecko, sending it sprawling. Treecko immediately hopped up from the attack.

"Use Tackle again Mudkip!" "Treecko, try to hit it with Absorb!" Treecko turned towards Mudkip, and this time its Absorb attack landed dead on. Mudkip collapsed as its energy was drained from it, and some of the damage Treecko had taken was restored. It didn't matter, though, since the battle was over. Mudkip was down, and Brendan was out of pokemon.

"You did what you could, Mudkip. Return." Brendan returned the fallen Mudkip to its pokeball. "Great job, Treecko. Re..." Alex didn't get to finish his sentence, as Treecko started to glow white. It suddenly seemed to get a bit bigger, and when it stopped glowing Alex and Brendan could see that Treecko had evolved into Grovyle. It was a bit taller now, with a long blue leaf extending from its head, two more on either side of its back, and three leaves on each arm.

"I guess Treecko was just about ready to evolve...well, congratulations Grovyle! Return!" Alex returned the newly evolved pokemon to its pokeball. "You really are good, Alex. I can see why my dad seems to think highly of you." "Thanks. That was probably the best battle I've had so far." "Well, it was great meeting you Alex. I guess you'll be challenging Roxanne now?" Alex nodded. "I'm not taking the league challenge, myself. I just help my dad with his research and battle other trainers. Speaking of which, I should get back to work. I'm currently researching pokemon in Petalburg Woods."

Brendan and Alex both healed their pokemon up, and Brendan headed towards Petalburg Woods. Alex couldn't help but notice Brendan seemed a bit upset about something as he left though. Then it dawned on him. _"Brendan's been a trainer for a while now...he's probably a bit upset losing to someone who just started out. Oh well. My pokemon should be ready to face Roxanne now."_

As Alex was about to head for the gym, though, he thought for a second and took out his pokedex. He scrolled through the list of known pokemon until he came to Abra's page. "Just as I thought...Abra are known to live on the other route leading out of this city...it'd be tricky, but I think I'll try to catch one. I know it won't stick around for a fight. It'll be hard to raise too... but I think it'd be worth it."

Alex put his pokedex/nav back on his belt and made his way to the other side of town to the exit where Abra are said to roam. As soon as Alex was in the tall grass, her dropped to his hands and knees, gripping a pokeball as he started to crawl through the grass, hoping to sneak up on an Abra. Eventually Alex came face to face with a small, yellow, human shaped pokemon with a thick tail. It was an Abra. He knew that despite being asleep, it knew he was there. Just as Alex got ready to throw the pokeball at it...it vanished!

"Damn it!" he shouted. But then he noticed something beside him. It was an Abra, and possibly the same one. "Wanna play games huh...? Alright then...Marill, go!" Alex tossed out Marill's pokeball, and the blue mouse-like pokemon with a blue ball on the end of its tail appeared and hopped around happily.

"Alright Marill, use Water Gun on that Abra!" Marill shopped hopping around, and shot a small blast of water from its mouth at the Abra. Just before it hit, however...the Abra vanished! Alex noticed it reappear nearby. "This Abra is toying with me...Marill, Water Gun!"

Marill complied, firing another blast of water at the Abra, which again teleported out of the way.

"Hold still already!" Alex looked around and noticed the Abra was behind Marill. "Marill, turn around and use Water Gun now!" Marill spun around quickly and fired another Water Gun at the Abra. It missed again. "Damn it...Marill, keep firing whenever you see it!"

Alex soon regretted his last command, though, as Marill turned around and fired a Water Gun at him! Alex was knocked back by the Water Gun, but his landing was cushioned by something.

When Alex got up and saw what he landed on, he found an unconcious Abra. "Eh...works...I guess..." Alex recalled Marill and just dropped a pokeball on the fallen Abra. It was sucked in, and didn't struggle since it had no fight left in it. Alex picked up the pokeball after it clicked. "Well...not my most glorious capture...but I have an Abra now..."

Alex headed back to Rustboro with his newly caught Abra, and had his pokemon healed at the pokecenter. He also made an effort to dry his clothes off a bit, since he was soaked from Marill's watergun. He had one change of clothes, and changed into them while he had Grovyle and Tailow fanning his shirt to try to dry it off a bit. He then went to Petalburg Woods to train Abra, since he knew he'd find plenty of Silcoon and Cascoon there. Silcoon and Cascoon were round cacoon pokemon. Silcoon was white and Cascoon was purple. Neither of them moved much and their only attack was Harden.

Alex had to train Abra by sending it out with one of his other pokemon. It was slow going too, since Abra wouldn't learn any attacks but Teleport until it evolved into Kadabra.By about mid afternoon, however, his training seemed to pay off. As Marill defeated yet another Cascoon, Alex's Abra started to glow just like his Treecko did earlier that day. When the glowing stopped, Abra stood taller, holding a spoon. It also had a much larger tail, and markings on hits head. It had evolved into Kadabra.

Once Alex finished up with training his Abra, he healed up his pokemon at the pokcenter once more, and made his way to the gym. As he stood outside the Rustboro Gym, he took a deep breath. This was going to be his first gym battle. His pokemon were stronger than Roxanne's by his estimation, but he knew gym leaders don't get their position just for having strong pokemon.

He decided that since he knew it'd be a 3 on 3, he wouldn't use Tailow at all. Tailow would be at a huge disadvantage at this gym, and his Kadabra wasn't at much of an advantage or disadvantage. Maybe a small advantage since he knew Geodudes didn't have much special defense, and special attacks were Kadabra's specialty. Of course, using Kadabra did have one other advantage...

Detective Dirk watched as Alex entered the doors of the Rustboro Gym. "Hmm..." ,he thought out loud, "So...Alex is going after the youngest gym leader, Roxanne, now is he? He may be strong but I doubt he can take her on. I don't think I'll worry too much about it. "

Alex took his place at his side of the battle field before him. "Greetings, challenger." A girl with black hair tied into pigtails and wearing a schoolgirl uniform greeted him from the other side. She looked no older than Alex did. "I am Roxanne, Rustboro's gym leader. I have gained this position through hard studying and my pokemon are of the rock type."

"I already knew all that..." Alex replied. Roxanne chuckled, "So you've been studying as well, have you? Or perhaps you simply overheard it? Regardless, prepare yourself and your pokemon for battle. Show me what strategies you employ in battle." "Alright then..." Alex tossed out his first pokeball, as did Roxanne. "Kadabra, your up first!" "Geodude, go!"

The two pokemon appeared on their respective sides of the rocky battlefield.

"Kadabra, use Confusion." "Geodude, Defense Curl!" The trainers issued their commands. Roxanne's Geodude curled up into a ball, and Kadabra sent out a blast of psyschic energy toward Geodude, hitting it full force. Alex tried to figure out what she was doing. _"Roxanne isn't stupid...she'd know Defense Curl won't help her against any form of special attack. Why would she use it? ...Unless her Geodude knows..."_

Alex's thoughts were interrupted as Roxanne gave her Geodude its next command, "Geodude, use Rollout." Alex watched as Geodude started spinning rapidly. _"Crud..."_ he thought to himself. Geodude slammed into Kadabra full force, sending it back. Kadabra floated back to its feet using its psychic powers. Geodude was already coming back around for another attack. Alex didn't issue a command.

"Giving up already? Your Kadabra doesn't stand a chance if you don't order it to do something..." Alex just smirked. Geodude was picking up speed as it made its way toward Kadabra, but just as it was about to hit...Kadabra vanished! "What the...but you didn't even give it a command!" Alex just continued smirking as Kadabra reappeared on the other side of the field. "Sure I did...you of all people should have figured that out. Kadabra can read my mind, so I simply thought for it to use Teleport." "Interesting tactic...I'll have to keep that one in mind..."

Roxanne's Geodude had come to a halt, having missed its target. "Now, Kadabra, hit it with another Confusion attack!" Kadabra held up its spoon as it sent another blast of psychic energy at Geodude. Geodude looked severely weakened by the attack, but was still willing to continue, although it seemed to have a dazed look in its eyes. Kadabra, meanwhile, looked like it was still ready for more.

"Geodude, use Rollout again!" Geodude started spinning rapidly and launched itself...towards a rock. Geodude fell back unconcious from the collision. "Darn...Geodude, return. Seems that last attack confused my Geodude. Lets see you deal with this one. Geodude, go!" Roxanne sent out her second Geodude. Alex knew he couldn't count on this one using the same strategies, despite being equal strength.

"Geodude, hit that Kadabra with Rock Tomb!" Geodude complied, slamming its fists onto the ground and causing rock spikes to form up around Kadabra. Kadabra teleported out of the rock formation, but Alex could tell it was hurt badly. Kadabra was a strong psychic pokemon, but was physically weak. "Now hit it with Tackle, Geodude!" Geodude flung itself at Kadabra, but it teleported itself out of the way. Instead, Geodude was about to hit a rock where Kadabra was.

"Geodude, use that rock to swing around for another Tackle attack!" Geodude grabbed onto the rock and pivoted itself around it and threw itself at Kadabra once again. This time Kadabra couldn't teleport out of the way, and it dropped to the ground unconcious upon impact. "You did well, Kadabra. Return!" As Alex returned his Kadabra, a thought occurred to him. _"I think thats the first time one of my pokemon was defeated. Thats a pretty good record."_

"Alright, Grovyle, your turn! Go!" Alex tossed out Grovyle's pokeball, and it appeared with a cry. "Grovyle, hit that Geodude with Absorb!" "Geodude, use Dig!" _"Dig..."_ Alex thought,_ "Of course she wouldn't have used that attack on Kadabra. It would have easily avoided it because it'd sense where Geodude was. Grovyle can't though...but at least it can resist the attack since its a grass type."_

Geodude was surrounded by a burst of green energy as Grovyle drained its life from it, and that one attack seemed to almost KO it. Geodude quickly dug under the rocky battlefield, leaving only a hole where it once was. Both Grovyle and Alex scanned the battlefield for any sign of it. "Geodude, use Rock Tomb now!" Alex was caught off guard by this. Roxanne wasn't following through witht he Dig attack, she was having Geodude attack from underground!

This caught Grovyle off guard as well. Because Geodude was underground, the attack wasn't nearly as strong. But a small cage of rocks formed around one of Grovyle's feet, preventing it from moving. "Not bad...having Geodude use Rock Tomb while underground...Grovyle, try to break free with Pound!" Alex's Grovyle slammed its fist into the rocks, freeing itself. Just as it did, though, Roxanne's Geodude dug up behind Grovyle. "Geodude, use Tackle!" Geodude quickly threw itself at Grovyle before it had time to react, knocking Grovyle down. Grovyle quickly jumped back up, however. "Grovyle, hit it with another Absorb!"

Green energy surrounded Geodude again as Grovyle drained the last of its life from it, and it fell to the ground unconcious. However, Grovyle didn't heal much because Geodude had very little life left in it. "Your pretty good...whats your name?" "Alex." "Well Alex, I commend you for getting this far...but lets see how you do against my Nosepass!" Roxanne recalled her fallen Geodude, and threw out her final pokemon.

A pokemon that looked similar to the statues on Easter Island, only with legs, appeared. Alex knew that Nosepass was a much tougher opponent than most other rock pokemon. For starters, most were also part ground, making water or grass attacks do four times as much damage to them. Second, they couldn't resist special attacks very well, only physical attacks. Nosepass, however, was a pure rock type with a fairly high special defense rating. Alex knew it'd be his biggest challenge, but he still had two pokemon left.

"Nosepass, hit that Grovyle with Thunder Wave!" "Crud...Grovyle, try to dodge it and use Absorb!" Grovyle tried to run behind Nosepass as it was using Absorb, the green life energy flowing from Nosepass to Grovyle. Grovyle was unable to dodge the Tunder Wave attack, however, and was struck by rings of electrical energy. It fell to the ground and was starting to have trouble moving. Thunder Wave causes no damage, but instantly paralyzes.

"Grovyle, try to get up and use Absorb again!" "Nosepass, hit it with Rock Smash!"

Alex's Grovyle attempted to get up, looking clearly upset with its predicament, but fell to its knees again. Nosepass, meanwhile, hopped over to Grovyle and struck it with its fist hard enough to smash rocks. Grovyle was knocked back a bit, and appeared physically weakened from Nosepass's attack.

"Now hit it with Rock Tomb while its weakened!" "Grovyle try to hit it with Absorb again!" Grovyle was struck by a sudden cage of rocks, which crumbled shortly after forming. Grovyle was still having trouble moving, and looked like it had taken considerable damage. It managed to get up and get off an Absorb attack, however, and it syphoned some of Nosepass's life from it. Nosepass still looked ready for more, however, while Grovyle clearly couldn't take another hit.

"Finish it off with another Rock Smash!" Nosepass once again hopped up to Grovyle and smashed it with its fist, and it was lights out for Grovyle. Alex hoped it wasn't seriously injured from the attack as he recalled it. "You put up a good fight Grovyle...return." Alex reached for his last pokeball, "Your turn, Marill!" Alex tossed the pokeball, and Marill popped out, hopping around.

"Since it worked so well last time, Nosepass use Thunder Wave!" Alex was already ready for this attack, though. And waited while Nosepasss gathered electrical energy. "Now, Marill! Hit it with Water Gun!" Marill's shot a blast of water at Nosepass just as it was about to use Thunder Wave. Nosepass looked like it was weakened considerably from the attack, but that wasn't all. As it attempted to use Thunder Wave, it was shocked by its own electricity and fell to the ground, suffering from paralysis just like Grovyle was.

"Finish it off with another Water Gun, Marill!" Marill complied, sending another blast of water toward the rock pokemon. The water struck Nosepass and it collapsed, and didn't get up. Roxanne recalled her fallen pokemon. "Well done...It seems I still have much to learn about pokemon...you and your pokemon have earned the Stone Badge."

Alex recalled his Marill, and Roxanne handed him the Stone Badge. "You are obviously a very talented trainer...here, I want you to take this as well." She handed him a small metal disk with the number 39 on it. "No doubt someone like you knows all about TMs." Alex nodded. "That is TM 39, Rock Tomb. It is an excellent rock type attack." "Thanks. You were a tough opponent Roxanne."

Dirk watched as Alex left the gym, and saw him putting something on his trainer card.

"No way...that kid beat Roxanne! Hmm...I'm going to need to come up with a new strategy obviously if this kid can beat even gym leaders...yes...perhaps I should find some new pokemon to deal with him. I'll gather together pokemon specifically to defeat his!"

Alex made his way to the pokecenter and had his pokemon healed. The nurse there seem to be becoming accustomed to seeing him. Alex left the pokecenter and stood outside for a moment. "Lets see...the next gym would be Brawly's in Dewford...and Dewford is..." Alex shuddered, "Across the ocean...guess I need to get on the next ferry heading to Dewford..."

Alex was obviously uncomfortable with the idea, as he headed back towards Petalburg Woods.

Alex's Pokemon:

Grovyle, Lv.16: Pound, Fury Cutter, Absorb, Quick Attack

Tailow, shiny, Lv.16: Peck, Wing Attack, Focus Energy, Quick Attack

Marill, Lv.17: Tackle, Defense Curl, Rollout, Water Gun

Kadabra, Lv.16: Teleport, Confusion

Comments? Criticism?

E-mail me at 


	6. Chapter 3M: Chase That Aqua!

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Three (M):**

**Rocky Road to the First Badge**

May sighed, "Is this another Wurmple?" "Uh...it might be...or it might be something completely different!" May looked at her Lombre, who was clearly bored after having defeated 3 Wurmples already from this trainer. _"I can't seem to run into one decent trainer around here..." _May thought to herself. _"I can't wait to get to Rustboro to face Roxanne...I bet Alex beat her already."_

The bug catcher tossed out his last pokemon, "Your turn, Wurmple!" "How did I see that coming...Lombre, use Nature Power!" Lombre was the evolved form of Lotad, which evolved fairly early. It now was mostly green and walked on four legs, although its front two were also its arms. It still had a lilypad on its head, but now it looked almost like a hat for it.

May's Lombre glowed green as it tapped into its surroundings, and then it launched a barrage of stars at the Wurmple, instantly KO'ing it. "Now, are you quite done?" May asked impatiently. "Hmph...well you might not like Wurmple but I do...in fact I think I'll go catch some more!" May recalled her Lombre and walked off, not wanting to waste anymore time with the bug catcher.

May's trip through Petalburg Woods had been rather boring an uneventful. It was mostly filled with bugs. She caught herself a Silcoon, but found herself wondering why when she found it seemed incapable of doing anything besides harden. She was rather curious as to what would 'hatch' from the white cacoon-like pokemon. She wasn't sure how to get it to evolve, though.

As she was getting closer to the forest exit, a brown haired man in a green business suit approached her. "Excuse me. Have you seen a pokemon called Shroomish around here? I love that pokemon." the man asked her. "Umm...I've seen a couple of them before but..." May's sentence was cut off when a man dressed like a pirate and wearing a blue bandana approached them.

"I was going to ambush you, but you had to dawdle through the forest didn't you?" the pirate said. The man turned to face him, but suddenly seemed a bit nervous. "You! Hand over those research papers now!" The man in the business suit hid behind May, "Y-your a trainer right? P-please help me!" May shrugged and turned to face the pirate, reaching for the pokeball containing her Torchic.

"What! You think your going to help him?" May nodded. "Heh, fine. I'll crush your pokemon first then. Go get her Poochyena!" "Go, Torchic!" May tossed the pokeball she thought container Torchic, but out of it came her Silcoon. _"...Oops...guess I put Silcoon's pokeball in the wrong spot..." _May thought, realizing her mistake. _"Oh well...Silcoon could use the battle experience I guess."_

"Poochyena, hit that thing with Tackle!" "Silcoon, Harden!" May's Silcoon glowed briefly, its skin hardening just before Poochyena hit it. Poochyena ended up hurting itself more than Silcoon from the Tackle attack. "Grr...Poochyena, use Howl!" The pirate's Poochyena howled loudly, looking somewhat stronger as it did. "Silcoon, use Harden again!" Silcoon glowed slightly again as it hardened its skin to protect itself.

"Poochyena, try to Tackle it again!" "Silcoon, Harden!" Silcoon glowed yet again as Poochyena rammed into it, its attack seeming to do even less despite an increase in Poochyena's attack strength. The pirate cursed under his breath. "Your pokemon is bugging the hell out of me girl!" He yelled at her. May giggled at his reaction and shrugged, "Maybe you should just admit defeat then? Your Poochyena is going to end up spending most of its energy just trying to hurt my Silcoon...and I still have three other pokemon."

The pirate grumbled slightly, then smirked. "Alright...you win this time. It doesn't matter. Besides, we of Team Aqua are also after something in Rustboro. Poochyena, return!" The pirate, apparently a member of Team Aqua, returned his Poochyena and ran off towards Rustboro. Just as it was running off, though, May's Silcoon suddenly seemed lifeless.

"Hey...Silcoon...are you ok?" There was no response. Suddenly, though, the top of it started to split open. Eventually the entire pokemon split open, revealing a beautiful butterfly pokemon. May couldn't be happier as she checked her pokedex. "Beautifly, the butterfly pokemon. Its colorfully patterned wings are its most prominent features. It flies through flower-covered fields collecting pollen. It attacks ferociously when angered."

"Alright! I have a Beautifly now! Beautifly, return!" May recalled her newly evolved pokemon to its pokeball, making sure her pokemon were in their right places on her belt before turning to face the man hiding behind her. "O-oh...he's gone..." May rolled her eyes. "Thanks for helping me...that was a tense situation...here, you can have this for helping me." The man pulled an empty Great Ball out of his pocket and handed it to May, who stared at it blankly.

"Wait...didn't he say something about wanting something in Rustboro...?" The man seemed to think for a minute. "Oh no! Its a crisis! I need to get back to Rustboro! Thanks for your help, bye!" Then the man ran off towards the forest exit. May was still staring at the Great Ball. "A Great Ball...for taking on a member of a criminal organization? ...Better than nothing I guess." May continued on her way toward Rustboro, but didn't get far before she ran into a familiar face.

"Alex!" Alex glanced over in the direction of the voice, "Hey, May. Finally on your way to Rustboro huh?" May nodded, "Yep. Going to get my first badge." "By the way...you know anything about the pirate guy and the Devon employee that just ran by?" May rolled her eyes, "Yeah, apparently that pirate is a member of Team Aqua and that employee...well he's just a coward."

"I see...well anyway, good luck with Roxanne!" Alex turned to continue on his way through the forest. "Hey, wait!" Alex turned to face her again, "Huh?" "You never said whether you beat her or not!" "Well...she was pretty tough...but yeah, I managed to beat her in the end."

May's thoughts were suddenly filled with images of Alex's Treecko thrashing every one of her pokemon, _"I think I'll battle him some other time...if he beat Roxanne chances are he'd beat me easily..." _May thought to herself. "Well...umm...congratulations! Good luck with your next badge! Bye!" With that, May ran off towards Rustboro.

May squinted as she finally emerged from the woods, and the first thing she noticed was the Pretty Petal Flower Shop. Without a second thought she ran into the shop, but much to her dismay they weren't open. She sighed and continued on her trek towards Rustboro. Once she was there, she healed her pokemon at the pokecenter. As she left the pokecenter, she thought about Alex's advice from before.

"Alex said if Torchic evolves into Combusken it'd stand a chance against Roxanne's pokemon...but I also have Lombre and I have Beautifly who should know Absorb...but then again if she's using rock type pokemon then she'd have a type advantage over Beautifly..." May's thoughts were interrupted, however, as she heard someone yelling for help. As she turned towards the source of the voice, she saw the pirate from before running off with a box and the man in the green business suit slowly chasing after him.

"I guess I better help him...again...my pokemon could use the extra training before the fight with Roxanne..." May ran off after the two, and found the mn in the business suit just at the edge of the city, trying to catch his breath. He noticed May and immediately recognized her from before. "Your...the trainer...that helped me...before...right?" May nodded. "That guy...made off...with some...machine parts...from Devon..." The man stopped for a moment, again trying to catch his breath. "I think he was heading for Rusturf tunnel...please, you have to stop him!"

May ran off toward Rusturf Tunnel, thinking to herself _"Isn't that tunnel still under construction?" _As she finally made it to the tunnel entrance, she found an older man outside the tunnel, and he seemed upset about something. May didn't pay any attention to him, though, and ran into the tunnel. Thanks to the running shoes her mother gave her, all the running didn't seem to bother her. Her shoes actually made it easy on her feet and it took less energy for her to run.

May found the Team Aqua member in a pretty bad mood, and backed up against what seemed to be a large, cracked up rock. Under his arm he was carrying a seagull-like pokemon called Wingull. It looked pretty scared and was squawking loudly. "#$ son of a !#$...all that work to steal those parts and I run into a dead end..." "You shouldn't use such language around kids, you know!" The Team Aqua member turned to see May standing behind him.

"Dammit not you again! You better not take another step, or else!" May shrugged, looking pretty confident of herself as she stepped toward the man. He cursed some more and tossed the Wingull aside, "Lousy hostage that pokemon turned out to be! Alright kid if its a fight you want its a fight you'll get! Go, Poochyena!" "This will be easy...go, Torchic!" The two trainers released their pokemon, and Torchic and Poochyena stood facing each other.

"Torchic, use Ember!" "Poochyena, use Tackle!" Poochyena started to rush towards Torchic, while Torchic fired a small fireball at it. Poochyena stumbled, but continued on its attack and slammed into Torchic. Torchic staggered backwards a bit, but hardly seemed like it was hurt.

"Poochyena, hit it with another Tackle!" "Torchic, jump up to avoid it and use Scratch!" Poochyena rushed toward Torchic again, but this time Torchic was ready and jumped out of the way, coming down on top of Poochyena and striking it with its claws hard. Poochyena collapsed from the attack and fell unconcious. The Team Aqua member recalled his Poochyena, and dropped the box he was carrying.

"Fine if you want those lousy parts back that badly you can have them! I'm out of here!"

With that the Team Aqua member ran out of the cave at top speed. "Alright! We did it Torchic!" Torchic hopped up and down, chirping happily, then started to glow. Torchic suddenly seemed to get much bigger. When the glowing ceased, May could see that her Torchic had evolved into Combusken. It was a bit meaner looking, and its small wings had grown into long arms.

"Wow! You evolved, Torchic! Now I know we're ready to face Roxanne! Combusken, return!" May returned her newly evolved Combusken to its pokeball. Just then the man she saw outside entered the cave. The man seemed to be overjoyed as he rushed toward the Wingull the Team Aqua member had left behind before and scooped it up in his arms. "Oh, my darling Peeko, your ok!"

The man then looked at May, "Peeko owes her life to you..." May smiled, "It was nothing, really." "My name is Mr. Briney. If you ever need anything, feel free to drop by my cottage near Petalburg. Briney left the cave, and May followed shortly after grabbing the box of parts the member of Team Aqua left behind.

Once back in Rustboro, May handed the box of parts back to the man, who in turn handed her...another Great Ball. However, the man also wanted to introduce May to the president of Devon Inc, so she followed him back to Devon Inc.'s main office building. It was a fairly tall building that could be seen from pretty much anywhere in Rustboro.

As they reached the level of the building the president's floor was on, the man gave the parts back to May. "Do you think you could deliver those parts to Captain Stern in Slateport? It'd be horrible if Team Aqua tried to steal them again." May nodded and put the parts in the largest section of her belt pouch. The man then went down to the other end of the room, and May could see him talking with an older looking man.

The man then approached her again, "The President will see you now." She was then brought before the president. The president seemed to be an older man, with slightly graying hair and wearing a brown business suit and matching hat. "Ah, so your the one who has helped one of our employees.", he said to her. "Thats me!"

"I hear your delivering a package to Slateport...", he continued, "Could I also get you to deliver a letter to Steven? He should be in Dewford currently." "Sure." "Of course, I wouldn't expect you to do this and get nothing in return. I see you don't have a pokenav." "A pokenav?"

May thought back, "Oh yeah thats that thing Alex had..." "Alex?" "Oh...a friend of mine. He apparently lives in this city and has a pokenav, he claims his is highly advanced though."

"Hmm...don't think I know him, and the only pokenavs we give out are basic." The president sighed and seemed to go deep into thought. "My daughter, though, was exceptionally good with them...it was because of her work that we developed many features of the pokenav, including its ability to display data on your own pokemon. Before she disappeared she was working on a feature to scan wild pokemon for basic data."

_"Alex was scanning pokemon with his pokenav...maybe Alex should consider working for Devon someday?"_ "I'm sorry about your daughter, Mr. Stone." "Its perfectly fine...I personally believe she might not want to be found. Ever since an incident two years ago she hasn't been herself. I believe she may feel responsible for the appearance of Team Aqua and Team Magma. She was studying ancient ruins with the leaders of those organizations, the ruins referred to the ancient pokemon Kyogre and Groudon. But enough pointless banter..."

President Stone took a red pokenav out of his desk, "This pokenav is equipped with all the latest features, including a built in phone." "Wow...thanks!" May took the pokenav and looked it over, before strapping it to her belt. "I've been wanting one of these!" The president chuckled, "You remind me so much of Melany. when she was your age. Don't hesitate to call should you need anything, my number should already be registered in your pokenav." "Ok, thanks Mr. Stone!"

May left the Devon Inc. building and went to the pokecenter to have her pokemon healed before her big match against Roxanne. She was pretty sure she was ready for her now.

"I think I'll lead off with Beautifly, and for my other two pokemon I'll use Lombre and, of course, Combusken." May said to herself as she made her way to Roxanne's gym.

May entered the gym and looked at the battlefield before her. It wasn't like her father's gym at all. Her dad just used a very basic gym layout, nothing special. Roxanne had a rocky looking battlefield that seemed like it might suit her pokemon well. "Greetings, challenger." May looked up and saw Roxanne standing on the other side of the gym. "Welcome to Rustboro gym. I am the gym leader, Roxanne. I have studied pokemon extensively, and my pokemon are of the rock type."

May took up position on her end of the battlefield. "I can see you are eager to battle. Very well, as a gym leader I will do everything in my power to win! Go, Geodude!" "Beautifly, Go!" The pokeballs landed on their respective side of the field, and Geodude and Beautifly prepared to face off. "Beautifly, use Harden!" "Geodude, Defense Curl!" Beatifly glowed briefly as it increased its defenses, and Geodude curled up into a ball, neither pokemon making an offensive attack.

"Beatifly, use Absorb!" "Geodude, use Rollout!" Geodude started to spin rapidly, and a green burst of energy escaped from it as Beautifly used Absorb. Since Beautifly hadn't taken any damage, it wasn't healed at all. The attack did seem to do a decent amount of damage to Geodude, however. Geodude then launched itself at Beautifly while spinning rapidly, hitting it hard then landing on the ground, already getting ready for another attack.

May figured Beautifly could at least take one more hit from Geodude's attack, and she quickly checked her pokenav to confirm this. A bar was showing Beautifly's relative condition as hit points or "hp". Its bar was roughly at the halfway point, but May knew Absorb would push its hp high enough to survive another hit from Rollout.

"Beautifly, use Absorb!" Green energy burst from Geodude, causing more damage to it and restoring Beautifly slightly. Geodude was severely weakened, but no one could tell just by looking at it because it was spinning so fast. It launched itself at May's Beautifly again, smashing into it and knocking it to the ground unconcious. "Beautifly, no! How did that attack hurt it that much?" Roxanne chuckled, "Perhaps you should have studied...the damage from Geodude's Rollout attack increases as it continues to use it, doubling in strength each turn."

"Beautifly return!" May recalled Beautifly to its pokeball and reached for Lombre's pokeball. "Lombre, your turn! Go!" Lombre appeared on the battlefield with a cry, and Geodude started to roll towards it. "Lombre, quick, use Absorb!" Lombre complied, and yet another green burst of energy surrounded Geodude and was drawn towards Lombre. Geodude went unconcious from the damage, slamming into a rock as it continued rolling.

"Not bad. Geodude, return." Roxanne recalled her Geodude to its pokeball. "Lets see you deal with this one, Geodude go!" May winced as Roxanne sent out the second Geodude, _"I better try to finish this one off quickly before it uses Rollout!" _"Lombre, use Absorb!"

Roxanne laughed, "This again? Geodude, use Dig!" Lombre's Absorb attack struck Geodude, causing considerable damage to it as it dug its way underground.

_"Great...now what do I do? Maybe Nature Power will work..."_ "Lombre, try Nature Power!" Roxanne laughed, "You sound like you don't even know what it will do, and yet your still using it?" May clenched her fist at Roxanne's words, but suddenly she found herself trying to keep her balance as the gym started to shake. Lombre had used Nature Power, tapping into the battlefield Roxanne had made, and Lombre's Nature Power had become Earthquake!" "Oh no! Geodude!" Roxanne's Geodude attempted to dig its way to the surface, but being underground during an Earthquake attack was not a good thing, and Geodude was KO'd.

"Lucky shot...Geodude, return!" Roxanne returned her Geodude to its pokeball from underneath the gym. She tossed her last pokeball onto the field, "Alright Nosepass, its up to you! Go!" The statue shaped Nosepass appeared on Roxanne's side of the battlefield. "Lombre, use Absorb!" "Nosepass, use Thunder Wave to paralyze her Lombre!"

May's Lombre used its Absorb attack, drawing energy from Nosepass, but Nosepass still seemed like it was ready for more and fired out rings of electricity towards Lombre, paralyzing it on the spot. "Lombre, try to shake it off and use Absorb!" "Nosepass, hit her pokemon with Rock Smash!" Nosepass hopped over to May's Lombre as it struggled to rise to use its Absorb attack, and smashed it in the face with Rock Smash. The attack didn't seem to cause much damage, however it did physically weaken her Lombre. Lombre collapsed from the paralysis, unable to use its Absorb attack.

"Lombre try Nature Power again!" "Nosepass, use Rock Tomb!" As Lombre tried to get another attack off, it was struck by rocks rising from the ground and fainted. May recalled her Lombre, "Combusken, go!" May tossed out her last pokemon, and Combusken appeared on her side of the battlefield. "Combusken, hit it with Double Kick!" "Nosepass, use Thunder Wave again!" May's Combusken leapt forward quickly, smashing Nosepass with a thrust of one of its powerful legs, then spun around to kick it again. Nosepass fell over and was down for the account after that one attack. Roxanne recalled her fallen pokemon.

"Your the second trainer to beat me in such a short amount of time...perhaps it is a sign that I need to start training again. Regardless, you have earned the Stone Badge." "Alright! We did it, Combusken!" Combusken raised its fist into the air triumphantly, as did May. May recalled her Combusken, and Roxanne made her way to May's side of the field and handed her the Stone Badge as well as TM39, Rock Tomb.

May left the gym happy as could be. Roxanne was easily the toughest foe she had to face so far, and she knew she'd have to face even stronger opponents, but for now she was content with having won her first badge. She healed her pokemon up at the pokecenter and decided to head back to Petalburg to get a ferry to Dewford. As she was making her way out of town, however, she ran into Brendan!

"Hey, May. I see you have a pokenav now. Why don't we register each other then?"

"Sure! ...Umm how do you do that exactly?" Brendan laughed and held up is pokenav, "Just hold up your pokenav and press the green button next to the phone function." May nodded and did as Brendan instructed. After a while she saw a notice on the screen, indicating that Brendan Birch was added to her call list.

"Wow...that was easy..." "Guess you just got it, huh? Well anyway, since we're here, why don't we have a battle?" "Sure!" May and Brendan spaced themselves apart as they reached for their pokeballs. "We'll use two pokemon each, since thats all I have..." "Thats fine by me. Go, Ralts!" "Torkoal, go!" They each tossed out their first pokemon, and Ralts and Torkoal appeared.

"Ralts, use Confusion!" "Torkoal, use Curse!" Ralts struck Torkoal with a blast of psychic energy before it had much of a chance to react, and Brendan noticed that that had caused a considerable amount of damage to his Torkoal with just one hit. "Wow, May. Your pokemon are pretty powerful..." "May grinned, "Of course, I did just beat Roxanne afterall!" "Well I'm still not going to go down easy!" Torkoal glowed and appeared to slow down, but got

stronger physically, both defensively and offensively.

"Ralts, hit it with another Confusion attack!" "Torkoal, use Smog!" Ralts once again struck out with a blast of psychic energy, and this attack was enough to cause Brendan's Torkoal to collapse. "Torkoal, return! Go, Mudkip!" Brendan recalled his fallen Torkoal, which was soon replaced by his Mudkip. "Mudkip hasn't evolved yet? Too bad! Ralts, return!" May returned her Ralts, despite it being undamaged. Since it wasn't fainted she could still use it if her next pokemon fainted. "Go, Combusken!"

"Don't think just because your Torchic evolved it can beat my Mudkip! Mudkip, use Water Gun!" "Combusken, jump to dodge it and use Double Kick!" Brendan's Mudkip fired a blast of water towards May's Combusken, but Combusken jumped out of the way and came down behind Mudkip. It then spun around and kicked Mudkip hard, sending it sprawling. It quickly hopped to Mudkip and kicked it a second time, and Mudkip didn't get back up.

"Mudkip, return. Not bad May...you've been raising your pokemon well..." "Good job, Combusken! Return! Thanks Brendan, your not half bad yourself." "Oh, do you know Mr. Briney, May?" "Mr. Briney? I've met him, why?" "I passed him in the woods, probably on his way back to his cottage. You might not know this since you just moved here, but he was once a great sailor. He still has a boat too."

_"Hmm...maybe I can get Briney to give me a lift to Dewford instead of taking the ferry then?"_ "Thanks for the info. I should get going though. Bye Brendan!" May turned to leave, "Oh, one more thing." May turned to face him and looked at him quizically, "Huh?" "Have you battled Alex yet?" May shook her head. "He's pretty tough...I fought him earlier before he battled Roxanne, but lost." "Oh...I was going to challenge him when I saw him in Petalburg Woods but...I figured since he already beat Roxanne I wouldn't stand a chance."

"Heh...your probably right. Well anyway I'm going to heal my pokemon up and move on. I'm still helping my dad out." May healed her pokemon at the pokecenter as well, and started on her way out of Rustboro and through Petalburg Woods again.

May's Pokemon:

Combusken, Lv.17: Scratch, Peck, Double Kick, Ember

Lombre, Lv. 17: Astonish, Growl, Absorb, Nature Power

Ralts, Lv. 16: Growl, Confusion, Double Team, Teleport

Beautifly, Lv. 15: Harden, Absorb, Gust

Comments? Criticism?

E-mail me at 


	7. Chapter 4a: Dirk's New Team

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Four (A):**

**Fighting for the Second Badge**

Alex was sitting at the highest point he could access on the ferry, shivering slightly as he seemed to be huddling against the door. He silently prayed the ferry would reach Dewford quickly, and was trying desperately to get his mind off his current situation. He took out his pokenav and brought up the information he had stored about Brawly to try to get his mind off of where he was.

"Brawly...leader of the Dewford Gym...leads off with Machop..." Alex muttered to himself, hoping the sound of his own voice would calm him down. "His other pokemon...are Meditite and Makuhita...Makuhita is his strongest...and psychic types won't work as well against Meditite...So...I should lead off with either Marill...or Grovyle...Marill is probably my best bet...and use Tailow and Kadabra..." Alex chuckled nervously, "Funny...all three of his pokemon...their names start with M..."

Alex nearly jumped out of his skin as a whistle blew just above him, but he quickly calmed down after realizing it was just the whistle signalling that the ferry was preparing to dock. Alex breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed his stuff, quickly making his way to the stairs to get off the ship would be going. He was the first there, as most people weren't in much of a hurry to get off the ship.

The ferry soon docked in Dewford and Alex quickly got off of the ship and went into town. Alex finally slowed down when he got into town, stopping right in front of the pokecenter. Alex decided to go into the pokecenter and sat down on one of the benches inside. The tv in the pokecenter was tuned to a show called "Trainer Tips". Alex decided to sit down and watch it. Sure, he was only in town to get his second badge, but what was the hurry? He was definitely in no hurry to get on a ferry going to Slateport. It was a two day trip by boat.

_"Before I fight Brawly I think I'll try to catch a Geodude over in Granite Cave...the next gym is Wattson, and he uses electric pokemon. Geodude is the easiest ground type I'll be able to get before facing him, and since he relies heavily on electric attacks he won't be able to hurt a Geodude much. Further more he'd probably fall back on normal type attacks if he can't use electric, and since Geodude is rock type as well that will do very little. Geodude won't be much use against Brawly though since rock types crumble under a pounding from fighting type pokemon."_

Alex looked at the tv and saw Sidney, one of Hoenn's Elite 4, demonstating pokemon catching tactics and another man, apparently a Devon employee, was describing the functions of various pokeballs. Alex snickered, "I could probably teach that guy a thing or two about the various pokeballs...he has yet to say anything I didn't already know." "You sound sure of yourself."

Alex turned toward the voice and saw a silver haired man wearing a pair of black dress pants and a tuxedo-like top. "I studied a lot before becoming a trainer." Alex replied. "I see. You remind me of Roxanne, the gym leader in Rustboro. I find it interesting myself to learn the various tactics and battle stratgies trainers employ." The man laughed, "Oh sorry I haven't properly introduced myself, have I? I am Steven Stone." Steven extended his hand towards Alex. Alex got up and shook his hand, "I'm Alex."

"I suppose you are here to challenge Brawly?" "Of course." "Interesting...well, I must be going. I intend to explore Granite Cave today. I am sure we will meet each again, Alex." Steven turned to leave the pokecenter, but looked back briefly as he was leaving. _"There's something... odd about him..."_ Steven shrugged it off and left the pokecenter.

Alex left the pokecenter as well and was going to head for Granite Cave to get a Geodude, however outside the pokecenter he ran into an all too familiar face. "We meet again...Alex. Assuming thats even your real name." Alex looked behind him and saw Detective Dirk. "Detective Dork...what an unpleasant surprise..." "Thats Dirk you little ingrate! And your days are numbered!"

"Well, if you look at a calendar, everyone's days are numbered aren't they?" Dirk clenched a fist. "I bet you think your real funny...but when I'm done with you I'll be the only one laughing! You see...when I saw you beat Roxanne, I knew I'd need much stronger pokemon to defeat you, and now I've assembled an entire team of pokemon just to take you down!" Alex shrugged, "I doubt you have what it takes...but if I'm going to have to teach you a lesson yet again...Go, Marill!"

"This time you'll be the one learning a lesson...Go, Wingull!" Dirk tossed out his pokeball, and out came the seagull-like pokemon. Alex calmly released his Marill. "Hey Marill...lets show this detective what we learned against Roxanne. Use Defense Curl!" "That won't help you at all, kid! Wingull, use Wing Attack!" Alex's Marill curled up into a ball to protect itself, and Dirk's Wingull flew into Marill and smacked it with its wings, causing very little damage.

"You obviously have no skills as a trainer...Marill, hit that thing with Rollout!" Alex's Marill started spinning rapidly, then launched itself at Dirk's Wingull, instantly knocking it to the ground. "Damn it! Lucky shot! Wingull, return!" Dirk recalled his fallen Wingull, "Dustox, go, teach this kid a lesson!" Dirk tossed out his second pokemon, a purple moth-like pokemon with green wings.

"Keep up the attack, Marill!" Marill once again launched itself at Dirk's pokemon, slamming into Dustox hard and instantly knocking it to the ground. Dustox was down and out. "Grr...Dustox, return! Go, Poochyena!" "You still have that thing around?" Dirk tossed out Poochyena's pokeball, and the dog-like pokemon appeared with a growl. Marill quickly came around, spinning rapidly as it rolled around on the ground, and slammed into Poochyena hard. Another instant KO."

"Just give it up, Dirk, or haven't you realized yet how hopeless this battle is for you? My Marill alone has just KO'd three of your pokemon." "Poochyena, return! I ain't giving up until one of us is out of pokemon! Go, Whismur!" Dirk recalled his Poochyena, and in its place was a small pink pokemon with large, rabbit-like ears. Whismur hardly had a chance to react, though, as Alex's Marill came around and slammed into with even more force, its attacks getting stronger as the battle went on. Whismur slammed into a nearby building and was out like a light. Dirk seemed to be getting worried.

"Whismur, return! Go, Shroomish!" "Gee...now, if you were smart, which your not, you would have sent that one out long ago." "Shut up!" Dirk recalled the fallen Whismur, and sent out a small green mushroom-like pokemon in its place. Marill once again came around, spinning its fastest yet as it slammed full force into Shroomish. Shroomish was out cold, and Marill finally came to a stop, standing up and hopping happily and its 5 straight victories.

"Grr...damn you...Shroomish, return! This last one has to do it...Go, Numel!" Dirk recalled his Shroomish, and sent out his last pokemon. A yellow, dim-witted looking pokemon with a hole in its back. Alex laughed. "Thats your last pokemon? Marill, hit it with Water Gun." Marill stopped hopping around and quickly shot a blast of water at the slow Numel, who trained in vain to get out of the way. It was blasted full force by Marill's Water Gun, and being a fire/ground type pokemon it was instantly KO'd as well.

Dirk nervously recalled his last pokemon. He stared at Alex and his Marill, a look of fear in his eyes as he took off through the city. Alex laughed, "Way to go Marill, you really showed him." Alex was just about to recall his Marill when it started to glow. By now, Alex was used to seeing a pokemon evolve. When the glowing stopped, his pokemon was much taller, and had white spots at the bottom of it. The color of its body could almost represent a wave now. His Marill had evolved into Azumarill.

"Heh...Well this has been quite the day for you so far, hasn't it Azumarill? You beat all six of Dirk's pokemon single handedly and evolved. Congratulations." Alex's newly evolved Azumarill jumped up and down happily before Alex recalled it to its pokeball. "I should probably be a bit more wary of that detective now...he went and caught five more pokemon in an attempt to take me down. Too bad they didn't seem to be trained very well. Well after today I'll have 5 pokemon anyway..."

Alex had his pokemon healed at the pokecenter, since he was standing just outside, and headed north out of town and towards granite cave. Alex didn't plan on going deep into the cave, just far enough to get a Geodude for when he faced Wattson. Geodude would be another pokemon to check off his "Wish List". For the most part he only intended to catch pokemon he'd be using at all times, although supposedly no time would seem to pass to a pokemon stored in a PC. He was aiming to have a manageable and well-balanced team.

Alex had a flashlight on him, but as he looked inside the cave he could tell he had no immediate need for it. As he entered the cave, he couldn't see any Geodude about, however he could see several small bat-like pokemon called Zubat flying about. He wasn't interested in Zubat, though. He ran into a hiker in the cave that handed him a gold disk with the number 5 on it. Alex knew it to be the Flash HM. He thought it was a pretty silly idea for an HM, though. Why have a pokemon waste one of its move slots for an attack that could light up caves when you could get a flashlight at almost any pokemart?

Alex wasn't paying much attention to where he was going in the cave as he was trying to spot a Geodude, when he tripped over a small rock jutting out of the ground. "Dammit..." Alex muttered, looking back, "Where the hell did that come from?" The rock he tripped over seemed to move, then he saw the ground on either side of it lift up, and it looked like the rock had arms. Alex came to the realization that he tripped over a sleeping Geodude that had buried itself in the ground. It was wide awake now after being kicked by Alex, and pulled itself out of its hole and turned to face him.

Alex reached for a pokeball, but before he could call out a pokemon the Geodude threw itself into him, hitting him with a Tackle attack. Alex was hit in his chest by the Geodude, and felt the wind knocked out of him as he fell back. Alex reached for a pokeball again as he recovered, and sent out his Kadabra to fight it. "Guess that Geodude's not a morning person...Kadabra, use Confusion!"

Alex's Kadabra sent out a blast of psychic energy towards Geodude, which was knocked back slightly. It quickly got up, though. As it was getting up Alex grabbed an empty pokeball from his backpack. "Despite it obviously not being a happy camper...I think I'll catch this Geodude." Alex threw the pokeball he grabbed at the Geodude. It opened up and sucked the Geodude inside, then started shaking as the Geodude tried to break out. After a few tense moments, it stopped shaking and clicked closed.

Alex picked up the pokeball with his newly captured Geodude in it."Good job, Kadabra. We caught a Geodude! Return." Alex returned his Kadabra to its pokeball, then sent out the Geodude again, which wasn't acting nearly as violent towards Alex this time. Alex spent a bit of time in the cave training his newly caught Geodude, and gave his other pokemon a bit of training as well.

Alex emerged from the cave some time later. "Alright...now I just have to heal my pokemon up...and grab some food since I haven't had anything to eat today. Then I'll head over to the gym to face Brawly. Think I'll lead off with Grovyle instead of Azumarill. Azumarill already had its fair share of battles today. I'll save Kadabra for last, since its easily my best bet against him."

Alex made his way back into Dewford and had his pokemon healed at the pokecenter. He then wandered around town for a bit until he found a small restaurant and stopped for a quick meal. He usually ate at restaurants whenever he got the chance, since all he usually ate were meals he tried to cook for himself anyway. After he finished his meal he picked up some supplies at a nearby shop, including some pokemon food. Once he was finished everything, he made his way to the gym and stepped inside.

Alex noticed that the battlefield layout was completely sand, with a wooden plateform on each side for the trainers to stand on. On the other side of the gym stood a muscular looking blue haired man. He was wearing a red shirt and blue shorts. "Greetings, and welcome to the Dewford Gym. I am the leader, Brawly. My pokemon and I have trained in the darkest caves and have battled against powerful waves and currents. You will not beat me easily."

"We'll see about that..." "We will use three pokemon each, agreed?" "Thats fine by me." _"I already knew that anyway."_ Alex thought. "Go, Grovyle!" "Machop, Go!" Alex's Grovyle appeared on his side of the field, while on the opposite side a grey, muscular, human shaped pokemon appeared.

"Alright, Grovyle, start off with Quick Attack!" "Machop, use Counter!" Alex's Grovyle started moving quickly and slammed into Machop. Brawly's Machop used the force of Grovyle's impact to power up its own attack as it came around and smashed its fist into Alex's Grovyle, knocking it back to its side of the field. Grovyle quickly hopped back up on its feet, not deterred in the slightest.

"Guess using physical attacks against this Machop isn't a good idea...Alright, Grovyle, use Absorb!" "Machop, grab it and use Seismic Toss!" Brawly's Machop ran forward toward's Alex's Grovyle as Grovyle absorbed some of Machop's energy from it. Machop ran behind Grovyle and grabbed its tail before it could turn to see what was going on. Machop then leapt up, bringing Grovyle up with it and slammed Grovyle into the ground. Grovyle seemed to have taken the biggest beating so far, but Machop had taken a fair amount of damage as well.

"Machop, hit it with another Seismic Toss to finish it off!" "Grovyle, try to dodge it with Quick Attack!" Machop went to grab onto Grovyle, but Grovyle started to run around it at a distance and Machop seemed unable to keep track of it, let alone grab it. Grovyle then slammed into Machop full force from behind, sending Machop sprawling. Machop got back up and went for Grovyle again. "Grovyle, jump behind it and use Pound!" Grovyle complied, leaping into the air and landing behind Machop. As Machop turned to face Grovyle, Grovyle slammed one of its fists into the side of Machop's head. Machop was sent sprawling again and this time it was knocked out.

"Hmm...not a bad comeback. Machop, return." Brawly returned Machop to its pokeball, "Lets see how you do against this one, go Meditite!" Brawly tossed out another pokeball, and out of this one came a frail looking human shaped pokemon with a big head. Alex knew despite its looks, a Meditite could take a lot of punishment.

"Grovyle, try using Quick Attack!" "Meditite, use Detect!" Grovyle started moving quickly and ran around in circles around Meditite. Meditite didn't seem to be watching Grovyle at all, however. Grovyle went to attack Meditite from behind, but Meditite moved to the side and Grovyle ended up slamming into the sand instead. It got up and had an annoyed look on its face.

"Grovyle, try Fury Cutter!" "Meditite, use Confusion!" Grovyle ran towards Meditite and sliced at it, causing minimal damage. As it hit Meditite, though, it was blasted by a wave of psychic energy. Grovyle was knocked back and tried to get up, but couldn't manage and fell back unconcious. "You did well, Grovyle. Return!" Alex returned Grovyle to its pokeball. "Alright, Tailow, its your turn! Go!" Alex released his Tailow, and it appeared on the battlefield with a cry.

"Meditite, lets try bringing this one down with Focus Punch!" Alex watched as Brawly's Meditite started glowing. He knew quite well what Focus Punch could do. "Tailow! Use Quick Attack! Hit it before it can finish charging!" Alex's Tailow took off into the air, flying quickly as it swooped down to strike Meditite, hitting it just before it finished charging up its focus punch and causing it to lose its concentration. Alex breathed a sigh of relief, "Good job Tailow. Now try to hit it with Wing Attack before it can recover!"

Alex's Tailow turned back around towards Meditite and flew towards it, striking it hard with one of its wings and continued to fly past it. Meditite already seemed weakened greatly by this point from the assault. "You seem to know pokemon attacks pretty well. Meditite is usually able to take down at least one pokemon before they figure out how to stop its Focus Punch. Meditite, use Detect!"

"Damn...using Detect again...next attack is guaranteed to fail...Tailow, use Focus Energy!" Alex's Tailow glowed as it flew around the battlefield, gathering energy from within itself to help it aim for the opponent's weak points. "Meditite, use Detect again!" "Tailow, try to hit it with Quick Attack!" Tailow once again gained speed and went in to attack Meditite. Meditite tried to move out of the way, but it was able to see this and altered its course in mid attack to strike Meditite. Meditite staggered from the hit, but was still standing.

"Meditite, hit it with Confusion!" "Tailow, hit it with another Quick Attack!" Tailow turned back towards Meditite, maintaining its speed as it struck it one more time before it could get its attack off. Meditite was sent flying back and slammed into the ground, and didn't get back up. Tailow flew back to its side of the side of the field, flapping its wings to keep airborne.

"Not bad, but my next pokemon can handle your Tailow no problem!" "Oh really? We'll see about that." Brawly returned his fallen Meditite and sent out his last pokemon, which looked like a small, yellow, sumo wrestler. "Tailow, hit it with Wing Attack!" Tailow flew towards Makuhita. Alex noticed Brawly didn't give Makuhita a command yet as Tailow was quickly approaching Makuhita.

"He must be planning something..." Alex muttered. Just as Tailow was about to strike, Brawly yelled out, "Now, Makuhita! Hit it with Thunder Punch!" Makuhita's fist crackled with electrical energy, and just as Tailow went to strike it Makuhita brought its fist into the bird, smashing it into the ground and sending an electric current through it. Tailow struggled to get up, but collapsed on the sand.

"Damn...taken out with one hit...Tailow, return!" Alex returned Tailow to its pokeball and reached for Kadabra's. "Looks like this is going to be another close one...Go, Kadaba!" Alex tossed the pokeball out onto the field, and the psychic pokemon popped out of it. This time, Alex fully intended to have Kadabra reading his mind from the start.

"Makuhita, hit it with Thunder Punch!" Makuhita ran toward Kadabra, charging its fist with electricity. As it got near, however, Kadabra disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the battlefield. It then turned toward the confused Makuhita and hit it with a Confusion attack. "Interesting plan of attack, using Kadabra's mind reading abilities to avoid giving away your plans. Makuhita, use Vital Throw!"

Makuhita ran toward Kadabra and grabbed it, slamming it into the ground. Kadabra

quickly got up and struck Makuhita with another blast of psychic energy. This attack, however, didn't seem to do any damage at all. "Ha, that didn't do anything at all. Makuhita, hit it with another Vital Throw!" Makuhita got ready to attack, then stopped and scratched its head, as if it couldn't figure out what it was doing.

"What...?" "I had Kadabra use Disable to prevent you from using Vital Throw, since thats such a hard move for even Kadabra to evade." "Heh...your good kid, I'll give you that. Makuhita, use Thunder Punch!" Makuhita charged up its fist again and this time landed a hit on Kadabra before it could teleport away, but it didn't hurt Kadabra nearly as much as it did Tailow. Kadabra then struck Makuhita with another Confusion attack. Makuhita fell to its knees, then fell over unconcious.

Brawly recalled his Makuhita. "Well what do you know...I lost. Not bad, kid." Alex recalled his Kadabra, "Thanks." "You should be careful having your Kadabra read your mind like that, though. It might find out things you'd rather keep secret." Alex shrugged, "I trust my pokemon, so what does it matter?" Brawly laughed, "I can tell your going to go far in your journey."

Brawly made his way over to Alex, "Here, you've earned this." Brawly handed Alex the Knuckle Badge, and Alex stuck it to his trainers card. Brawly handed him a silver disk with the number 8 on it. "You can have this too, its the Bulk Up TM. Its a great attack for fighting pokemon, as it makes the pokemon physically stronger, raising its attack and defense." "Thanks." "Good luck with the rest of your badges."

Alex left the gym and restored his pokemon at the pokecenter, then headed back towards the docks. He bought a ticket and waited for the evening ferry to Slateport. He wouldn't mind this one, because it was a fair bit bigger than the ferry going between Dewford and Petalburg. He sat down on a bench near the docks and waited. "Well, this has been quite a day, but I know even more excitement lies ahead..."

Alex's Pokemon:

Grovyle, Lv.19: Pound, Fury Cutter, Absorb, Quick Attack

Tailow, shiny, Lv.19: Peck, Wing Attack, Double Team, Quick Attack

Azumarill, Lv.18: Tackle, Defense Curl, Rollout, Water Gun

Kadabra, Lv.19: Teleport, Confusion, Disable

Geodude, Lv. 18: Tackle, Defense Curl, Rock Throw, Magnitude

Comments? Criticism?

E-mail me at 


	8. Chapter 4M: May's Delivery

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Four (M):**

**Fighting for the Second Badge**

May watched from the bow of the small ship as Dewford loomed closer in the distance. Mr. Briney was more than happy to give May a lift to Dewford, saying he'd gladly take her anywhere on his boat as thanks for rescuing Peeko, his Wingull. She was enjoying every second of the boat ride. She loved the feeling of the wind blowing through her hair and the sight of the sunlight reflecting off the water.

That was all over in another 30 minutes, however, as Mr. Briney's ship pulled up to a small dock in Dewford. May stepped off the boat and thanked Mr. Briney, who told her he'd wait there for her to deliver the letter to Steven. First, though, May planned to try to take on Brawly.

May knew her pokemon wouldn't need any healing because she hadn't had them in any fights since she healed them in Petalburg, so she went straight to the gym. Inside she found another somewhat strange battlefield. It was all sand. She figured it was probably supposed to be an advantage for Brawly somehow. She was already thinking of ways to use it to her advantage, though.

"Greetings, challenger. I am Brawly, leader of the Dewford Gym. My pokemon and I have trained in the darkest caves and battled against powerful waves. You will not beat me easily." May took up position on her side of the battle field, reaching for her Combusken's pokeball, "We'll see about that!" "We shall use three pokemon each for the battle." _"Three pokemon huh? Combusken, Beautifly, and Ralts then."_ May thought.

May and Brawly called out their first pokemon, and Combusken and Machop faced off on the battlefield. "Combusken, start off with Double Kick!" "Machop, use Bulk Up!" Brawly's Machop flexed its body and its muscles seemed to bulge. May's Combusken ran across the battlefield towards Machop and delivered a kick to its chest. Machop staggered back slightly as Combusken spin around and kicked Machop a second time. May noticed that Machop seemed to take the hit pretty easily.

"Combusken, move back and try using Ember!" Combusken jumped backwards away from Machop, then reared its head back and fired a small ball of fire at it. "Machop, punch the ground now!" Machop raised its fist and struck the ground hard, creating a cloud of sand and dust which deflected most of Combusken's Ember attack. "Now, use Seismic Toss!" Machop ran out of the cloud of dust and grabbed Combusken before it had much of a chance to react, then jumped up into the air while holding on to it and threw it towards the ground. Combusken struck the ground hard but got back up.

_"Because of Bulk Up, Machop is able to take physical attacks better...but it can use the sand to weaken fire attacks...I need to try to get it in the air and use Ember."_ "Combusken, use Double Kick! Kick Machop into the air!" "Machop, use Seismic Toss again!" Combusken and Machop ran towards each other, but Combusken dropped down onto the ground and kicked up at Machop as it went to grab it, hitting it with up with both feet.

"Now try to hit it with Ember!" Combusken jumped to its feet and shot a fireball from its mouth, striking it while it was in the air. Machop was unable to do anything but take the hit, which caused it to hit the ground hard. Machop struggled to get up. "Machop, try to get up and hit it with Low Kick!" "Combusken hit it with another Ember!" Machop struggled to get back to hits feet, but it was kept down as it was struck by another fireball from Combusken, and this was enough to keep it down. Brawly recalled his pokemon.

"Not bad...this pokemon should keep you on your toes, though. Go, Meditite!" Brawly threw out the pokeball containing Meditite, and it appeared on the battlefield. _"Meditite, huh?_" May took out her pokedex, but couldn't get any worthwhile information on Meditite. "Its probably just another fighting type anyway. Combusken, use Double Kick!" Combusken ran towards Meditite and kicked it, but the force of the impact seemed to be lessened by something. Combusken spun around and kicked it again, but met the same resistance.

_"Thats weird...is it just me or did that attack not look very effective?"_ May thought to herself. "Meditite, now, use Confusion!" Before either May or her Combusken could react, Combusken was struck by a blast of psychic energy at pretty much point blank range. Combusken was knocked back several feet and landed in the sand. It struggled to get up to its feet, the attack obviously having caused it a great deal of pain. "Meditite is a psychic type too? Guess that explains why Combusken's Double Kick didn't seem to do much...Combusken are you ok?" Combusken painfully squawked its response.

_"I don't think Combusken can deal with this pokemon...I'll switch out Ralts."_ May thought to herself. "Combusken, return!" May held out Combusken's pokeball, and the pokemon as pulled back into it. "Go, Ralts!" May threw out the pokeball containing Ralts, and the small psychic pokemon appeared. _"Ralts won't have an offensive advantage or disadvantage against a psychic/fighting pokemon, but should be well off defensively."_

"Meditite, use Focus Punch!" Meditite started to glow a bright orange color as it started charging up energy. "Ralts, use Double Team!" Ralts glowed brielfy, then suddenly many copies of itself appeared circling around Meditite. Meditite looked confused as to which one it should try to hit as it finished charging its attack. It launched itself at Ralts, but its attack went through it as it turned out to be a copy.

"Now, Ralts, hit it with Confusion!" All of the images of Ralts appeared to be preparing to attack, and then a small blast of psychic energy fired out from one of the Ralts behind Meditite. The attack didn't appear to do much damage to it, but it did seem to be in a daze afterwards. "Meditite, try to shake off the confusion and hit it with your own Confusion attack!" Brawly was in a tough position, as he always was against psychic pokemon. Meditite's offensive attacks consisted of Focus Punch and Confusion. Confusion would do very little to Ralts even if it hit, while Focus Punch was unreliable.

Meditite managed to concentrate long enough to get off a Confusion attack on Ralts, who hardly seemed to react from the hit. "Ralts, hit it with another Confusion attack!" Ralts unleashed another blast of psychic energy, which struck the still confused Meditite. Meditite was starting to look a little weak from the assault, but was still able to fight.

"Ralts, finish it off with another Confusion attack!" "Meditite, use Detect!" Meditate suddenly didn't seem to know what it was doing, and hit itself in the head in its confusion. Meanwhile, Ralts sent another blast of energy towards the confused pokemon. Meditite collapsed to the ground shortly after being hit by the attack.

"You gave it your best, Meditite...return." The fallen Meditite was quickly returned to its pokeball. _"This one seems to be exceptionally skilled. I'm down to my last pokemon, yet she still has 3 left, one of which has taken quite a beating."_ Brawly thought to himself as he reached for the pokemon containing his last pokemon. _"Well, I'm not going to give up that easily."_ "Go, Makuhita!" Brawly threw his last pokeball onto the battlefield, and out came Makuhita.

"Ralts, use Confusion!" "Makuhita, hit it with a Fake Out!" Before Ralts could even get its attack off Makuhita suddenly appeared in front of it and smashed its fists together in front of its face. This startled Ralts into not attacking. "Now, hit it with Thunder Punch!" "Ralts, try to use Confusion again!" While Ralts was still recovering from the Fake Out attack, Makuhita's fist charged with electrical energy. It then punched Ralts hard, shocking it at the same time. Ralts quickly recovered from the attack, however, and retaliated with a Confusion attack, striking Makuhita with a blast of psychic energy which seemed to hurt it greatly.

"Makuhita, try to hit it with another Thunder Punch!" "Ralts, use Teleport to get behind it and use Confusion!" Makuhita's fists charged with electrical energy again and it went to punch Ralts, but ended up hitting nothing but air as Ralts disappeared. Ralts appeared behind Makuhita, and as Makuhita turned to face it Ralts struck it with another Confusion attack, KO'ing it for the win.

_"Wow! I won without losing a single pokemon! I must be getting better at this!"_ May thought to herself. Brawly chuckled, recalling his Makuhita, "Your quite the talented trainer...although this isn't my first loss, I have never been...brushed aside so easily." Brawly approached May, holding the Knukle Badge. "You've earned this fair and square." He handed her the badge and a TM disc containing the move Bulk Up. She placed the badge on her trainers card. "Thanks!"

May congratulated her Ralts on its performance, which seemed quite happy to be getting praised, then returned it to its pokeball. She left the gym and made her way to the pokecenter to heal her pokemon, then went shopping for a bit to make sure she had enough supplies for her trip. She wasn't able to get much, though, since the box of parts from Devon were taking up a fair bit of space, so she stored some items in her pc. She then had a quick meal at a small restautant, then decided to try to find out where Steven might be.

"You know...I don't even know what this Steven guy looks like...guess I should have asked Mr. Stone before I left..." Then suddenly a lightbulb turned on in her head, "Wait didn't he say his number was already registered in my pokenav?" She sat down next to a building and took out her pokenav and started fiddling with the phone function. Eventually it was displaying a list of names on her pokenav. Of course, it was a short list. 2 names. President Stone and Brendan Birch. She clicked on the President's name and clicked call.

After a few seconds of ringing someone picked up the phone and she heard the president's voice. "Hello?" "Hey Mr. Stone! Its me, May!" "Ah, May, how can I help you?" "Well about that letter...I'm not entirely sure where in Dewford Steven is or what he looks like."

"I see. Hold on a minute and I'll send his contact information to your pokenav. It will have a picutre of him."

May looked at her pokenav expectantly, and sure enough after a few seconds the display indicated that Steven Stone had been registered. She scrolled down to his name and clicked the button to display his information. It had some basic information on him, as well as a picture of him. "Thanks, Mr. Stone!" "Your welcome, May. As for where he is, knowing him you may want to check the nearby Granite Cave. He has a thing for searching through caves for rare stones." "Ok, thanks for your help Mr. Stone! Bye!" May clicked the button to end the call, "Alright so I should check Granite Cave then..."

May set off north of Dewford towards Granite Cave. When she got to the entrance she noticed it was dark inside, but not so much that she wouldn't be able to see, so she ventured forth. As she ventured further into the cave, however, she noticed it was getting darker and she didn't have a flashlight on her or anything. She was pretty much stumbling around blindly through the cave, and she knew that wasn't a very good idea since at any time a pokemon could attack her and she wouldn't be able to see it.

"Its way too hard to see in here..." May thought for a minute, "Its probably not the safest idea I've ever had...but..." May reached for Combusken's pokeball. There was a brief flash as her Combusken appeared, but she couldn't see it. "Combusken, fire an Ember straight ahead!" Combusken fired a fireball from its mouth, and the cave was briefly lit up until the fireball struck the far well, and May could see that she had to turn right.

May ran to the wall with Combusken and had it fire another Ember to the right. It burnt out before it reached the wall, but May could see where it is. She continued this process of having Combusken use Ember until she finally reached a part of the cave that was lit again. By that time her Combusken was clearly exhausted. "Thanks for your help, Combusken. Return." May held up Combusken's pokeball and recalled the tired pokemon.

May noticed she was on a ledge above where she entered the cave now, and followed the ledge to a ladder going up. She went up the ladder and found an open area, and near the far wall she saw a man that looked like the picture in the pokenav. She approached him slowly, "Excuse me, sir, are you Steven Stone?" Steven turned to face her, "Yes? Can I help you with something?"

May took the letter out of her pocket, "I have a letter for you from the president of Devon Inc." She handed him the letter. He opened it and read it briefly. "You came a long way to deliver this letter to me...I need to thank you some how..." Steven thought for a second then pulled a TM disc out of his pocket, "Here, you can have this. Its my favorite TM, Steel Wing." May took the TM and put it in her TM case, "Thanks!"

"I didn't catch your name, by the way." "Oh, I'm May Maple." Steven nodded, "A pleasure to meet you, May. I am sure we'll be seeing each other again. Farewell." Steven walked by May and out of the cave. "I wonder what was on that letter anyway that Mr. Stone couldn't just call him about? ...Oh well its none of my business." May left the cave as well, taking a short cut by jumping down from the ledge she was on.

Once May was back in Dewford, she healed her pokemon up at the pokecenter and met Briney at the docks after getting some supplies from her pc. She knew it'd take at least 2 days to reach Slateport, so she figured if Briney didn't mind she should leave as soon as possible. It wasn't long before Briney was untying his boat and setting sail for Dewford.

May's:

Combusken, Lv. 19: Scratch, Peck, Double Kick, Ember

Lombre, Lv. 18: Astonish, Growl, Absorb, Nature Power

Ralts, Lv. 19: Growl, Confusion, Double Team, Teleport

Beautifly, Lv. 18: Harden, Absorb, Gust, Stun Spore


	9. Chapter 5: Magma's Midnight Attack

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Five:**

**Alex's High Sea Adventure**

Alex watched the two trainers battling it out in the ship's arena. Under normal circumstances Alex probably would have been in there battling instead of just watching each match up, but he just didn't feel like he could relax enough to handle a battle. He wasn't nearly as nervous as when he was on the smaller ship going between Petalburg and Dewford, but he still felt an uneasiness in the pit of his stomach. Either that, or Magikarp was on his list of unedible foods.

The trainer that was favored to win the match was using a Combusken, while the other was using a Grovyle. To Alex, this was a battle that registered to him as being one sided at first glance. The Combusken had a type advantage over the Grovyle, afterall. Both pokemon were putting up a pretty good fight, though, and neither really seemed to be gaining the upper hand despite the type differences.

In the end it was the Combusken that had won, but it seemed to be by a very small margin. Alex wouldn't have minded giving one of them a shot after their pokemon had healed, but he didn't really feel much like battling.

_"Its going to be a very long trip to Slateport."_ Alex thought to himself.

Unknown to Alex, however, the trip was going to get much less boring. As the ferry was approaching Slateport, there were several small red speed boats heading in its direction. Each one had what looked like a black "M" on it On each speed boat were a few men and women wearing red and black uniforms. One of them was looking in the distance with a pair of binoculars.

"According to our leader's calculations, we should reach the ship shortly after nightfall. Once on board we will extract the artifact as quickly as possible." The one holding the binoculars stated.

"Tabitha, what do we do if any of the guests get in the way?"

"Maxie doesn't want them to come to any harm, so we'd be forced to subdue them. Thats why we're going at night, most of them will be asleep."

Alex had stepped outside to get some fresh air. He was leaning against the railing of the ship, staring down into the water below. He felt nervous being out there, but then again being on the ship period had him edgy. Alex had never been near the ocean or even a lake before starting his pokemon journey. He didn't know why, but he was terrified of them. His parents told him that he probably suffered from some form of hydrophobia. He never told anyone about his fear, though. The only people that even knew were his parents and his older brother, and they had agreed never to tell anyone.

Alex looked out towards the horizon and saw the sun setting in the distance. Alex watched as the sun disappear into the ocean. For a moment, he wished the sun would evaporate the oceans. He reminded himself, though, that ocean and land are equally needed to sustain life, and that all life on Earth would wither away if the oceans dried up.

"Guess it'll be getting dark soon. I should head back to my room I guess." Alex said to himself as he watched the sun disappear fully behind the horizon. He went back inside the ship and went to his room. He had left everything there but his pokemon and pokenav. As usual, Alex's room wasn't anything special. Bed, tv, bathroom, mini-fridge, and a sink.

Alex lied out on his bed and decided to read over the info in his pokenav's pokedex function. After a while of this, however, Alex fell asleep. In his sleep, he dropped his pokenav beside the bed.

Later that night, several grappling hooks latch on to the railing of the ship. Several men wearing red uniforms scale up the side of the ship using special boots. Once on the deck of the ship, they join up with the one named Tabitha, who seems to have a digital map of the ship.

"Alright. Lets get this done quickly and quietly. Maxie needs that tablet to pinpoint the exact location of the Ruby. This is the route we'll take." A red line appeared on part of the map.

"Guards will be posted along this route. Keep out of sight, but if you see anyone radio the others. Lets move out." The 6 member of Team Magma made their way into the ship, and towards their target.

Meanwhile, Alex had awoken to a pain in his side. Turned out he fell asleep still wearing his belt with all 5 of his pokeballs clipped to it. While he was asleep, he rolled over onto his side and the pokeballs were digging into him.

"Ow...damn...must have fallen asleep...thats funny though, I don't remember even being tired..." Alex got up and stretched, but as he did he felt the pain shoot through his side again.

"Dammit...", he muttered, holding his side, "This is obviously going to hurt for a while..."

Alex stepped out of his room, and noticed he was the only one around. The halls of the ship were silent.

"Guess I'm the only one awake..." Alex felt a shiver go down his spine.

"This is kinda creepy...wonder what time it is anyway..." Alex glanced at the watch on his wrist.

"Just after midnight...heh...thats when all the..." Alex was cut off by the sound of footsteps toward the end of the hall. He ducked just inside his room, looking in the direction of the footsteps. After a few moments, he saw several men in red uniforms walk by the end of the hall.

"Where have I seen those uniforms before...?" Alex thought for a second, then remembered a news broadcast with footage from a security camera, which showed men and women wearing similar uniforms.

"Thats right...Team Magma...go figure, guess the news is good for something afterall. Wonder what they could be after on this ship though?" Alex shuddered.

"I hope they're not thinking about sinking it...I hate water..." Alex quietly stepped out of his room, closing the door behind him.

"I should probably alert security..." Alex thought for a second.

"Wait where would security on this ship be anyway? ...I think I'll tail them instead."

Alex made his way towards the end of the hall and peered around the corner. At the end of the hall in the direction he saw the Magmas going there were two members of Team Magma. They were too busy talking to each other to notice him.

"Great...guards..." Alex reached for two of his pokeballs, one containing Azumarill and the other containing Geodude.

"Guess I'll just have to try to get past them." Alex switched the pokeballs around on his belt so that Azumarill's and Geodude's were at the front, making it easy for him to grab both of them.

"Of course, no need to rush into battle. Lets see just what they're up to." Alex stepped out of the hall, but they still didn't notice him.

"Excuse me, gentlemen..." The two turned to face him. "I don't believe I've seen you on the ship earlier...did you just arrive?"

One of them spoke up, "Yeah we came here by boat and climbed up the side of the ship." His partner immediately hit him over the head.

"You idiot! Your not supposed to talk about that! In fact, we're not supposed to be talking to him period! In fact, we're supposed to be staying out of sight."

"Wow...you screwed up on both parts didn't you?" Alex snickered. "So since we're on the topic, feel like telling me why your here?"

"Uh...we're here to steal the..." The grunt's partner hit him again. "Put a sock in it!"

She then turned to Alex, "And you! You know too much, so now we're going to have to tie you up and gag you so you don't blab to anyone else!"

Alex shrugged, "Well bondage really isn't my thing, and your not my type..." Alex quickly unclipped Geodude's and Azumarill's pokeballs from his belt. He tossed them on the floor in front of him, and the two pokemon appeared between him and the Magma Grunts.

"Great now look what you did you idiot!", the female grunt yelled at her partner, "Now we have to fight this kid! Why'd I have to get paired with you anyway!"

"Umm...your lucky?" The grunt slapped her forhead and reached for her only pokeball.

"Just call out your pokemon already...Go, Poochyena!"

"Ok...Go, Numel!"

Alex instinctively reached for his pokenav to see how strong the opponent's pokemon were...and found he didn't have it!

_"Damn! I must have dropped it while I was asleep! Guess I'll just have to go at it and hope for the best...I think I have the advantage in the mental department anyway."_ Alex thought to himself.

"Azumarill, hit Numel with Water Gun! Geodude, use Tackle on Poochyena then get behind it!" Before either the Numel or the Grunt had time to react, Azumarill struck Numel with a blast of water, instantly KO'ing it.

"Poochyena, use Bite on that Geodude!"

"Numel! Use...Ember! ...Oh wait...nevermind..."

The female grunt's Poochyena lunged forward to bite onto Geodude, but as it did Geodude slammed into it, knocking it back slightly. Geodude then made a short hop over it, landing behind it. The Poochyena turned to face Geodude. The other grunt recalled his Numel.

"Geodude! Azumarill! Now! Use Tackle attack on Poochyena!" Azumarill and Geodude slammed into Poochyena simultaneously. The pokemon gave a yelp before collapsing to the floor out cold. The female grunt recalled her pokemon.

"Dammit...we've really got trouble here...better warn the others." The grunt took out a walkie talkie, and Alex caught this.

"Azumarill, hit her walkie talkie with Water Gun!" Azumarill quickly turned to her and shot out a blast of water, knocking the device out of her hand and short-circuiting it.

"Grr...damn you..."

Alex recalled his pokemon and ran past the two of them, and he could hear them arguing behind him as he ran down the hall. He eventually passed a set of stairs, and saw that the hallway only lead to a door leading outside. He reasoned that the rest of Team Magma must have went down the stairs and followed suit. He eventually reached the bottom of the stairs and found an open door. On the door were the words "Staff Only".

When Alex looked inside the door, he saw two more team magma grunts. He stepped in the door, and they both noticed him and reached for their pokemon.

"Damn it! How did that kid get here?" The two grunts tossed their pokeballs in front of Alex, releasing a Zubat and a Poochyena.

"I walked, thats how...Geodude, Azumarill, go!" Alex held up the two pokeballs, releasing his pokemon in front of him.

"Azumarill, hit Poochyena with Water Gun! Geodude, use Rock Throw on Zubat!"

"Zubat, use Supersonic!"

"Poochyena, use Bite!"

The Zubat fired off a sonic burst, and Alex's pokemon seemed a little dazed. This didn't stop them from attacking, however. Azumarill struck Poochyena with its Water Gun attack, instantly KO'ing it, while Geodude threw rocks at Zubat that seemed to appear out of nowhere, crushing the bat pokemon. The grunts recalled their pokemon, helpless to do anything to stop Alex without them. Alex ran by them and took a quick look around the room. There seemed to be several crates and such piled around.

"This must be the cargo hold...whatever they're after must be in here." Alex glanced around the room until he saw a lone Team Magma member.

"Hey! You! Stop there!" The person turned to face Alex, holding a stone tablet in his hand.

"Who the hell are you? And how'd you get past the grunts?"

"I'm Alex, and if you think your getting out of here with that artifact then your sadly mistaken!"

The Magma member laughed. "I suppose you think your going to stop me? I'm much better than those grunts...I'm the Team Magma Admin Tabitha!

"You don't scare me...Go, Azumarill!" Alex tossed out a pokeball, and when it landed Azumarill appeared before him.

"Have it your way, kid...Go, Mightyena!" Tabitha threw out one of her pokeballs, and a mean looking black wolf/hyena appeared.

_"I might be in just a bit over my head here...but then again, Mightyena aren't known for being a strong pokemon. Just intimidating. In the wild they usually travel in packs...Azumarill might be able to take this thing on."_

"Azumarill, use Defense Curl!" Alex's Azumarill curled up into a ball.

"Mightyena, hit it with a Tackle attack!" Mightyena rushed forward and tackled Azumarill, but Azumarill took the attack fairly easily.

"Azumarill, use Rollout and go in a circle around it!" Azumarill started spinning rapidly, then shot off and started circling the Mightyena.

"Dammit...Mightyena, try to Bite it!" Mightyena lunged toward Azumarill in an attempt to bite it, but by the time Mightyena reached where it was it was already gone. Azumarill kept going in circles around Mightyena, who in turn kept trying to bite the rolling pokemon, who was also picking up speed as it rolled along.

"Hit it now Azumarill!" Azumarill suddenly altered its course and slammed into Mightyena hard from the side, sending it flying into a few crates, and it didn't get back up either. Azumarill then came to a halt and stopped spinning.

Tabitha recalled his Mightyena, "Damn it...I wasn't counting on getting meddled with by some kid...you win this time but we'll be back!" Tabitha dropped the tablet and ran off, the rest of the Team Magma members following suit. Alex soon returned to his quarters, noting that the halls were still eerily quiet.

"Sheesh...after all that...no one woke up to see what was going on..." Alex shrugged. He set his pokeballs down near the tv, and found his pokenav beside the bed. He set the pokenav down with his pokeballs and climbed back into bed.

Alex's:

Grovyle, Lv. 19: Pound, Fury Cutter, Absorb, Quick Attack

Tailow, shiny, Lv. 19: Peck, Wing Attack, Double Team, Quick Attack

Azumarill, Lv. 20: Tackle, Defense Curl, Rollout, Water Gun

Kadabra, Lv. 19: Teleport, Confusion, Disable

Geodude, Lv. 20: Tackle, Magnitude, Defense Curl, Rock Throw


	10. Chapter 6: Battles in Slateport

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Six:**

**Battles in Slateport**

Alex was glad to finally be getting off the ferry. The trip from Dewford to Slateport had been the longest two days of his life. Alex took a look around the city of Slateport from the harbour entrance. It was a fairly big city with a fair amount of places to check out. Alex didn't intend to stay in Slateport very long, though, since he had to get to Mauville for his next badge.

"I should probably stock up on supplies at the market." Alex said to himself. "Then I'll head north towards Mauville and try to catch an electric pokemon along the way." Alex set off towards the Slateport market. Along the way, though, he noticed a line up at the museum. When he saw what was going on, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Team Aqua, one of the two largest criminal organizations in Hoenn, is paying to get into the museum..." Alex looked around.

"Wonder where the reporters are? Heh something like this could easily make the headlines..." Alex shook his head and continued on towards the market to pick up supplies.

Meanwhile, May was just arriving in Slateport as well after several battles on a beach south of Slateport, during one of which her Ralts evolved into Kirlia.

"Finally! I've made it to Slateport! Now I can finally get rid of this package..." May took a quick glance around the city.

"Now where would Captain Stern be anyway...probably at the shipyard I guess. I should stop at the pokecenter first though." With that, May set off towards the pokecenter. Along the way, however, she noticed the same thing Alex did. Team Aqua lined up outside the museum and paying to get in.

_"They're not seriously paying to get in...are they?" _May thought to herself. May shrugged and continued towards the pokecenter. If they were paying to get in then they weren't her problem. Of course, they really weren't her problem anyway but after beating that one grunt easily she felt she could take them on.

She soon arrived in the pokecenter and handed her four pokemon to the nurse. After about a minute they were fully healed by the pokecenter's machine and ready for battle. May thanked the nurse and left to look for Captain Stern. She first checked the shipyard, but she couldn't find him there. A man by the name of Dock, however, told her she should check the museum.

May got to the museum and had to pay the small entrance fee. Inside, the museum was crawling with Team Aqua grunts. One of which she recognized as the guy she beat in Rusturf Tunnel and Petalburg Woods. He recognized her as well.

"You! Your that brat from before!" The grunt exclaimed.

"Yep...and if you try anything I'd be more than happy to beat you again."

"No way! I'm through! Here!" The grunt handed her a TM disc.

"This suits you better than it does me! I hope I never see you again!" With that the grunt ran out of the museum. May looked at the TM, which had the number 45 on it. She scanned it with her pokenav, which revealed it to be Thief.

_"...Thief?"_ May clenched her fist. _"Just what was he implying! ...Oh forget it. I'm here to deliver this package to Stern, not deal with Team Aqua."_ She thought to herself.

She asked the receptionist if Stern was there, and she told May he was on the second floor. May went up the stairs and noticed a man wearing a white lab coat sitting next to a model submarine.

"Excuse me? Captain Stern?" The man looked up at her from where he was sitting.

"Huh? Yes? Who are you?"

May got out the package from her pouch, "I have a package from Devon for you sir." She handed the box of parts over to Captain Stern, who looked it over.

"Ah, these must be the parts I ordered for my submarine! Thank you!"

Suddenly May heard footsteps behind her, and turned around to find two Team Aqua grunts approaching them.

"We'll be taking those parts, Captain Stern!" One of them stated. May reached for Beautifly's and Lombre's pokeballs.

"You'll have to get through me first! Beautifly! Lombre! Go!" May tossed the pokeballs out and her two pokemon appeared before the grunts.

"Fine, have it your way kid! Poochyena, go!" One of the grunts called out his own pokemon, and a Poochyena appeared facing Lombre and Beautifly.

"Carvanah, go!" The other grunt yelled, tossing out his pokeball next to Poochyena, and a mean looking red and blue fish appeared.

_"Time to make this a two on one..."_ May thought to herself. "Beautifly! Lombre! Both of you use Absorb on Carvanah!"

"Damn it! Carvanah, look out!" Carvanah tried to move out of the way, but being a fish on dry land made it hard for it to move quickly and it was struck hard by both the Absorb attacks, its energy completely drained by the combined efforts of Lombre and Beautifly.

"Your going to pay for messing with Team Aqua, kid! Poochyena, get that Beautifly! Use Bite!" Poochyena ran towards Beautifly and jumped at it in an attempt to bite it.

"Beautifly, use Gust to knock it back!" Beautifly flapped its wings rapidly as the Poochyena approached, and it fell short of its target.

"Now, Lombre, use Nature Power!" Lombre glowed green as it tapped into its surroundings, and its Nature Power attack became a Swift attack as it shot stars towards Poochyena. Poochyena was knocked back slightly by the attack, but recovered quickly, looking at Lombre angrily.

"Poochyena, try to use Bite on her Lombre!" The man's Poochyena was more than happy to comply, charging towards Lombre and clamping down on one of its arms. Lombre was waving its arm around, trying to shake the Poochyena off.

"Lombre, use Astonish to try to get it off!" Lombre brought its arm around so Poochyena was facing it then used Astonish, scaring the Poochyena enough for it to let go and back off slightly.

"Now, Lombre use Nature Power again and Beautifly use Gust!" Beautifly flapped its wings rapidly as Lombre tapped into its surroundings again. Lombre unleashed a barrage of stars towards the Poochyena, which struck it at the same time as a blast of wind from Beautifly. knocking it back against the far wall. the heavy hit had Poochyena down for the count. The two grunts recalled their pokemon.

"Damn it! I wasn't counting on getting meddled with by some kid!" The two grunts backed off, and another man with a beard wearing a black outfit and blue bandana walked up behind them.

"I come to see whats taking so long...and you two are held up by a child!" The man yelled at the two grunts angrily, then turned to May.

"Just who are you and why do you insist on interfering with our plans? You don't appear to be a member of Team Magma..." The man paused for a minute.

"I'm Archie, the leader of Team Aqua. We love the sea. All life begins from the sea. Our goal is to expand the sea and make more habitats for aquatic pokemon."

"And your telling me this why? I really don't care about the goals of a bunch of criminals..." May replied, folding her arms over her chest. Lombre and Beautifly were still between her and Team Aqua. Archie laughed at her comment.

"Criminals, are we? I don't expect a child like you to understand use, but someday you will see the beauty of our dream!" He looked to the two grunts, "Lets go, we've wasted enough time here already." Team Aqua left the museum and May recalled her two pokemon.

"Thank you for your help, miss." May turned her attention back to Captain Stern, who she almost forgot about with everything that just happened.

"Oh defeating those two was nothing...and you can call me May."

"You seem to be very talented as a trainer May...anyway I need to get back to the shipyard. Bye, and thank you again for your help."

Captain Stern left the museum, and May followed shortly after.

Alex, meanwhile, had finished stocking up on supplies and was heading north out of Slateport. Near the northern exit of the city, however, he noticed a red, dome-shaped building he didn't recognize and decided to check it out. The sign outside it read, "Slateport Battle Tent - Trainers put your skills to the ultimate test!"

"Hmm...Battle Tent huh? Sounds like it could be fun...I think I'll go train my pokemon for a bit...catch one of the electric pokemon that lives around here...and then see what this 'Battle Tent' is like!"

Alex left the city, but stuck around the route just outside of Slateport giving his pokemon some serious training. In the process he also managed to catch a Minun, which he gave just as much training to. He was expecting quite a fight from this Battle Tent, and wanted to be ready for whatever came at him.

While Alex was busy training, May had healed her pokemon at the pokecenter and decided to go check out the Slateport Market. It was the closest thing to a mall or a large department store she had seen yet, and she figured that the next gym leader wasn't in any hurry to lose to her anyway.

May immediately fell in love with the place. There was a large variety of shops at the market, and some shops sold things she rarely saw in any malls or department stores. There were various exotic foods, dolls, vitamins and such that could make pokemon stronger, various styles of clothing, and much more. She spent a great deal of time browsing, and of course bought some things she figured she'd need for her journey. She had also bought some dolls, which she had stored in her computer.

When she had finished shopping, she left Slateport and started on her way toward Mauville. She trained her pokemon a bit on the route just outside Slateport. While she was training, she happened to spot a Plusle that didn't seem much like it wanted to fight. In fact, it seemed fairly shy. May walked over to the pokemon and kneeled down in front of it.

"Aww! How cute!" May smiled, reaching out to pet the Plusle. As she did, though, the Plusle got scared and used its Thunder Wave attack on her. May was struck by waves of electricity and felt her body going numb as she fell over.

"Ok...your not so cute anymore..." She muttered. Her Combusken, who was training nearby, quickly ran over to where May was and kicked the Plusle hard, sending it flying back and slamming into the ground.

"Thanks Combusken...umm...can you get a Paralyze Heal from my pouch...?" May muttered as she tried to get up. Her body didn't seem like it wanted to cooperate much. Combusken nodded and pulled out a spray bottle of Paralyze Heal and handed it to May, who used it on herself.

"Thanks again...now..." May turned her attention to the Plusle, which was injured quite a bit from Combusken's attack, but now it looked like it was ready to defend itself.

"Combusken, use Ember!" Combusken fired a ball of fire at the Plusle, which dodged using its Quick Attack and slammed into Combusken. Combusken turned towards Plusle and used Ember again, and this time it hit it. Plusle looked like it could hardly move now, but it still looked ready to defend itself. May reached in her pouch for one of the great balls the Devon employee gave her.

"Lets see how 'great' these things really are!" May threw the great ball at Plusle, which was sucked inside it. The ball dropped to the ground and started shaking as Plusle tried to break free. After a few tense moments, it locked shut.

"Alright, Combusken! We caught a Plusle!" Combusken raised a fist into the air and squawked. May released the Plusle from the great ball, which didn't look overly pleased with its situation and glared at May.

"Don't you give me that look! You went and used Thunder Wave on me! I wasn't going to hurt you!" Plusle turned away from May. May rolled her eyes and took a piece of pokemon food out of her pouch and held it towards her Plusle. Plusle looked towards her then looked at the food curiously. It was a small, brown pellet that was designed to suit the diet of any pokemon. Plusle sniffed at it, then took it from May and ate it happily.

May then took out a super potion from her pouch and applied it to Plusle's wounds. Plusle cried out and got ready to shock May again, but calmed down when it noticed its injuries were healing. It finally decided that May wasn't bad afterall and hopped into her arms.

"Sure, you like me after I feed you." May giggled, and recalled her Combusken. She decided it had enough training for today. She set Plusle down on the ground.

"Well lets let you fight a bit to get you stronger, ok?" Plusle looked a bit hesitant but nodded, and May got back to training her pokemon.

Back in Slateport, Alex was in the Battle Tent after training his pokemon. His Tailow had evolved into Swellow, which looked similar only larger and more built, and his Geodude had evolved into Graveler. It now stood on two legs and had a second, smaller pair of arms. He felt he was more than ready to face the Battle Tent Now. Or at least, thats what he thought until he read over the rules.

"Each participant will choose 3 pokemon to battle with out of a choice of 6 randomly selected pokemon. Well now...thats...interesting..." Alex said to himself. "Well, guess I didn't need to train my pokemon any for this at all. Oh well. They're stronger now anyway."

Alex went up to the front desk to register and had to hand over his current pokemon, which he did reluctantly. He'd get them back after the battles, though. He had to win three straight battles, with each trainer using three pokemon each, which were all randomly selected. He now understood how this would be a challenge. He had to battle with pokemon that weren't his, and possibly never seen before.

After he registered, he was approached by a man wearing a blue t-shirt, shorts, and a pair of sunglasses.

"Thinking about taking the Battle Tent challenge, huh?" The man asked him.

"Well I saw this place so I figured I'd try it out...wasn't exactly what I was expecting but couldn't hurt to try I guess." The man laughed.

"I like your attitude, but you know, this isn't the only Battle Tent. There's two others, each with a different style of battling. The other two are in Verdanturf and Fallabar. When you win, you get a badge much like when you win a gym battle. These battles can be much tougher than a gym battle, however, as you'll find out. I'll be watching every match."

"They let people just watch these battles?" The man grinned.

"Well, lets just say there's a reason I watch them, but thats all I'll say for now."

A bell sounded, signalling that the event was starting now.

"Well I'll be seeing you around kid, good luck." The mysterious man walked off towards the battlefield.

"That guy...is odd..." Alex said to himself as he went to the battlers entrance. One of the attendants stopped him in front of a machine.

"This machine will assign you 6 random pokemon. You may choose three of them." Alex nodded, and the man pressed a button on the machine. After a few seconds, 6 pokeballs appeared and a screen showed the pokemon in the first pokeball to be a Spinda. It showed only the attacks it knew and that it was holding a Chesto Berry. The Spinda immediately interested Alex.

_"Knows Rest, Psybeam, Dizzy Punch, and Hypnosis and is holding a Chesto Berry...that would be a very good pokemon to lead off with."_ Alex checked the rest of the pokemon. There was a Marill, Batloy, Shroomish, Graveler, and Kadabra. Alex decided to take the Batloy and Marill, as well as Spinda. He was then brought to the battlefield, and sure enough Scott was watching. Alex took his spot on his side of the battlefield, and soon his opponent, a girl wearing a white shirt, plaid skirt, with black hair, entered the room and took her place on the other side of the battlefield.

"Battlers, release your starting pokemon!" Alex sent out his Spinda to start off, and his opponent sent out a Kecleon.

"Begin battle!"

"Spinda, use Psybeam!" "Kecleon, dodge it with Faint Attack!" Spinda fired a beam of psychic energy at Kecleon, but Kecleon suddenly seemed to fade out of existance. It soon appeared on the other side of Spinda, who suddenly looked like it had taken a hit, albeit a fairly weak one.

"Spinda, turn around and use Hypnosis!" "Kecleon, use Faint Attack again!" Spinda turned to face the Kecleon and fired out hypnotic waves from its eyes. Kecleon suddenly fell asleep on the spot, before it had a chance to carry out its attack.

"No, Kecleon! Wake up!" Kecleon didn't hear the trainer as it lay on the ground sound asleep.

"Now, Spinda, hit it with Dizzy Punch!" Spinda moved in front of Kecleon then spun around a few times before punching Kecleon hard. Despite the force of the punch, Kecleon didn't seem like it had any intentions of waking up.

"Distance yourself from it and hit it with a Psybeam!" Spinda quickly hopped towards the other side of the battle field and then turned towards the Kecleon again and fired a beam of psychic energy. The beam struck Kecelon, who woke up shortly after. Its skin turned from its normal green color to a pink color.

"Kecelon, hit it with Slash!" Kecleon bared its claws and leapt towards Spinda.

"Spinda, move to the side and hit it with Dizzy Punch!" Spinda moved just beside where Kecleon was aiming, then spun around bringing its fist into Kecleon's face. Kecleon had missed Spinda entirely, while Spinda's attack was hitting it with extra force since Kecleon was moving into the punch. Kecleon hit the ground and was out cold.

"Your going to pay for that! Kecleon, return!" The trainer returned Kecelon and threw out another pokeball, "Voltorb! Go! Lets teach this guy a lesson!" A pokemon that looked similar to the pokeball it was stored in appeared. Alex wasn't worried in the least.

"Spinda, hit it with a Psybeam!" "Voltorb, use Spark!" Voltorb charged with electricity and rolled into Spinda before it could fire off its Psybeam, and upon impact the electricity was channeled into Spinda. Spinda was paralyzed by the attack, but managed to get up and finally use its Psybeam attack, striking Voltorb with a beam of psychic energy.

"Hit it with another Spark attack, Voltorb!" "Spinda, wait until its close and hit it with Dizzy Punch!" Voltorb rolled towards Spinda once again, charged with electricity, and Spinda prepared to hit it with a Dizzy Punch despite being paralyzed. Voltorb made contact with Spinda's fist and both pokemon were knocked back. Voltorb was down for the count, and Spinda was barely hanging on.

"Damn you and your Spinda! Voltorb, return!" The trainer returned the pokemon and called out her last one. "Lets bring that thing down! Go, Electrike!" A small green alligator-like pokemon appeared on her side of the battlefield.

"Spinda, use Rest!" Spinda sat down and took a nap on the battlefield.

"Sleeping on the job won't win you this! Electrike, use Charge!" Electrike started charging electricity to itself while Spinda slept. However, while still asleep Spinda ate the Chesto Berry it had been holding, and immediately woke up, fully healed and ready to fight.

"What! No way! Thats not fair!" The trainer screamed at Alex. Alex simply shrugged.

"Rest is one of the attacks Spinda knows. Goes to sleep, and fully recovers. Not my fault you weren't prepared for it. Now, Spinda, use Hypnosis!"

"Electrike try to hit it with Spark before it attacks!" Electrike charged up electricity and ran towards Spinda. Spinda sent out hypnotic waves towards Electrike. Electrike dropped to the ground and fell asleep only about a foot in front of Spinda.

"Now hit it with Dizzy Punch while its asleep!" Spinda started spinning around, then slammed its fist into Electrike, knocking it back to the other side of the field.

"Now jump towards it and use Psybeam!" Spinda jumped into the air, heading towards Electrike, and fired a beam of psychic energy while in the air. The beam struck Electrike, who seemed to be waking up shortly after. Spinda landed next to it as it was waking up.

"Now hit it with another Dizzy Punch before it can attack!" Spinda spun around then slammed its fist into Electrike one last time, and it collapsed back onto the ground from the assault, unable to continue fighting.

"I can't believe I lost so easily..." The trainer recalled Electrike and ran from the battlefield.

"Great job, Spinda! You were awesome out there! Return!" Alex recalled Spinda to its pokeball, then handed over his pokemon to an attendant to be restored. The man from before was watching the match.

_"Amazing!"_, he thought to himself, _"He won that battle only using one pokemon! He might just be cut out for...naw, its too early yet to say that."_

Alex had to wait while several other matches took place, until finally it was his turn again. The Battle Tent consisted of three rounds. Alex had made it past round 1, and was now ready for round 2. This time his opponent was a boy with green hair, wearing a red jacket and matching pants. Alex sent out his Spinda and the other trainer sent out a Cacnea. The beginning of the battle was announced.

"Spinda, start off with Dizzy Punch!" Spinda started spinning like a top as it moved across the field towards Cacnea.

"Cacnea, use Ingrain!" Vines extended from Cacnea's hands and implanted themselves into the ground. Cacnea seemed to be getting a dazed look as Spinda approached it though, confusion starting to set in from the spinning, then Spinda slammed its fist hard into Cacnea. Cacnea was knocked into the air but was held in place by the vines.

"Cacnea, fire off a Leech Seed at it!"

"Spinda, use Dizzy Punch again!" Cacnea reared back, looking like it was going to attack, but then slammed itself into the ground using its vines. Spinda, meanwhile, was spinning around and once again brought its fist to connect with Cacnea, knocking it back. Its roots retracted as it fell to the ground unconcious.

"Hmm. Pretty good. Cacnea, return!" The trainer recalled Cacnea then sent out his next pokemon. "Go, Sandshrew!" A yellow shrew-like pokemon appeared on the field.

"Sandshrew, start off with Poison Sting attack!"

"Spinda, try to dodge it and strike back with Psybeam!" Spinda moved out of the way as Sandshrew slashed it with its claws. Spinda received a glancing blow, however, and poison seeped into it. Spinda fired a Psybeam while Sandshrew was right beside it, hitting it at point blank range and dealing heavy damage as Sandshrew was flung across the battlefield. Spinda was slowly weakening from the poison, but seemed more than capable of going on.

"Spinda, finish it off with another Psybeam attack!" "Sandshrew, use Dig to dodge it!" Spinda fired off another beam of psychic energy towards Sandshrew, but it quickly dug into the battlefield to avoid the attack.

"Damn...Spinda, get ready with a Dizzy Punch!" Spinda started spinning on spot in preparation for its attack, while Alex scanned around for any sign of Sandshrew. Wasn't long before Sandshrew broke out of the ground next to Spinda, getting ready to attack it.

"Spinda, now, hit it with Dizzy Punch!" Spinda slammed its fist into Sandshrew hard as it appeared from underground, sending it flying to the other side of the battlefield. When Sandshrew landed, it was out cold and didn't show any sign of getting up anytime soon.

"Sandshrew may be down, but since it poisoned Spinda its only a matter of time before it falls..." The trainer recalled Sandshrew. "Now, your turn, Baltoy!" The trainer sent out his next pokemon, which seemed to be some sort of spin top that floated.

"Baltoy, use Reflect!" Baltoy's eyes glowed briefly, and an invisible barrier was set up to block physical attacks.

"Spinda, use Hypnosis!" Spinda sent out hypnotic waves towards Baltoy, but it didn't seem to work.

"Baltoy, show it your Ancient Power attack!" Baltoy gathered energy from within then slammed into the ground. Rocks started to shoot up from the ground in a line heading toward Spinda. The attack hit Spinda, but didn't seem to cause much damage. However, the attack seemed to make Baltoy stronger in all aspects.

"Damn...that Baltoy is going to be hard to deal with now...Spinda, lets try Hypnosis again!" Spinda complied, sending out hypnotic waves toward Baltoy again. This time it worked, and Baltoy fell asleep on the spot. Alex could tell Spinda was weakening from the poison though.

"Good job Spinda, now use Rest!" Spinda went to sleep on the spot, and was fully recovered. It then ate another chesto berry that it had been given while it was being healed and woke up instantly.

"Damn...Spinda is fully healed now and Baltoy is still asleep...at least Reflect is still there." The trainer commented.

"Spinda, use Dizzy Punch!" Spinda started to spin around as it approached Baltoy and slammed its fist hard into it. Baltoy hardly seemed affected, though, from a combination of its ancient powers and the Reflect it set up before. Baltoy had woken up as well.

"Great, your awake! Now use Psybeam Baltoy!"

"Spinda, try to counter it with your Psybeam!" The two pokemon fired out beams of psychic energy, which collided between them. Spinda was quickly overpowered by the Baltoy's Psybeam, however.

"Damn, should have seen that one coming. Spinda, get up and use Dizzy Punch!"

"Baltoy, use Psybeam again!" Spinda got up and started to spin and make its way towards Baltoy. Baltoy shot out another Psybeam attack towards Spinda and this one hit it full force. Spinda was barely holding on after the attack, but managed to hit Baltoy with another Dizzy Punch.

"Spinda, try to hit it with Hypnosis!"

"Baltoy, use Psybeam again!" Spinda started to send out hypnotic energy waves towards Baltoy, but Baltoy got off its Psybeam attack. The beam of psychic energy slammed into Spinda and knocked it out, but Baltoy was taking another snooze. There was also a faint shimmer in the air as Baltoy's reflect wore off.

"You did great, Spinda. Return!" Alex recalled Spinda and prepared to send out his next pokemon, "Alright, next up is my Baltoy! Go!" Alex tossed out the pokeball, and another Baltoy appeared on the field facing the other trainer's Baltoy. Alex had a big advantage, though, as the other had taken a bit of damage and was asleep.

"Baltoy, get close to it!" Alex's Baltoy hovered towards the other one.

"What do you hope to accomplish by that?" Alex smirked.

"This...Baltoy, use Self-Destruct!" Baltoy started to glow orange as it prepared for its attack.

"What! No! Baltoy, wake up and get out of there!" The trainer's yelling did no good. His Baltoy stayed asleep, and a sudden explosion rocked the battlefield as Alex's Baltoy used its Self-Destruct attack. When the smoke cleared, both pokemon were down for the count. The trainers recalled their pokemon.

"I suppose I should have realized when it was down to your three against my one that I couldn't win...oh well. Better luck next time I suppose." The trainer walked away from the battlefield and returned his rented pokemon. Alex had his rentals healed up for the next match. He only had to wait for one battle to pass by this time.

It was only a few minutes before Alex was called in for the third and final round. This time his opponent was a muscular looking sailor. At this point Alex was hoping for a good match. So far the only pokemon he used besides Spinda he only sent out to have use Self-Destruct. Alex once again started off with Spinda, and his opponent was starting with Wingull. The match soon began.

"Spinda, start with Hypnosis!"

"Wingull, use Supersonic!" Spinda sent out hypnotic energy waves toward Wingull, while Wingull sent off sound waves towards Spinda. The Hypnosis attack put Wingull to sleep, but Spinda was completely unaffected by the Supersonic attack because of its 'Own Tempo' ability which prevented it from becoming confused.

"Great! Now hit it with a Dizzy Punch attack, Spinda!"

"Damn! Wingull, get up!" Wingull gave no response as it snoozed away on the battlefield. Spinda hopped over to it, spun around, and slammed its fist into the seagull pokemon. Wingull was badly injured from the attack due to its small size and knocked back towards the other end of the battlefield.

"Now, hit it with Psybeam!" Spinda shot a beam of psychic energy towards Wingull. The beam struck it, and it went from being asleep to being completely knocked out. That last attack was all it took, and Spinda was completely unharmed from the battle.

"Grr...Wingull, return!" The sailor returned his Wingull and reached for his next pokeball, tossing it onto his side of the battlefield. "Go, Kadabra!" The pokeball opened, and Kadabra appeared on the sailor's side of the field.

"Kadabra huh...I'm going to have to be careful around this one. Spinda, use Psybeam!"

"Idiot, psychic pokemon can resist psychic attacks. Kadabra, use Confusion!" Kadabra sent a blast of psychic energy towards Spinda, but the stronger Psybeam attack broke through the blast and struck Kadabra, dealing minor damage.

"I'm an idiot, am I? This is coming from someone who used Supersonic on a Spinda. Didn't you know Spinda can't become confused?"

"Damn know-it-all...Kadabra, use Disable!"

"Spinda, quick, use Hypnosis before the Disable hits you!" Kadabra sent a wave of blue energy towards Spinda, but just before it hit Spinda managed to get off its Hypnosis attack. As a result, Spinda couldn't use Hypnosis now, but that was Alex's main goal anyway. Kadabra had also fallen asleep from the attack, and from the use of its Synchronize ability Spinda fell asleep as well. Spinda soon woke up though by using its chesto berry.

"Good job, Spinda! Now hit it with a Dizzy Punch attack!" Spinda started spinning around on one foot as it made its way to Kadabra, then delivered a punch to it, causing heavy damage and knocking it to the ground.

"Damn it, Kadabra, wake up already!"

"Yelling at it won't wake it up...Spinda, hit it with another Dizzy Punch!" Spinda spun around and slammed its fist into the sleeping Kadabra again, and it never got a chance to wake up. The sailor recalled Kadabra, and sent out his next pokemon, Graveler. Alex wasn't the least bit concerned about this one.

"Spinda, put it to sleep with Hypnosis!"

"Graveler, use Rock Tomb!" The rock pokemon slammed its fist into the ground, and rock spikes shot up out of the ground around Spinda, injuring it a fair bit. Spinda used its Hypnosis attack on Graveler, and soon the rock pokemon as sound asleep.

"#$ you and putting my pokemon asleep!"

"Geez...someone gets upset easily. Maybe you should go lie down for a while. Spinda, return!" Alex recalled his Spinda, despite it being more than capable of continuing.

"Giving up?" ,the sailor taunted him.

"Not a chance...Marill, your turn! Go!" Alex tossed out another pokeball, and a familiar blue pokemon appeared, ready for battle.

"Marill, Rain Dance!" Marill did a short dance on the field, glowing blue as it did. Afterwards, a small rain cloud started to spread. Indoors. Meanwhile, Graveller was still sleeping.

"You think a little rain will scare me? I've seen worse storms than this!"

"Completely clueless, huh? Marill, show him what effect this rain has! Use Water Gun!" Marill shot a stream of water towards Graveller, which gained strength as it made its way towards it. The blast of water struck Graveller and instantly KO'd it.

"What the! You little #$!"

Alex snorted and recalled his Marill, "Watch your mouth..." The sailor recalled the Graveller and stormed out of the Battle Tent. One of the attendants approached Alex.

"Spectacular performance, sir! As a token of your victory here, I present you with the Slateport Battle Badge." Alex received the badge from the man and placed it on his vest. He was then handed his pokemon back and left the battle tent. The man who had been watching the battles left as well, satisfied with what he had witnessed.

_"That trainer was simply amazing. He just might be cut out for it afterall. I'll just have to see how he does at the other battle tents." _The man thought to himself.

Alex was finally leaving Slateport on the road to Mauville. As he was leaving town, however, he saw May just ahead of him.

"What the...? Wasn't I ahead of her? How did she catch up to me? ...Oh well, doesn't matter I guess." Alex decided to hurry and catch up with her. May could hear someone approaching behind her, and was surprised when she turned around and saw Alex.

"Alex? Weren't you ahead of me?", she asked him.

"Thats what I thought...how DID you manage to catch up with me anyway?" May shrugged.

"Guess I had faster transportation here. Since we've met up yet again, though...you owe me a battle!"

"...Huh? I do?"

"Yes! You wouldn't battle me back at Birch's laboratory, so I want you to battle me now!"

Alex smirked, "Alright then. I'll be expecting a good fight from you then. Don't disappoint me."

"Likewise!" The two of them took up positions far apart from each other to give them space to battle.

They both reached for their first pokemon...

Alex and May are about to face off! Who will win?


	11. Chapter 7: Showdown! Alex Vs May!

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Seven:**

**The Showdown, Alex Vs. May**

"Alright, lets get this started! Go, Swellow!" Alex released his first pokemon, and the green and orange feathered Swellow appeared with a cry.

"Go, Pelipper!" May released her first pokemon as well, and a pelican-like pokemon appeared. Unlike normal Pelippers, however, this one had green stripes on its wings instead of blue and green tail feathers.

"Swellow, start off with Double Team!" Swellow started to rapidly fly in circles around Pelipper, and as it did multiple copies of it appeared.

"Pelipper, spin around and use Water Gun!" Pelipper fired a stream of water towards the images of Swellow, then started to spin around in the opposite direction in an attempt to hit it.

"Swellow, now, use Quick Attack!" Suddenly the images of Swellow disappeared, and Pelipper's Water Gun attack had missed entirely. Swellow was approaching Pelipper fast from behind.

"Pelipper, Protect!" A white translucent sphere appeared around Pelipper briefly, long enough for Swellow to hit the barrier instead of Pelipper and bounce of harmlessly. Swellow flew off in front of it after hitting the barrier.

"Swellow, try Quick Attack again!"

"Pelipper, hit it with Water Gun!" Swellow came around for another attack as Pelipper fired a stream of water towards it. The water hit Swellow, but using its speed it managed to dive through the attack to strike Pelipper. Pelipper fell towards the ground, but recovered before it hit.

"Swellow/Pelipper, use Wing Attack!" Both trainers called out. The two bird pokemon flew towards each other, hitting each other with their wings and flying off in opposite directions.

"Pelipper, hit it with another Wing Attack!"

"Swellow, use Quick Attack!" Pelipper and Swellow turned towards each other in the air once again. Swellow was flying towards Pelipper at rapid speeds while Pelipper was flying towards Swellow prepared to hit it with a Wing Attack. The two pokemon struck each other again, knocking each other towards the ground. Swellow was able to recover again, but Pelipper's wing seemed to be injured from the impact and it couldn't seem to get up off the ground. It still looked willing to fight, but it didn't seem capable of flying.

"Now we've got it! Swellow, use Double Team!" Swellow started flying in circles around Pelipper again, making copies of itself as it did.

"Pelipper might be down but its not out! Pelipper, try to hit it with Water Gun!" Pelipper fired a stream of water towards Swellow, and its after images disappeared as the real Swellow was knocked back by the attack. It quickly shook it off, however.

"Now, hit it with another Water Gun!" Pelipper fired another stream of water towards Swellow.

"Swellow, use Quick Attack and dodge it!" Swellow easily evaded the attack, flying just out of the way of it then diving towards Pelipper.

"Pelipper, use Protect!" Pelipper was surrounded by a translucent white sphere again as Swellow dived towards it. Swellow struck the sphere surrounding Pelipper, causing no damage to the pokemon inside. Swellow once again flew up above Pelipper.

"Swellow, Wing Attack!"

"Pelipper, use Protect again!" Swellow turned towards Pelipper again and flew towards it, preparing to strike it with its wings. The sphere surrounded Pelipper again, only this time it looked weaker. Swellow hit the sphere, smashing right through it and hitting Pelipper. Pelipper was sent sprawling across the ground and seemed to be in pretty poor condition from the attack. Pelipper struggled to get back onto its feet, obviously in extreme pain.

"Now hit it with a Quick Attack, Swellow!" Swellow flew towards Pelipper again at rapid speeds, striking it hard and knocking it out. May recalled her Pelipper.

"Not bad Alex...of course, we're just getting started! Go, Plusle!" May sent out her next pokemon, the Plusle that had paralyzed her before.

"Plusle huh? Interesting...Alright, Swellow, use Double Team!" Once again Swellow began to fly in circles around its opponent, creating multiple copies of itself.

"Plusle, try to hit it with Thunder Wave!" Plusle fired out rings of electricity towards Swellow, but it turned out to just be one of the images Swellow was leaving behind.

"Keep trying it Plusle!" Plusle kept firing off its Thunder Wave attack, but each time it seemed to just be hitting another image.

"Now, Swellow, use Quick Attack!" Swellow appeared behind Plusle in the air as the images disappeared and dived towards it.

"Plusle, use Spark just before it hits!" Plusle began to crackle with electricity just as Swellow rammed into it. Plusle still took the hit and was knocked back from the blow, but Swellow was shocked by the electricity and fell to the ground, paralyzed.

"Plusle, get up and hit it with another Spark!"

"Swellow, try to get up and use Quick Attack!" Plusle ran towards Swellow, crackling with electricity as it did. Swellow suddenly got a look of determination on its face as it rose off the ground and once again flying into Plusle. It struck Plusle hard, but at the same time was shocked by the electricity crackling around it. Both pokemon fell to the ground unconcious. May and Alex recalled them to their pokeballs.

"Well that was an interesting outcome. Alright, Grovyle your up!" Alex released his Grovyle as his next pokemon.

"Combusken, Go!" May threw out her next pokeball, which contained Combusken. Combusken appeared in front of Grovyle.

"Looks like both our first pokemon evolved...Alright, Grovyle, start off with Pound!"

"Combusken, use Double Kick!" Grovyle ran towards Combusken with its fist raised back, hitting Combusken across the face once it was in range. Combusken quickly recovered and delivered a kick to Grovyle's chest, then jumped forward and kicked it again.Grovyle managed to stay on its feet as it was knocked back.

"Now hit it with Ember, Combusken!"

"Grovyle, dodge it with Quick Attack!" Combusken shot a ball of fire towards Grovyle, but Grovyle quickly ran out of the way, running around behind Combusken then slamming into it from behind, knocking Combusken onto the ground.

"Combusken, get up and use Ember again!" Combusken hopped back onto its feet and shot another fireball towards Grovyle.

"Grovyle, try to dodge it and hit it with Fury Cutter!" Grovyle attempted to move out of the way of the attack as it made its way towards Combusken, but took a glancing blow to the side. Grovyle then struck Combusken with the leaves on the back of its arm, which started to get a slight yellowish glow. Combusken hardly looked like it even got hit, though.

"That hardly did anything! Combusken, hit it with another Ember!"

"Grovyle, use Quick Attack and dodge it!" Grovyle once again was hit by a glancing blow from an Ember attack as it tried to use Quick Attack to dodge it in close quarters. It then slammed into Combusken from the side, sending it sprawling. It quickly hopped back up to its feet.

"Now hit it with Fury Cutter again!" Grovyle quickly leapt towards it and hit it with the leaves on its arms. Combusken didn't seem to be hurt much by that attack either, and the yellowish glow got slightly brighter.

"Combusken, use Ember!"

"Grovyle, dodge it with Quick Attack again!" Grovyle once again moved out of the way of Combusken's attack, this time dodging it completely. It then slammed into Combusken from behind, and Combusken seemed to be feeling the effects of being pummeled so much.

"Combusken, try Ember again!"

"Grovyle! Quick Attack!" Combusken got up and fired another Ember at Grovyle, but Grovyle once again dodged it and was preparing to hit Combusken from behind again.

"Combusken, turn and use Ember now!" Combusken spun around to face Grovyle and shot a fireball at it just before it hit. Grovyle was knocked back by the attack and hurt badly. It struggled to get back to its feet.

"Grovyle, hit it with Pound!"

"Combusken, finish it off with Double Kick!" Combusken got ready to deliver a kick to Grovyle, and Grovyle raised its hand back to strike Combusken. They hit each other at the same time and both fell to the ground. Combusken managed to slowly get back up to its feet though. Alex recalled his Grovyle.

"Grovyle did pretty good for having a type disadvantage...Your turn, Graveler!" Alex tossed out the pokeball containing Graveler and the rock pokemon appeared, ready to fight.

"Graveler, huh? Well I'm not worried in the slightest! Combusken, use Double Kick!"

Combusken leapt towards Graveler ready to kick it.

"Graveler, Defense Curl!" Graveler curled up into a ball just before impact. Combusken landed its kick on Graveler, but didn't seem to do much at all. Graveler was protecting itself by curling up and the force of the kick simply made it roll instead of taking the full impact.

"Great! Now hit it with Rock Throw!" Graveler rolled back towards Combusken and uncurled, unleashing a shower of rocks towards it.

"Combusken, jump up and try to dodge it!" Combusken got ready to jump over the attack, but the rocks struck it before it got the chance to, instantly KO'ing the already weakened pokemon. May returned it to its pokeball, and reached for another.

"This one will take your Graveler down! Go, Lombre!" May called out her next pokemon, and the water/grass pokemon appeared, ready to fight.

"We'll see about that...Graveler, use Rock Throw!" Graveler unleashed a shower of rocks towards its opponent, and Lombre made no attempt to defend itself as it was hit. The attack obviously caused Lombre some pain, but May didn't seem worried about it at all.

"Lombre, use Absorb!" Graveler seemed to be struck by an invisible force as energy flowed from it and into Lombre, causing a great deal of damage to Graveler and restoring what little damage had been caused to Lombre.

"I doubt Graveler will be able to take another hit...we'll end this quickly then. Graveler, use Self Destruct!"

"What! Lombre, look out!" Graveler briefly glowed, then suddenly unleased a massive wave of energy and a cloud of dust shot up into the air. When the dust cleared, the area they were battling in was reduced to a create and both combatants were down for the count. May and Alex recalled their respective pokemon.

"That was a cheap shot...but still, this is one of the best battles I've had in a while! Go, Beautifly!" May released her next pokemon, the butterfly-like pokemon Beautifly.

"Same here! Go, Azumarill!" Alex released his Azumarill, who appeared standing in the crater left behind by Graveler.

"Azumarill, use Defense Curl!"

"Beautifly, use Mega Drain!" Azumarill curled up into a ball to protect itself, but it did nothing to weaken Beautifly's Mega Drain attack. Energy was drained from Azumarill, much like an Absorb attack, only twice as powerful. Azumarill didn't seem to be hurt too badly by the attack, though.

"Now, Azumarill, use Rollout!" May gasped when she heard Alex call out the attack, remembering what Roxanne's Geodude did with Rollout.

"No way! Azumarill knows Rollout! Beautifly try to hit it with Stun Spore!" Azumarill started spinning rapdily and launched itself towards Beautifly, hitting it before it had a chance to get off its attack. Beautifly fell to the ground and struggled to get back into the air, hurt badly from the attack.

"Beautifly, try to hit it with Stun Spore again!"

"Azumarill, roll out of the way!" Beautifly released a cloud of yellowish dust towards Azumarill, but Azumarill rolled out of the way, gaining speed as it did.

"Beautifly try again!" Beautifly released another cloud of Stun Spore, but Azumarill simply rolled out of the way again, gaining speed as it continued to roll around on the ground. May knew she'd be in trouble if she couldn't stop it. Suddenly, she had an idea.

"Beautifly, use Stun Spore again then use Gust to spread it around!" Beuatifly unleashed yet another cloud of Stun Spore, which Azumarill easily dodged. Beautifly then flapped its wings rapidly, kicking up strong winds and sending the cloud of Stun Spore into Azumarill, which stopped rolling and collapsed from paralysis.

"Wow...good call. Azumarill, try to finish it off with a Bubblebeam attack!"

"Thanks! Beautifly, use Mega Drain!" Azumarill struggled, but it couldn't seem to get the attack off. It was struck by another Mega Drain attack and seemed to be staggering from both the loss of energy and the paralysis. It then suddenly collapsed, no longer able to fight. Alex recalled it.

"Go, Minun!" Alex called out his next pokemon, Minun, which looked almost identical to May's Plusle except that it was blue in places where her Plusle was red.

"We should start off new too, huh Beautifly? Use Morning Sun!" Beautifly started to glow white as it absorbed sunlight, healing its wounds. Alex smirked.

"I think that move deserves a round of applause, don't you Minun? Use Encore!" Minun noded happily and started clapping its hands, but the result sounded like an entire audience was applauding. May's Beautifly seemed to blush as it received the applause.

"Hmph! Making fun of me huh? Beautifly use Stun Spore!" Beautifly ignored its trainer's command, and instead, to May's surprise, used Morning Sun again despite having no injuries. As it did, more applause seemed to erupt from nowhere.

"Encore, forces the opponent to use the same attack until the Encore ends. Until then Minun is free to do whatever. Minun, hit it with Spark!" Minun charged up electricity around it, then jumped up and hit Beautifly. Beautifly was hurt badly by the attack, but soon used Morning Sun again like nothing happened.

"Beautifly! You have to snap out of it!" Beautifly didn't seem to be paying any attention.

"Minun, hit it with Spark again!" Minun charged itself with electricity again and leapt towards Beautifly. It struck Beautifly, passing electricity through its body as it did and injuring it badly. Beautifly fell down to the ground as it was paralyzed by the attack. Beautifly once again used its Morning Sun attack to heal itself, but that did nothing to help the paralysis. The applause suddenly seemed to stop as well, and Beautifly shook off the effects.

"Great! Encore wore off! Beautifly, try to hit it with Stun Spore!"

"Minun, use Quick Attack to jump over it!" Minun used Quick Attack, build up its speed as it ran towards Beautifly then jumped straight up into the air to avoid the Stun Spore.

"Now use Spark, Minun!" While still in the air Minun started to charge electricity.

"Beautifly, get out of the way!" Beautifly tried to move out of the way of Minun's attack, but because of the paralysis it couldn't budge. Minun came down on top of Beautifly hard, smashing it into the ground and electrocuting it at the same time. Beautifly was down in one hit.

May recalled her Beautifly. She was now down to her last pokemon.

"Alright...its up to you now, Kirlia! Go!" May called out her next pokemon, the evolved form of Ralts which had the appearance of a ballerina.

"Kirlia huh? Alright, Minun hit it with Quick Attack!"

"Kirlia, use Double Team!" Kirlia seemed to shimmer briefly, then suddenly multiple images of itself appeared. Minun seemed confused for a moment then shot forward towards the one it thought was the real Kirlia, but ended up going through it, having tried to hit a fake. The images disappeared and Kirlia was a fair bit behind Minun.

"Now, Kirlia, hit it with Confusion!"

"Minun, use Spark!" Minun got up and started charging electricity. It was struck by a blast of psychic energy from Kirlia, but still kept focused on what it was doing. It launched itself into Kirlia, tackling it and electrocuting it at the same time. Both pokemon seemed like they were still ready for more.

"Minun, hit it with another Spark attack!"

"Kirlia, use Teleport to dodge it then hit it with another Confusion!" Minun charged up electricity and went to tackle Kirlia, but just before it did Kirlia disappeared and Minun hit the ground. Kirlia appeared further in front of Minun and hit it with another blast of psychic energy, and it looked like it was starting to take its toll on the electric pokemon. Minun was starting to seem fairly injured and exhausted.

"Minun, try Spark again!"

"Kirlia, finish it off with another Confusion!" Minun prepared to try to hit Kirlia with one more attack, but before it could Kirlia launched off another blast of psychic energy, and this one knocked Minun down for the count. Alex recalled his Minun.

"Last pokemon each now...Alright, lets make this one count! Go, Kadabra!" Alex released his last pokemon from its pokeball, and it was a psychic vs. psychic face off. Kirlia vs. Kadabra.

"Kirlia, use Double Team!" Kirlia seemed to shimmer, then multiple copies of itself appeared surrounding Kadabra.

"Kadabra, Teleport out of there and try to hit them all with a Psybeam attack!" Kadabra vanished and appeared further away outside the circle of Kirlias. The Kirlias turned towards Kadbra, who then shot a beam of psychic energy towards the right side of the circle, maintaining it and moving to the left until it hit the real Kirlia. Kirlia was knocked back, but it floated back to its feet.

"Kirlia, use Calm Mind!" Kirlia closed its eyes and concentrated. It was surrounded by a pink aura and its psychic powers increased.

"Kadabra, hit it with another Psybeam!" Kadabra fired another beam of psychic energy towards Kirlia, who took the hit dead on. Kirlia was able to easily resist the attack however.

"Kirlia, use Calm Mind again!"

"Kadabra, hit it before it gets a chance!" Kirlia started to glow as it used Calm Mind again, and Kadabra fired out a beam of psychic energy. The beam barely managed to strike Kirlia before it was able to fully use its Calm Mind ability. The attack still wasn't doing a whole lot, but from a combination of the Psybeam attacks and the Spark attack that hit it earlier it was starting to seem exhausted.

"Kirlia, use Confusion!"

"Kadabra, counter it with Psybeam!" Kirlia and Kadabra each fired off their attacks, which collided in a flash of pink light. Despite Kadabra using the stronger attack, both attacks were canceled out and neither got through.

"Kadabra, use Reflect!" The air around Kadabra shimmered briefly as the Reflect was set up, which would help to block any physical attacks coming at Kadabra. This wouldn't help against any of Kirlia's psychic attacks, Alex was simply taking precautions. He figured he had more to worry about if Kadabra got confused than from Kirlia's attacks.

"Kirlia, use Double Team!" Kirlia once againt made multiple images of itself in an attempt to avoid any incoming attacks by having Kadabra attack a fake.

"Kadabra, teleport above them and use Psybeam!" Kadabra vanished, and May was wondering just what Alex was hoping to accomplish. A beam of psychic energy struck the ground, kicking up a lot of dust and dirt around the Kirlia images. Neither Alex nor May could see past the dust, and Kadabra landed in the middle of it.

"Now, use Psybeam!" In the confusion, Kirlia had apparently dropped the rest of its images. It suddenly shot forward out of the dust as it was struck by Kadabra's Psybeam attack, and fell flat on the ground.

"Kirlia, get up and use Confusion!" Kirlia floated back onto its feet and unleashed a blast of psychic energy towards Kadabra.

"Kadabra, use Teleport again!" Kadabra vanished just before the Confusion attack hit, appearing just behind Kirlia.

"Now, Psybeam!" Kadabra struck Kirlia with a Psybeam attack at close range. Kirlia was sent sprawling into the dirt. It seemed to struggle to get back to its feet, but then it just fell, no longer capable of battling. It took a few seconds for the two trainers to realize it was over, and Alex had won.

"I...I guess I lost..." May said, recalling her Kirlia.

"That was a great battle, May. It could have gone either way really." Alex recalled his Kadabra as well.

"That really was a close battle. Although at times one of us seemed to have an advantage over the other, it still came down to both of us using our last pokemon."

Alex walked over to her and extended his hand, "We should do this again sometime." May hesitated for a second, then reached out and shook Alex's hand.

"Well actually...since we met up..." May was interruped by someone clapping. Alex and May turned towards the sound, and saw the man Alex ran into back in the Slateport Battle Tent.

"Great battle you two! I saw the whole thing!" The man stated, then approached them.

"Hey! Your the guy from the Battle Tent!" The man nodded.

"I don't believe I've introduced myself. I'm Scott, and I travel around Hoenn in search of trainers. I've seen some trainers with pretty powerful pokemon, but its not often I see anyone battling like you two were. I'd like to keep in touch with you, if you don't mind that is." Alex and May looked at each other and shrugged.

"Well if you have a pokenav I can register you..." May replied.

"Same here."

"Well, I don't have a pokenav per say, but I do have a cell phone that can register pokenavs." Alex and May nodded, and registered Scott and vice versa.

"Well, I hope to be seeing you two around more! See ya!" Scott then left back towards Slateport.

Alex turned to May, "So what were you trying to say before anyway?"

"Well...Since we've managed to meet up again...why don't we travel together? It'd be better than travelling alone, right? Besides, we both got our first pokemon the same day but we don't know each other much. The only chance we really had to talk was during that short walk through route 101, and that dumb detective kinda jumped you." Alex smirked slightly.

"Careful. He can probably hear us."

"What!" May started looking around suspiciously, and Alex laughed.

"Yeah, he's still following me. I taught him a lesson back in Dewford though, and with any luck lost him when I took the ferry. Anyway...I don't see why not. It'd provide us with better opportunities to train too. Before we go anywhere though we need to heal our pokemon. We won't get very far with just my Kadabra."

"Of course, and by the way next time my Kirlia will beat your Kadabra."

"We'll see...we'll see..." And so, the two of them went back into town to prepare for their journey together to Mauville.

A/N: Ok this chapter took a bit longer than I thought it would, sorry to anyone that might have been anxiously anticipating it. Be sure to review!


	12. Chapter 8: Lightning Strikes Twice

KGmck-117: Thanks for your review - The yuri will be a fair bit later, towards the end of this series. Thats assuming I decide to end the series, of course. I don't know if I want to end it and go with a sequel or just keep it going. I'm thinking about a sequel though. And as for their battle...well the outcome was decided like this...

Me: Choose 3 numbers between 1 and 10.

Friend: Umm...1, 4, and 7.

Me: Ok. Alex wins then.

I'm serious, thats how I decided XD If the average was below 5, Alex. 5, draw. Above 5, May. Anyway glad you like it so far! Now enough of me ranting...here's chapter 8!

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Eight:**

**Lightning Strikes Twice**

"Now I'll get it!" May yelled as she threw a pokeball at the Electrike. It disappeared as it was pulled inside the pokeball, which then landed in the grass and started shaking. It shook three times before it finally clicked shut. Shortly after, the pokeball vanished in a white light as the pokemon as automatically sent to her storage box on pc.

"Alright! Now I have an Electrike!" She yelled excitedly. Combusken, who had been fighting the Electrike, grinned and struck a pose. May was starting to put a bit more effort into working on her pokedex after running into Professor Birch and Brendan. Neither were overly impressed with how small her pokedex seemed to be. Brendan apparently had over 40 different kinds of pokemon registered on his pokedex.

"Great, can we get going then?" Alex had been watching from the sidelines the entire time. He wasn't interested in 'catching them all' as many people put it. They had been travelling on their way to Mauville for a few days now, and were almost there when May found that Electrike.

"Fine, you really need to learn to relax you know that?" May stated as she recalled Combusken.

"I just want to get my next badge. That and there's something else in Mauville I want to check out." Alex grinned widely as he said that.

"We agreed I was challenging the gym first, remember?"

"Yeah I know, I know...and I still say rock beats paper." The two of them started walking towards Mauville, arguing for the second time that day over whether rock beats paper or paper beats rock.

When they had finally arrived, the first thing they did was heal their pokemon at the pokecenter. Outside, they discussed their plans.

"I'm going to go challenge Wattson, so where would I find you when I get my badge?"

"When you win? Someone's confident... Anyway, I'm going to be at the game corner." Alex grinned broadly. "By the time I'm done they'll be begging me to leave!" May looked at him curiously.

"Game corner? I've heard about it before...what is it exactly?"

"The game corner is similar to a casino, only instead of money you get coins from the machines and games, and then you can use those coins to buy dolls or TMs. I guess in a way its like a combination of an arcade and a casino, only more aimed at trainers. You need to get a coin case, though, which of course I already have." May rolled her eyes.

"So I'm travelling with a gambling addict..."

"Hey! I'm not addicted! I can stop any time I want. I just don't want to. Anyway, I'll see you later." Alex ran off towards the game corner, and May went to the gym. Once there she saw a familiar green haired boy standing outside with an older looking man. She quietly approached them.

"Come on, uncle! I want to show you just how much stronger me and Ralts are! Please let me challenge this gym!" The boy pleaded the older man, apparently his uncle.

"Now Wally, you have gotten much stronger since moving to Verdanturf, but don't you think your pushing it a little by challenging the gym?"

"No way! If me and Ralts combine forces we can beat anyone!"

_"Wow,"_ , May thought to herself, _"Wally has really changed since I met him in Petalburg." _Wally had finally noticed May was behind him.

"May! I've gotten a lot stronger since we met in Petalburg! I want to show you and uncle how strong I am! I want to battle you!" May smiled.

"Alright then, but I won't go easy on you!"

"Likewise! Go, Ralts!" Wally's only pokemon was still Ralts, but it had gotten quite a bit stronger since he first caught it.

"Go, Combusken!" May decided to maybe go a little easy on Wally by using a pokemon he had a type advantage against. She could tell Ralts was stronger than when he caught it but her pokemon were all very strong and his Ralts hadn't even evolved yet.

"Combusken, use Scratch!"

"Ralts, use Confusion!" Wally's Ralys struck Combusken with a blast of Confusion, but it didn't seem to bother it much despite the type disadvantage. Combusken struck Ralts with its claws, and that alone was apparently enough to KO it. After that one attack Ralts was unconcious. Wally stared in shock.

"I...lost? I guess being a trainer is harder than it looks...isn't it May?" May was just as surprised to see the Ralts go down in one hit. She actually felt a little sorry for it.

"Uh...sorry, Wally...yeah it can be tough at times." , she replied a little sheepishly. Wally's uncle patted him on the back.

"Now don't get so hung up on yourself. Whats stopping you from becoming even stronger? Now lets go back to Verdanturf." Wally nodded, and he and his uncle left Mauville for Verdanturf.

_"Poor Wally...I hope he'll be ok..._" May thought to herself before entering the gym.

Once she entered, she saw a somewhat fat man with white hair. The battlefield inside this gym didn't seem to be anything special.

"Excuse me!" May called out to him. He turned around and looked at her, "Yes? What?" May narrowed her eyes.

"I'm here to challenge the gym leader..." The man let out a laugh.

"Wahahaha! A challenger huh? Alright then, four pokemon each! I hope your ready, because I'm going to shock you!"

"Right...Go, Combusken!"

"Go, Voltorb!" Each trainer released their starting pokemon. May chose to start with her Combusken, and Wattson was using Voltorb.

"Combusken, use Bulk Up!" Combusken flexed its muscles, which suddenly seemed to start bulging, making Combusken appear to be much stronger.

"Voltorb, use Charge!" Voltorb sparked with electricity as it started charging up, preparing to release a devastating attack. May couldn't tell if Charge actually did anything or not.

"Combusken, hit it with a Double Kick!"

"Voltorb, use Shock Wave!" Combusken ran towards Voltorb, but was stopped in its tracks as Voltorb started to release waves of electricity from its body. Combusken braced itself as each wave struck, but May knew it wouldn't be able to hold out like that.

"Combusken you have to get through to it and use Double Kick!" Combusken seemed to be in a great deal of pain as it tried to force itself towards Voltorb. There was nowhere for it to go to avoid the attack. Combusken managed to make it though, and delivered a good hard kick to Voltorb, ending the attack. It then spun around and landed a second hit on Voltorb. Due to its increased strength, that was enough to knock the pokeball shaped pokemon out.

Wattson recalled his pokemon.

"Wahaha! Not bad, kid! Electrike, go!" Wattson sent out his next pokemon, which was the same as the pokemon May had just caught earlier. Combusken seemed to be pretty exhausted from its ordeal with Voltorb, but it could still fight. Combusken stared down its next opponent, still ready to fight.

"Since it worked so well last time, we'll use it again! Electrike, use Shock Wave!" Electrike started sending out waves of electricity from its body just like Voltorb did, and Combusken was once again helpless to do anything but take the hit.

"Combusken, try to fire an Ember through its Shock Wave attack then hit it with Double Kick!" Combusken was surrounded by a red glow, which May had never seen it do before, and it fired a large Ember attack through the Shock Wave and hit Electrike dead on. It then leapt over to it and brought its foot down on the lizard-like pokemon hard, then spun around to kick it again. This combo had finished off Wattson's second pokemon, but Combusken was really starting to look exhausted.

"Not bad! Lets see if you can keep up this streak, though. Go, Manetric!" Wattson released his next pokemon, which was the evolved form of Electric. It seemed quite a bit different from Electric, though, as it somewhat resembled a dog of sorts with a large yellow mane on its head. May had no doubts that this pokemon would probably know that shockwave attack as well, and she was getting tired of it.

"Manetric, lets finish this one off with a Quick Attack!" Manetric started charging towards Combusken at incredible speeds.

"Combusken, try to knock it away with a Double Kick attack!" Combusken brought its foot around to kick Manetric just as it slammed into it, and both pokemon were knocked back and onto the floor. Manetric got right back up, however, while Combusken didn't.

"You fought hard, Combusken. Good job. Return." May recalled Combusken and thought for a moment about who to use next. Alex told her Pelipper would be a very bad choice against Wattson, and that Beautifly probably wouldn't be much better. She decided she'd use Kirlia next, and released it from its pokeball.

"Manetric, use Bite!" Manetric charged towards Kirlia, fangs beared ready to bite it.

"Kirlia, use Teleport!" Kirlia vanished just before Manetric hit it and appeared behind it on the other side of the battlefield.

"Now, use Psychic!" Kirlia's eyes glowed blue momentarily, and Manetric suddenly seemed like it had been struck by a huge force as Kirlia slammed it with its psychic powers. Manetric looked severely injured from the attack as it struggled to get back to its feet.

"Finish it off, use Psychic again!" Manetric was one again slammed by an invisible force and hit the ground hard. It seemed like Kirlia had easily finished Manetric off, and this gym battle was looking like quite the one sided fight in May's favor. She had three pokemon left and Wattson only had one, and her Kirlia seemed to have gotten fairly strong as well. She was confident she could beat whatever it was Wattson used next.

"Your making me seem like an amature here, kid. Wahahaha! Its great to see such talented young trainers, but lets see how you handle this, go Magneton!" Wattson's released his final pokemon. Magneton was the evolved form of Magnetite, and looked like three of them fused together.

"Kirlia hit this one with a Psychic attack too!" Kirlia's eyes glowed blue once more as it slammed Magneton with its psychic powers. Magneton hardly seemed to feel it though.

"No way...that hardly phased it!" Wattson laughed.

"Of course, Magneton is of the steel type. It can easily resist any psychic powers. Now, Magneton, use Metal Sound!" Magneton suddenly let out a terrble high pitched noise, and both May and Kirlia were covering their ears from the horrible sound. Wattson didn't seem to be bothered by it at all.

"Now, Magneton, use Shock Wave!" Magneton started releasing wave after wave of electricity from its body, and May knew Kirlia was helpless to do anything but to take the hit. Neither Teleport nor Double Team would help it to dodge the attack. It seemed to be taking much more pain from it than Combusken was, too. It wasn't long before Kirlia collapsed, unconcious from the assault. May recalled it.

_"Ok change of plans..."_ , May thought to herself, _"I don't know if either Lombre or Plusle can handle a steel type pokemon...they can resist a lot of attacks...I think I'll use Beautifly next."_ May reached for Beautifly's pokeball, wondering if Alex had accounted for a steel type pokemon. She released her Beautifly onto the battle field.

"Beautifly, hit it with a Stun Spore attack!" Beautifly released the powdery substance into the air, sending it towards Magneton. Magneton was hit by the attack, but seemed almost completely unaffected by the spores.

"Wahahaha! That won't work! Spores won't have any affect on Magneton! Magneton hit it with Shockwave!" Magneton again released wave after wave of electricity, striking Beautifly. Beautifly was struggling greatly against the attack as it fell to the ground, unable to maintain flight due to the constant barrage.

"Beautifly, hit it with Mega Drain!" Beautifly struggled, and managed to use its Mega Drain attack, hitting Magenton dead on. It didn't do a whole lot to it, but it did at least force it to back off its attack. Beautifly was badly injured from the assault though, and May was sure it wouldn't withstand another hit. It also couldn't use Morning Sun very well since it was indoors. It could still heal but not very well.

"Magneton use Sonic Boom!" A loud boom was heard as Magneton fired a small shockwave toward Beautifly.

"Beautifly, quick, use Mega Drain!" Beautifly managed to strike Magneton with another Mega Drain attack, draining a small amount of life from Magneton and restoring Beautifly. The Sonic Boom attack hit Beautifly and it managed to hang on, but barely.

"Use Mega Drain again!"

"Finish it with another Sonic Boom!" Beautifly drained more life from Magneton, and it was actually starting to show signs of exhaustion from the constant assault. It was struck by Magneton's Sonic Boom attack, however, and was down and out after it hit. May returned Beautifly to its pokeball. She only had one chance left now to win a battle that started out seeming easy.

"Pelipper, your turn now!" Against Alex's advice, May was using Pelipper. Pelipper was at a huge disadvantage, though, because it was both a water and flying type.

"Ha! Magneton will make short work of your Pelipper! Use Shock Wave, Magneton!"

"Pelipper, use Protect!" Magneton released waves of electriticy from its body, making it impossible for Pelipper to dodge. Pelipper managed to use Protect before the Shock Wave attack hit, however, and was completely unaffected by it. Magneton had to stop using its attack before it drained itself of energy.

"Magneton use Shock Wave again!"

"Pelipper, hit it with Water Gun before it can attack!" Pelipper fired a stream of water towards Magneton just as it was about to use its Shock Wave attack. Magneton ended up shocking itself instead as it was hit.

"Magneton, hit it with Shock Wave!" Magneton tried to use Shock Wave again, but the attack produced nothing but sparks. The previous attack had apparently short circuited it and it could no longer use electrical attacks.

"That can't be good..." Wattson muttered.

"Now, Pelipper, hit it with Steel Wing!" May had apparently used the Steel Wing TM Steven had given her to teach Pelipper the Steel Wing attack. It flew towards Magneton and looked like it was going to hit it with a Wing Attack, but just before it struck its wings suddenly seemed to be coated in metal. It struck Magneton, knocking it to the ground, and its wings returned to normal. Magneton was down and out, and May had won.

"Alright! We did it!" Wattson walked over to her holding the Dynamo Badge and TM 34.

"That was an electrifying match, kid! You earned the Dynamo Badge! You can have this TM too, it teaches a pokemon the attack Shock Wave. I'm sure you'll put it to good use!"

Wattson handed her the badge and TM, and she put the badge on her trainer card. She recalled her Pelipper to its pokeball and left the gym. Once outside, she saw Alex nearby and he seemed to be talking to his Azumarill about something. May couldn't hear what they were saying though. Azumarill nodded, and Alex returned it. May went over to greet him.

"Hey Alex, how did it go at the casino?"

"Hey! Couldn't have gone better! If I stayed any longer I bet I could have cleaned the place out! Oh well, maybe next time. So how'd it go with Wattson?"

"Well you failed to mention he had a Magneton, but I still won." Alex seemed a little surprised.

"A Magneton? I thought he only had three pokemon...wonder when he got that one. Well that certainly changes things a bit, but Azumarill and I can still take him!"

"Your challenging him with a water type?" Alex grinned.

"Yep! And I bet I can beat every one of his pokemon with it except maybe Magneton. My Graveler can handle Magneton easily, though."

"Wouldn't it make more sense to use Graveler against all his pokemon? I mean he relies heavily on electric attacks afterall and Graveler is completely unaffected by electrical attacks."

"I'll use Graveler when I need to. Better to save the big guns as a last resort, if you know what I mean." Alex made his way to the gym, and May followed, curious as to what he had planned. As Alex entered the gym, Wattson once again seemed to be deep in thought and didn't notice him.

"Hey! I'm here to challenge you!" ,Alex yelled out to him. This snapped Wattson out of his thoughts.

"Wahahahaha! Another challenger? Alright lets see what you've got kid. Voltorb, go!"

"Azumarill, lets go!" Alex and Wattson released their first pokemon onto the gym's battlefield. Alex was starting off with Azumarill, a water pokemon, against Wattson's electric types.

"Wahahaha! You'll never win using a water type, kid!"

"We'll see about that... Alright, Azumarill, you know the plan! Use Ice Beam!"

"Voltorb, use Shock Wave!" Azumarill fired an Ice Beam from its mouth, but it wasn't aiming at Voltorb. Instead it formed a small pillar of ice in front of it. Voltorb unleashed its Shock Wave attack, but Azumarill seemed unaffected at all standing behind the pillar of ice.

_"His Azumarill knows Ice Beam?"_ , May thought, _"When did it learn that? I wonder if thats one of the TMs the game corner gives out... Gee! If it is I should consider gambling instead of watching this. Lets see what Alex does next though... That ice wall will protect it from Shock Wave because of the nature of the attack, but Alex can't very well attack from behind it."_

"Not bad, kid, but you can't hide behind that ice wall forever!"

"I don't need to hide behind it for long...Azumarill get ready with a Rollout attack!" Azumarill, still behind the pillar, rolled into a ball and started spinning rapidly.

"Thats how you want to play, huh? Alright Voltorb you use Rollout as well!" Voltorb stopped with its Shock Wave attack and started spinning as well. Alex watched for a few moments, until he felt Azumarill had built up enough speed.

"Now! Go for it Azumarill!" Azumarill shot forward and over the ice pillar it ad created, speeding towards the spinning Voltorb.

"Roll out of the way, Voltorb!" Voltorb rolled off to the side, easily avoiding Azumarill's Rollout attack.

"Azumarill, do a u-turn and try for another shot!" Azumarill turned around, managing a u-turn just before reaching the edge of the battlefield and back on a path towards Voltorb.

_"Whats with everyone's pokemon knowing Rollout..."_ , May thought to herself as she watched Voltorb and Azumarill rolling around the field.

_"I wonder if Alex even thought Voltorb might know that... He seems to like trying to plan everything ahead, but there's no way for him to be able to account for everything."_

_"Great, this isn't going to work..." _, Alex thought to himself, _"Wattson's Voltorb knows Rollout...and Voltorb can move much faster than Azumarill can because of its shape...guess its time for a change of plans."_

"Azumarill, jump into the air!" Azumarill launched itself into the air, almost hitting the gym's ceiling.

"Now, fire an Ice Beam in Voltorb's path!" Azumarill fired an Ice Beam where the Voltorb was going, but because it was moving so fast it hit Voltorb instead! Voltorb became incased in ice, and ended up a rolling ball of ice. Azumarill landed in the center of the battlefield.

"That...works I guess...now hit it with a Rollout attack!" Azumarill started rolling again, then shot forward towards the frozen Voltorb. The ice around Voltorb was shattered upon impact, and Voltorb fell to the gym floor unconcious. Azumarill continued to roll around, building up speed as it awaited its next opponent.

"Wahahaha! You managed to beat Voltorb, but things aren't going your way now are they? You better watch yourself or you'll regret underestimating a gym leader!" Wattson recalled Voltorb and sent out his next pokemon, Magneton.

"Magneton...just great...oh well, keep up the attack Azumarill!" Azumarill shot forward, on a collision course with Magneton.

"Magneton, use Shock Wave!" Magneton released waves of electricity from its body. Azumarill seemed to slow down slightly as the waves hit it, but kept on rolling. It bounced off Magneton, causing minimal damage and distracting it from its attack, then rolled away. Alex wasn't expecting it to do much, but he had to keep trying anyway.

"Magneton, use Metal Sound!" As Azumarill started to come around for another attack, Magneton suddenly let out a horrible screeching sound. Azumarill stopped in its tracks, trying to cover its large ears from the noise. Alex and May had to cover their ears as well.

"Azumarill...use Ice Beam!" Alex had to yell to make sure Azumarill could hear him. While still covering its ears, Azumarill fired an icy cold beam towards Magneton. Magneton was momentarily frozen in a block of ice, but it shattered almost instantly. The attack seemed to do very little to Magneton, but it had stopped the noise at least.

"Now hit it with a Bubblebeam attack!" Azumarill fired a blast of bubbles towards Magneton. Magneton was pushed back as the bubbles burst on it, and seemed like it was starting to take pretty heavy damage.

"Magneton, lets finish it off with Shock Wave!" Magneton started to release waves of electricity from its body, and Azumarill could do nothing but take the hit from the attack. Seconds later, it collapsed, and Alex returned it to its pokeball. He had expected Azumarill to finish off all three of Wattson's pokemon, but he wasn't expecting him to have a Magneton for a fourth pokemon. Still, Magneton was weakened quite a bit by Azumarill's assault on it.

"Minun, Go!" Alex threw Minun's pokeball onto the field, and the small electric pokemon appeared ready for battle.

"Wahahaha! You can't beat me with an electric pokemon, kid! Magneton, use Sonic Boom!"

"We'll see about that! Minun, Thunderbolt!" Magneton fired its Sonic Boom attack towards Minun, while Minun charged up electricity and fired a Thunderbolt towards Magneton.

Wattson wasn't expecting Alex's Minun to know such a high power electrical attack, since it was rare that a pokemon even learned that attack naturally and if it did it usually didn't learn it until it was much stronger. He figured Alex must have gotten a TM from the game corner.

Minun was struck by Magneton's Sonic Boom attack but seemed to take it fairly easily, while Minun's Thunderbolt attack seemed to be enough to KO Magneton, despite Magneton being an electric type. Wattson recalled his Magneton.

"Well now! I have to say I'm impressed, I wasn't expecting such a strong attack. I suppose I should have though, considering your Azumarill knew Ice Beam. Seems someone has done well for himself at the game corner." Alex smirked.

"Well its their fault for making the games too easy, but I guess we both ran into something unexpected today."

"Wahahahaha! Indeed we have, but back to the battle!" Wattson released his next pokemon, Electrike.

"Electrike, use Howl!" Electrike howled loudly, boosting its strength as it did.

"Interesting tactic...I think it deserves an Encore, don't you Minun?" Minun nodded and started clapping. A loud applause echoed through the gym, and Electrike seemed to smile as it heard it. May sighed as she saw this.

_"Is he going to say something corny everytime he has Minun use Encore?" _She thought to herself.

_"Its a pretty good tactic though...as long as it doesn't wear off before Minun can KO Electrike, otherwise Electrike will probably be as strong as a Salamance."_

"Now hit it with Thunderbolt, Minun!" Minun fired a large blast of electricity towards Electrike, and all Electrike did was use Howl again. The Thunderbolt attack struck Electrike hard, but it was still ready for more.

"Again! Thunderbolt!" Minun fired another Thunderbolt attack at Electrike, who was still suffering the effects of Encore. It Howled again, bringing about a round of applause from an unknown source that spurred it on. The Thunderbolt attack struck Electrike, which now seemed to be having trouble standing as it was weakened greatly by the second Thunderbolt attack.

"Great! Finish it off with another Thunderbolt, Minun!" Minun used Thunderbolt a third time, and Electrike collapsed as the electricity struck it, too much for even an electric pokemon to take. Wattson recalled his fallen Electrike, looking a little annoyed that Electrike had been brought down by Minun's childish antics. He had to take the loss, though, and sent out his next pokemon, Manetric.

"Manetric huh? Minun probably won't be able to beat this one...but we'll have to try at least. Alright, Minun, use Thunderbolt!"

"Manetric, use Shock Wave!" Manetric used Wattson's trademark attack, Shock Wave, and released waves of electricity from its body. Minun fired a bolt of electiricity towards Manetric which managed to penetrate its attack and strike it dead on. Shortly after, the Shock Wave attack had reached Minun and it was zapped briefly by the attack. Minun was starting to look pretty badly hurt and quite exhausted.

"Minun, Thunderbolt!"

"Manetric, finish it off with Shock Wave!" Minun once again used Thunderbolt and pierced through Manetric's Shock Wave attack, hitting it hard but not seeming to cause much damage. Minun was hit by the Shock Wave attack though and was down for the count. Alex recalled it and sent out Kadabra for his next pokemon.

"Manetric, hit it with Shock Wave!"

"Kadabra, use Psychic!" Manetric released waves of electricity from its body. Kadabra's eyes started to glow briefly, but before it could finish its attack it was struck by Manetric's Shock Wave attack and lost its concentration.

"Kadabra! Shake it off and use a Psychic attack! I know you can do it!" Kadabra struggled against the attack, and continued trying to use its Psychic attack, but it just couldn't concentrate. Kadabra continued to suffer from the attack, unable to gather the strength to break free. Suddenly, though, Kadabra was engulfed in a white light, and it started to evolve.

When the light faded, Kadabra had evolved into Alakazam. It was taller, and had a second spoon now. It also had lost its tail, and had a very long, white mustache. Everyone stared in shock, no one would have expected a pokemon to evolve in the middle of a battle. Kadabra was apparently driven by its determination to evolve into Alakazam.

Manetric was stunned as well, and had no way to prepare itself for Alakazam's attack. Alakazam's eyes glowed blue, and Manetric was slammed hard by an unseen force and collapsed on to the floor, apparently KO'd by a Psychic attack from Alakazam.

"Wow...Kadabra...evolved to win...Alright! Way to go, Alakazam! I knew you could do it!" Alakazam folded its arms, and a small smile formed on its lips. Alex and Wattson recalled their pokemon.

"Well that was quite the battle, kid! I've never been so shocked in my life! I wouldn't mind having a rematch with you someday. For now, you can have the Dynamo Badge and the Shock Wave TM, although from the looks of things I doubt you need it." Wattson handed him the badge and the TM disk.

"Thanks, you were a tough opponent. I'd look forward to a rematch." Alex stated as he received the badge. He then left the gym, and May followed.

"So, Alex, learn anything from this?" She asked once they got outside.

"I was supposed to learn something from all this?"

"Nevermind...so where's the next badge?"

"Lavaridge. We can take a cablecar to the top of Mount Chimney then go through Jagged Pass to Lavaridge Town. The gym leader there is Flannery, and she uses fire type pokemon. Her signature attack is Overheat which is definitely something to watch out for..." Alex noticed May didn't seem to be paying attention and waved his hand in front of her face.

"Anyone alive in there?" May snapped out of her thoughts.

"Sorry, was thinking about something..." Alex rolled his eyes.

"Yeah I gathered that much...what about?"

"Well, a friend of mine named Wally lives in Verdanturf, and I'd kinda like to visit him..."

"Wally...Wood?" May nodded.

"Couldn't hurt to pay him a visit then, and since I'll be in Verdanturf..." Alex grinned broadly, "I can challenge the Verdanturf Battle Tent!"

May stared at him blankly, "Battle Tent?"

"Its like a small tornament of sorts only they tend to use unusual rules in combat, like the one I entered back in Slateport we had to choose a team of three pokemon from six 'rentals'."

"Wow...that would be a challenge. Of course I suppose Mr. Know-it-all had no trouble winning that one..."

"Of course not! I won most of it with just a well trained Spinda."

"Of course..." May rolled her eyes. "Can we get going already so we can try to get to Verdanturf before night?"

Alex thought for a second, "You know...we could really use a car."

"What! Neither of us are old enough to drive!"

"Relax! I was joking! Alright lets go...Er! Wait!"

May sighed, "What now?" Alex pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to May. It was a TM disk with the number 35 on it.

"I got that from the game corner, but you could probably put it to better use than I could. It teaches Flamethrower."

"Wow...umm...thanks! I'll teach it to Combusken!"

"Great. Well anyway, lets get going." May nodded in agreement, and the two of them healed their pokemon at the pokecenter before setting out towards Mauville.


	13. History: The Three Tribes

Sorry for the lack of an update lately, been having a bit of a writers block, started back to school, and have been working on a short advanceshipping story (trying to finish the last chapter for that one). Anyway this is an idea I had for a short chapter. Right now it'll just seem like an interesting chapter, and some people might be able to figure something out from it, but it won't mean a whole lot until later in the story. Anyway this is one history lesson that won't be boring :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**History Chapter:**

**The Three Tribes**

Odari stood at the edge of the forest, watching the battle that was taking place before her. Odari was, by today's standards, a teenager at age 14. In this time period, though, she was considered to be an adult. In fact, she was the leader of her tribe. The Hoenn tribe. Her tribe was one of three in the region. The other two were the Johto and the Kanto tribes. They were the ones battling. Soon, though, she would be joining in...alone.

The need for people to die senselessly in battle had long past. Several decades ago they had found ways to capture creatures that they had named 'Pokemon'. These pokemon could fight each other with their own powers without risk of death, and little chance of injury. Pokemon came in many shapes and forms, and some were even made by the tribes themselves. Thats why Odari was there...

Leadership of her tribe was passed down in her family from generation to generation. Now it was her turn. Odari was wearing her tribe's armor, although it wasn't necessary. It gave her the appearance of an amazon warrioress. Her brown hair reached to her shoulders, and she was wearing several green beads in her hair. Her brown eyes scanned the battle field, waiting for the perfect moment to declare her challenge on the opposing tribes.

At her side was her sword. Weapons were no longer used, but her's did have a purpose. Embedded in the blade of the sword was an emerald. The emerald was her taming tool. With it she could use the magical devices called Capture Jars. She needed to channel her energy through the emerald to capture these creatures called Pokemon, and to release them from the capture jars. The capture jar was a pyramid shaped object that contined the pokemon's spirit inside. Once opened, the pokemon would revert to its natural state. This worked because Pokemon were magical creatures by nature.

Odari only had one capture jar with her. She was counting entirely on the pokemon container within it to make her statement here today. The other two tribes, Johto and Kanto, were fighting for control of the Hoenn tribe. Her tribe was often unable to do anything to defend itself because of the powerful pokemon controlled by the leaders of the Johto and Kanto tribes. The tribe had worked hard, however, to create the pokemon she carried with her now. They were placing their last hope for freedom in this pokemon.

On the field before her, the battle had slowed down as Odari knew it would. The rest of the soldier's pokemon were nowhere near as strong as the leader's pokemon and by now had all been defeated. It was now down to Aisha of the Kanto tribe facing Haruka of the Johto tribe. It was almost time for Odari to issue her challenge, but not quite yet...she was waiting for a very specific moment.

Aisha was slightly older than Odari at age 16. She had very long brown hair that reached down to about the middle of her back. She was also wearing her tribe's armor and was carrying a sword with a ruby embedded in it. The ruby functioned similar to the emerald in Odari's sword.

Haruka, on the other hand, was about two years younger than Odari at age 12. She was still a fierce warrior, though. She had brown hair that was longer on the side of her head than in the back, and was braided on both sides as well. She, too, was wearing the armor and carried a sword with a sapphire embedded in it.

All three of them ascended to leadership of their respective tribes when the previous leaders, all female as well, had disappeared. Being the only daughters of these leaders and already considered adults, the position had naturally gone to them. The fighting between the Kanto and Johto tribes had started just after they disappeared. At the time, the Hoenn tribe was under the control of the Kanto tribe. Since then, control over Odari's tribe was constantly shifting between the two. She intended to end that now, however.

Aisha and Haruka each had two pokemon left they had yet to use, and their current pokemon both seemed exhausted. Haruka was using a pokemon called Yureidoru, today called Cradily. Aisha was using Aamarudo, which is now called Armaldo. In present time these two are extinct pokemon only starting to reppear from reviving them from fossils. These two were caught by Haruka and Aisha themselves. Odari had a few pokemon herself, but today she only had one with her...

"Yureidoru, finish it with Acid!" Haruka called out to her pokemon. Yureidoru spat a purple substance towards Aisha's Aamarudo.

"Aamarudo, use your Water Gun attack to block it!" Aamarudo fired a stream of water from its mouth at the purple substance, causing it to dissipitate. Aisha smirked slightly.

"This is getting boring. What do you say we skip to the real battle, Haruka?"

"If your in such a hurry to lose, then fine..." Haruka drew her sword and pointed it towards Yureidoru. "Return!"

A capture jar lying at Haruka's feet split open, and the gem in Haruka's sword started to glow. Yureidoru turned into energy and was sucked into the jar, which then closed. Aisha did the same with her Aamarudo. They each picked up their respective 'jars' then placed another one on the ground. Haruka pointed her sword toward the jar.

"Release! Rejirock!" The jar split open, revealing a glowing orb of energy which soon shot out of the jar and started to expand until it had taken the form of the pokemon known as Rejirock, the powerful rock golem pokemon created by the Johto tribe. Aisha pointed her own sword towards her capture jar.

"Release! Rejice!" Aisha's capture jar split up, revealing a similar orb of energy. It then shot out and expanded until Rejice, the ice golem created by the Kanto tribe, had formed before her. The two pokemon stood awaiting their master's commands, while the rest of the soldiers stared in awe of the powerful pokemon. Rejice was created to serve as the guardian of the Kanto tribe, while Rejice was the guardian of the Johto tribe.

Seeing this as the opportunity she had been waiting for, Odari finally stepped out from the trees. Many of the soldiers noticed her and started whispering among themselves. Haruka and Aisha soon noticed her as well.

"Grr...what are you doing here!" Haruka demanded. The Hoenn tribe was currently under Johto's control.

"I'm here to declare my tribe's independence." Odari replied calmly. Haruka laughed.

"You and what pokemon?" Without a second of hesitation, Odari threw the capture jar to the ground and drew her sword.

"Release! Rejisteel!" The jar split open, and an orb of energy shot out of it which then formed into the pokemon known as Rejisteel. It appeared to be made entirely of some sort of metal, and was a golem like the other two reji pokemon.

"What! How did your tribe get a guardian without me knowing!" Haruka demanded. Aisha snickered.

"Seems you slipped up somewhere along the line, Haruka. This never would have happened were they under my control. Not that it matters anyway, whatever that Rejisteel thing is can't possibly withstand the power of Kanto's Rejice. Rejice, hit it with Icy Wind." Rejice's eyes flashed briefly and it flung its arms out. A cold breeze suddenly blew threw the area, bringing snow with it which struck Rejisteel. Rejisteel didn't even flinch though. Aisha stared in shock.

"Figures, your Rejice is weak anyway!" Haruka snickered. "Rejirock, use Rock Throw!" Rejirock's eyes flashed briefly before it brought its fist into the ground. Rejisteel was suddenly struck by a shower of rocks, but hardly seemed to flinch. Haruka was just as shocked as Aisha. Neither of their attacks seemed to do anything at all to it.

"Rejisteel, use Curse to build up your strength." Rejisteel seemed to be surrounded by a somewhat dark aura as it started to increase its power.

"You stay out of this, Haruka!" Aisha yelled."I don't need your help! Once I'm finished with Odari's tin can I'm taking down your rock too! Rejice, Ancient Power!" Rejice's eyes glowed again and the ground shook. A stream of rocks started erupting from the ground making a line towards Rejisteel. The rocks struck Rejisteel, but it withstood that attack quite easily as well while still gathering its strength.

"Back off! You haven't beaten me so she's still mine!" Haruka yelled back. "Rejirock, use Superpower!" Rejirock's eyes flashed and it gathered an immense amount of power, then fired a blast of energy towards Rejisteel. The blast struck it and caused an explosion, but Rejisteel had gathered far too much power by now for the attack to even bother it, despite the type disadvantage.

_"Great! Everything seems to be working so far..."_ Odari thought to herself. _"They can't work together. If they could, they would have easily beaten me. Rejisteel is hardly affected by most of their attacks, though. Not to mention its a tough pokemon anyway and getting tougher by the second... All that planning ahead seems to have paid off, as well as the...effort I went through to keep those two from finding anything out."_

"Rejice! Use Icy Wind and don't let up!" Rejice's eyes flashed and a cold wind started to blow. Snow formed in the wind as it blew against Rejisteel. Rejisteel seemed to hardly notice it. Odari decided that Rejisteel had powered up enough.

"Rejisteel, attack Rejice with Metal Claw!" Rejisteel stomped slowly towards Rejice, who was too caught up in its attack to move. Rejisteel raised one of its hands which ended in sharp claws. Its hand suddenly seemed to turn silver as it smashed Rejice with its claws. Rejice was a heavy creature, but the force of the impact still sent it flying back several feet. Its eyes dimmed as it seemed to shut down. Rejice, the all powerful guardian of Johto, was defeated in a single blow.

"Wh-what! H-how could that pitiful creation be so powerful!" Aisha stammered. She clenched her fist as she reached with her sword with her other hand and pointed it towards Rejice.

"Return..." Rejice's disabled form reverted to energy and disappeared into Aisha's capture jar. Haruka was equally in shock from what she had witnessed. She had fought Rejice many times and it had always proven itself to be a tough opponent, but Odari's Rejisteel, a newly created pokemon, had defeated it just like that...

_"One down, one to go..."_ Odari thought to herself, yet maintained her calm demeanor. _"Now...lets end this one with a bang!"_

"Rejisteel, attack Rejirock with Superpower!" Rejisteel slowly turned to face Rejirock and gathered power. The earth around it seemed to shake from the immense strength it had gathered from using Curse. It pointed its hands towards Rejirock and fired a huge burst of energy. The blast struck Rejirock and created a huge explosion that engulfed both golems. Everyone had to shield their eyes from the blast. When everything was clear again, Rejisteel was still standing strong. Rejirock, on the other hand, had suffered the same fate as Rejice.

"I...I lost too? Just like that...its all over? How can that thing...be so strong...to take on two guardians at once?" Haruka was shaken from the experience. She raised her sword towards her fallen guardian, Rejirock, and recalled it to the capture jar.

"From this point on, the Hoenn Tribe will be ruled only by itself." Odari stated. "We will not be controlled by either of you. Your war is over." She then raised her sword towards Rejisteel, then cast a glance to the soldiers on either side of the battlefield. They were speechless, having witnessed their respective guardians beaten so easily.

"You did well, guardian Rejisteel. Return." The capture jar opened once again and Rejisteel was pulled back inside it. Odari picked it up and strapped it to her side, then left the same way she had arrived at the battlefield. Aisha picked up Rejice's capture jar then turned to her soldiers.

"We're leaving..." Aisha started to leave the battlefield, but Haruka called to her.

"Hey! We're not finished our battle yet!" Aisha turned to her.

"We only have one pokemon each, both are heavily damaged, and didn't you hear what Odari said? The Hoenn tribe declared their independence. There's no point in fighting now. Its over." Aisha then left, and her soldiers followed. Haruka fell to her knees, tears in her eyes.

"Thats it...? Just like that...its all over...?" One of the soldiers from her tribe approached her, a boy about her age.

"Lady Haruka, are you ok...?"

"I'm fine, dammit...take the rest of the soldiers and go back to the village...I want to be alone..." The soldier gave a slight nod.

"As you wish, milady..." He then turned to the rest of the soldiers and gave them Haruka's orders. They reluctantly left her to return to the village.

"Odari...why? I thought you...I thought you..." Haruka tried to hold back her tears as she thought of the battle she just had against Odari. She never saw that side of her before...so calm, yet cold. Just like that she showed up out of nowhere...

And declared Hoenn's independence...


	14. Chapter 9: Trust, Love, and Friendship 1

This chapter is turning out to be longer than I thought it'd be, so I'm splitting it into two parts. Hopefully part two won't take me as long as part one did!

Also, there will probably be at least three more history chapters in the future, which will involve the legendary pokemon. Keep an eye out for them!

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Nine (Part One):**

**Trust, Love, and Friendship**

May was quite happy with the pokemon she had caught recently, a Roselia. She couldn't wait to withdraw it from the PC in the pokecenter in Verdanturf. Alex wasn't nearly as impressed, however. He had the misfortune of being the one to find it. His hand was still throbbing from being on the receiving end of Roselia's Poison Sting attack. They were just outside of Verdanturf, and Alex had decided to try to 'pick' the lone rose in a patch of flowers. Luckily, he had plenty of antidotes on hand.

"I can't wait to see the pokemon I caught! I have four of them waiting in my PC you know." She stated happily.

"So you've mentioned..." Alex replied with very little enthusiasm.

"Lets see...there's a Gulpin...an Oddish...an Electrike...and now a Roselia!" May continued. "I feel like I'm making a lot of progress now!"

"You know, there's about 202 known species of pokemon that could possibly be living in Hoenn, Maybe more."

"...Hmph. Well everyone has to start somewhere."

"Including the ones you evolved you have about...16 pages on your pokedex. Right?" May took out her pokedex and checked it. Sure enough, she only had 16.

"Wow...good guess...well I bet I have more than you still." Alex shrugged slightly.

"Well as far as pokemon I've caught goes I have 12. I already have pages for the 202 pokemon known to be living in Hoenn though. Mind you it only displays..." Before Alex could finish, May had swiped his pokenav/pokedex and was looking through it.

"Hey! Give that back!" Alex quickly snatched his pokenav back, but ended up grabbing it with the hand that had fell victim to Roselia's Poison Sting and dropped it in pain.

"Ow! Damn it! That hurt!" May snickered.

"Serves you right for bragging...anyway, we're in Verdanturf now..." Alex looked around, and sure enough they had walked into Verdanturf while they were talking. The town was pretty quiet, though, as night had already fallen.

"Ok so tonight we'll stay at a hotel and then we can visit Wally around noon tomorrow, and afterwards you can go to your battle thingy." May stated.

"Actually...there are no hotels in Verdanturf." Alex replied. "The nearest hotel would be in Rustboro but Rusturf Tunnel is closed off. Also, its a Battle Tent."

"What!" May yelled at him. "You mean we walked all the way here and now we have to sleep out in tents!" Alex shrugged.

"Well your the one who wanted to get here in a hurry. We COULD have spent the night in Mauville and left first thing in the morning."

"...Whatever. Lets just go heal our pokemon already..." May muttered and went off towards the pokecenter. Alex followed behind her. They were the only ones in the pokecenter when they got there, other than the nurse.

"Well you two are out late. How can I help you?" She asked them.

"I want to get my pokemon healed." May replied with a slightly annoyed tone, still upset from her conversation with Alex. She handed her six pokemon over to the nurse who placed them in the pokecenter's restoration chamber. After a few moments, the nurse handed May back her pokemon and took Alex's.

While Alex's pokemon were being healed, May booted up the center's PC and connected to Hoenn's storage system. She placed Lombre's pokeball in the transport device next to the PC and clicked a few buttons. The pokeball glowed white and vanished. She then clicked a few more buttons and a great ball appeared in its place. Inside it was the Roselia she had caught before. She also withdrew a tent by accessing her home computer's item storage system.

She placed the great ball on her belt where Lombre's pokeball was previously, then sat down in one of the chairs and impatiently waited for Alex to get his pokemon back. Once Alex got his pokemon back they left the pokecenter and left Verdanturf, stopping just outside the town to set up camp for the night. They both had their own tents, since they both had intended to set off on their own from the beginning.

They both released the six pokemon they currently had with them so they could 'get some fresh air' while Alex and May set up everything. Combusken and Grovyle helped May and Alex to set up their respective tents, since they were best suited for the task. Minun and Plusle could have helped too, but they were too energetic to focus on something like that so they let them run off to play.

Since Alex was busy with his tent, Alakazam took it upon itself to make sure all of Alex's pokemon were fed, including itself. Alakazam was easily Alex's smartest pokemon, even before it evolved. It was also capable of reading Alex's mind at times, assuming Alex had his thoughts straight.

May finished setting her tent up before Alex, since Alex couldn't make much use of his right hand. She was still upset about not being able to stay in a hotel, though, so she didn't offer him any help. Instead, she recalled her pokemon and went off towards a pond they passed by earlier.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Alex yelled to her as he noticed her leaving.

"I'm going to take a bath..." She said, without even looking back at him. "And don't even think about trying to peek..." Alex snorted.

"Don't flatter yourself..." He muttered. He then noticed Alakazam giving him a look and narrowed his eyes.

"Not one word..." Alex muttered. Alakazam went back to what it was doing. Meanwhile, Grovyle had nailed the final peg of the tent into the ground. Alex thanked Grovyle for helping him and recalled his pokemon, then set up his sleeping bag inside the tent. As he was about to lie down to go to sleep, though, he heard someone scream. He quickly realized it was May, and bolted out of the tent, grabbing Grovyle's pokeball as he did.

Alex quickly ran towards the pond May said she was going to, but as he arrived the first thing he saw was a shoe, just before it hit him in the face.

"Ow! What the!" Alex yelled as he was hit by the shoe.

"Pervert! I told you not to try to peek!" May had apparently thrown one of her shoes at him. She had just gotten out of the pond and was wearing nothing but a towel.

"I wasn't trying to peek! I heard you scream and came to see if you were alright, and obviously you are!" Alex yelled back.

"Hmph...I can look after myself, thank you very much! The pond just happens to be a habitat for Corphish..." As May said this, a Corphish climbed out of the pond behind her.

"You mean like that one behind you?" May turned to look back behind her.

"Grr...I bet thats the one that pinched me!" May grabbed a pokeball from her backpack and threw it at the Corphish.

"This is for pinching me you stupid crab!" The pokeball hit the Corphish and it disappeared inside. The ball shook once before it burst into several pieces and Corphish reappeared.

"May, you should know by now just throwing a pokeball won't work..." Alex commented.

"Shut up! I didn't ask for your opinion!" May snapped back, reaching for the great ball that contained Roselia.

"Go, Roselia!" The great ball opened slightly and a white beam of energy shot out, which materialized into a fairly small plant pokemon. Roselia couldn't have been more than a foot tall.

"Roselia, start off with Stun Spore!" Roselia released a cloud of Stun Spore from the flowers on its hands towards the Corphish. The Corphish shot out some Bubbles, which blocked enough of the spore cloud that Corpish wasn't affected. It then lunged towards Roselia and clamped on it tightly with its Vicegrip attack.

"Alright, we can use this to our advantage...Roselia, use Absorb!" Corphish started to glow green as Roselia began draining its energy from it. The direct contact allowed it to easily maintain the attack. Although it was still being crushed by Corphish's Vicegrip attack, it was able to withstand it easily using Absorb while slowly weakening Corphish. Eventually, Corphish collapsed and released its grip on Roselia.

"Alright! Now its mine!" May grabbed another pokeball and threw it at the Corphish. Once again, it was sucked into the ball which started to shake as Corphish tried to break free. After a few tense moments, the pokeball clicked shut and disappeared in a white light as Corphish was sent to May's PC.

"Alright! We caught a Corphish!" May cried happily.

"A Corphish that tried to remove your toe..." Alex replied, snickering. May turned to him and glared.

"And I bet you KNEW there were Corphish here didn't you, Mr. Know-it-all!" Alex seemed to think for a moment.

"Now that I think about it...I do recall hearing about Corphish living in that pond...but never really went near it so I never found out for myself."

"Figures..." May said, rolling her eyes. She recalled her Roselia and grabbed her stuff, then started on her way back to the campsite. Alex soon followed. On their way there, May considered releasing her Roselia again to use Poison Sting on Alex, but decided he had suffered enough already today. After a short, and somewhat awkward walk, they arrived back at the campsite. May finally got dressed in the privacy of her own tent, and the two of them went to sleep for the night.

Alex was the first to awaken the next day, and he didn't waste any time taking his tent down. His hand was finally feeling better, so he was able to take the tent down without any help. By the time he had finished, May had finally woke up as well, and seemed to be in a much better mood in comparison to the previous night.

"Morning, Alex!" She said cheerfully as she came out of her tent.

"Your in an awfully good mood this morning. Forgot about last night already?" May just shrugged.

"I'm not really worried about it anymore...I couldn't get a bath cause the pond was full of Corphish, and it was probably a dumb idea anyway. So I'll just get a shower when we get to Mauville tonight. Besides, I caught two new pokemon yesterday!" Alex couldn't help but laugh a little.

"The wonders of a good nights sleep...anyway we should finish packing up and head into town. No point spending anymore time out here than we need to." May nodded and quickly packed up her tent and sleeping bag, and then the two of them left the campsite for Verdanturf, which was only a few minutes walk away.

Once in Verdanturf, they naturally visited the pokecenter first to make sure their pokemon were fully rested. After handing their pokemon over to the nurse, May logged onto the center's PC and Alex decided to see what was on TV, mostly out of curiosity. Of course, the tv was apparently switched to yet another news broadcast.

"New evidence has been found involving the disappearnace of Melany Stone. The young daughter of President Stone of Devon Inc was apparently spotted boarding what has been identified as an alien spacecraft, as seen in the following footage." The broadcast then showed a brown haired girl dressed like an archaeologist boarding a saucer-shaped craft.

"This is not only undeniable proof that aliens have landed on our planet, but that the technology employed by Devon Inc. could very well be alien technology. There could also be a connection between these alien invaders and the various archaeological findings made by Melany Stone herself, which would explain how such a young girl seems to make more findings than more famous and experienced archaeologists." Alex shook his head and sighed.

"That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard..." He muttered. "Dirk's accusations are a close second..."

"Well, you'd expect to hear that sort of thing on the Occult News." The nurse said as she returned with Alex's pokemon.

"There's actually a news program for that stuff...go figure..." Alex retrieved his pokemon and clipped them onto his belt. May switched her Pelipper with her newly caught Corphish and stored her tent again since she figured she wouldn't need it for a while. The two of them left the pokecenter and Alex found a place where they could get some food. It wasn't much, though. Verdanturf didn't have any chain restaurants or stores, since it was so close to Rustboro and Mauville.

They each decided to get a toasted bagel with butter, and Alex ordered a cup of tea while May ordered orange juice. They sat down across from each other at a table and ate their food while discussing their plans for the day.

"Wally might not be up yet." Alex said. "So we should probably wait before we go to see him..."

"Well then...lets go shopping!" May replied excitedly.

"There's really not much in the line of shops around here..."

"So? We need to make sure we have enough supplies and stuff."

"May...we're only going to be going to Mauville...I'm sure we have enough supplies for that short trip..."

"Well...you can never be too careful..."

"Uh huh...look if you want to go shopping that badly then fine...you probably won't find much though." May smiled.

"Knew you'd see things my way."

Alex and May finished their meal and left the restaurant. May noticed Alex left a fairly generous tip as they were leaving, but didn't really make anything of it. She was once again following Alex around the town, since he knew the place fairly well, and they soon ended up coming across a clothing store. It wasn't much, but May decided she wanted to check it out anyway.

The clothing the store had was fairly basic, and May ended up just looking. Of course, she didn't really have any plans to buy anything anyway. Alex ended up buying a hat, though. It was a white baseball hat with a green pokeball on the front.

"What did you buy that for?" May asked him as he put his new hat on.

"I thought it'd look good on me. Besides, never hurts to have a hat."

"If you say so..."

The two of them departed the clothing store and next stopped at a small convenience store and bought a few supplies. Alex also bought a couple of odd pokeballs called 'Nest Balls', but May thought they were too expensive to be worth it and settled for regular Great Balls and Pokeballs. Nest balls were apparently good for catching relatively weak pokemon.

While in the store, Alex found himself looking over the various magazines the store had. He found that at least half of them had Melany Stone on the cover. The others were pokemon magazines, such as Pokemon Pal. There were a few magazines containing tips on how to better raise pokemon, as well as battling tips and such. May was looking over some magazines too, and was contemplating buying a trainers magazine called "The Expert".

Alex wasn't watching where he was going as he walked down the aisle, and as he neared the end someone else was just coming around the corner carrying various pokemon supplies such as pokeballs and potions. Neither of them saw the other, and they collided, knocking each other over and dropping what they were carrying. When May heard the commotion, she looked over to see what happened, and had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing.

"S-sorry about that..." The person Alex bumped into said as he got up. Alex immediately recognized who it was.

"Wally!" Wally finally got a look at the person he ran into.

"Alex! Wow! I wasn't expecting to uh...bump into you here!"

"May told me you lived in Verdanturf so we came to visit." Alex said, pointing back towards May.

"May! You really came to visit me? Wow! Thanks!"

"Well I figured it'd be a shame to not visit you since we're in the area!" May replied, smiling. She then helped Alex and Wally gather their stuff up off the floor.

"You've changed quite a bit since I last saw you, Wally." Alex said as the three of them made their way to the checkout. "You definitely seem...stronger than when I first met you."

"I have you two to thank for that!" Wally replied. "When did you two start travelling together anyway?"

"We met up near Slateport." May said.

"And we had a battle." Alex added. "It was close, but I won in the end. It was definitely one of the best battles I ever had though."

"Next time, though, I'm going to win!"

"We'll see...we'll see...by the way, Wally, you know anything about the Battle Tent here in Verdanturf?" Alex asked. Wally nodded.

"I looked over the rules once...trainers use three pokemon each, and the trainer isn't allowed to give their pokemon any commands. Oh, and it starts in about 30 minutes."

"30 minutes...? Earlier than the one in Slateport...guess I should pay for this stuff and get going then..."

"Your really entering Alex? Good luck!"

"Thanks, I'll see you guys later!" Alex handed the nest balls and potions he grabbed over to the cashier and paid for them, then stuffed them into his backpack on his way out of the store.

Part Two: Alex enters the Verdanturf Battle Tent, and May has a run in with an all-too-familiar face and is forced to battle.


	15. Chapter 9: Trust, Love, and Friendship 2

Well, finally finished part two...plenty of battles ahead, and two more characters are introduced that might be making future appearances.

Hope you'll think this chapter was worth the wait . 

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Nine (Part Two):**

**Trust, Love, and Friendship**

Alex was sitting in the waiting room of the Verdanturf Battle Tent. He was early, and was placed in the second match. He had signed up his Alakazam, Swellow, and Azumarill for the battle tent, figuring they were the best for this type of challenge. He wasn't allowed to give any commands to his pokemon, so he chose Alakazam and Swellow since he knew they'd both fight the best they could, even without his directions.

Azumarill, on the other hand, he was taking a bit of a chance with. It had a very good set of attacks, but he knew Azumarill could be a little eccentric at times. He was a bit worried it might goof around in battle, but he had decided to take that risk and trust his pokemon. That was what this battle tent was all about, afterall. Trusting his pokemon. He had already taken the time to inform his pokemon that they're on their own in the upcoming battles.

After a few minutes, the first match had finally ended. Alex reached for Alakazam's pokeball.

"Well, lets get this show on the road." Alex left the waiting room and entered the battlefield, which was just a large dirt floor with white markings outlining a box on each side of the field where the trainer would stand. Alex took his spot on his side of the field, as did his opponent. His opponent was an older woman with long, blonde hair. Alex also noticed that Scott, from the battle tent in Slateport, was once again at the sidelines.

_"Scott's here, huh?" _Alex thought to himself._ "Wonder why he's so interested in watching these matches anyway...oh well, none of my concern really." _A man wearing a black and white striped shirt made his way to the side of the battle field. Alex figured that he must be the referee, since someone would have to make sure trainers don't issue any orders.

"Trainers, begin battle!" The referee yelled. Alex and his opponent each released their first pokemon.

"Alakazam, go!"

"Rosey, give it your best!" The two pokemon appeared on their respective sides of the field, and Alakazam found himself staring down a Roselia named Rosey. Alakazam was the first to make a move and struck out at Rosey with a Psychic attack, and disappeared immediately after. Rosey didn't even get a chance to brace itself for the attack and took Alakazam's Psychic attack full force and was knocked back to the ground.

_"Wow...Alakazam sure doesn't screw around..."_ Alex thought to himself. Alakazam reappeared behind Rosey and struck it with another Psychic attack. Roselia seemed to be hit by an invisible force and was flung across the battlefield. It struggled to get back to its feet as Alakazam seemed to be setting up some sort of barrier around itself. Alex recognized it as being Alakazam's Reflect attack.

Rosey finally got to its feet and fired a barrage of glowing leaves towards Alakazam, but Alakazam quickly teleported out of the way and reappeared in front of Roselia. The leaves changed direction, though, and turned back towards Alakazam. Alakazam seemed to know this would happen and once again teleported out of the way, causing Rosey to be hit by its own Magical Leaf attack and knocking it down for the count.

"Rosey...you did your best...return." Rosey disappeared as its trainer recalled it, and Alakazam had defeated its first opponent without a scratch.

"Ms. Gloom! Your up next! Go!" The other trainer released her next pokemon, a plant pokemon called Gloom. She had named her's "Ms. Gloom" apparently.

_"Rosey? Ms. Gloom? I see a pattern here..."_ Alex thought to himself. _"Alakazam might be able to win this one on its own..."_

Both their pokemon were standing on the battlefield facing each other now, and that was about all they were doing. The other trainer's Gloom was simply standing there with a somewhat dimwitted expression on its face, and Alakazam seemed to be in a state of pure bliss for whatever reason. It took a while for Alex to figured out what was going on.

_"Her Gloom only seems to be using its Sweet Scent attack...and Alakazam is being pretty much immobilized by the scent...this could take a while..."_

After several long, uneventful minutes, Ms. Gloom finally used a different attack. It sprayed a white powder at Alakazam, who was unable to concentrate to teleport out of the way due to the Sweet Scent attack. Gloom was using its Sleep Powder attack, and Alakazam fell asleep as soon as the powder touched it.

Gloom seemed to pause for a moment while Alakazam slept before it shot a purple liquid from its flower towards Alakazam. The barrier it had set up before had long since vanished, so it took the Acid attack full force. It woke up after being hit by the attack as well, and retalliated with a Psychic attack, catching the Gloom off guard. Alakazam then started to glow as it started drawing in energy and restoring any damage caused by Gloom's attack.

Ms. Gloom shot another blast of acid from its flower towards Alakazam, and Alakazam once again took the hit. It retalliated with another Psychic attack, and Ms. Gloom was KO'd as it was struck by an invisible force. The trainer recalled her Gloom and prepared to release her next pokemon.

"It is up to you, now...Loomy, please give it your best! Go!" The next pokemon the trainer called out was a Breloom named Loomy. As soon as it had appeared on the battlefield it had charged towards Alakazam with a speedy punch attack, hitting Alakazam hard with its Mach Punch.

_"Looks like this one is a bit more fiesty than her other pokemon..." _Alex thought to himself._ "But Alakazam still has the advantage since Breloom is a fighting type. This might be another one sided fight."_

Alakazam quickly got back to its feet and used Reflect to create a barrier to block physical attacks as Loomy came at it for another Mach Punch. It landed another hit, but this one was cushioned by Alakazam's Barrier, allowing it time to strike back with a Psychic, knocking Loomy back a few feet. It got back up again, though, and came at Alakazam with another Mach Punch attack.

_"This one just doesn't quit..."_ Alex thought to himself as he watched the battle between Alakazam and Loomy. Loomy connected with another Mach Punch attack, which was once again met by a Psychic attack from Alakazam. Both pokemon were starting to look exhausted, but as Loomy prepared to strike Alakazam with another Mach Punch attack, it used Recover again and looked almost as good as new. Loomy struck Alakazam with its Mach Punch attack, but Alakazam was more than able to take it.

Alakazam struck Loomy with another Psychic attack, and this one knocked it out. Alakazam had taken out all three of the trainer's pokemon on its own. Alex's opponent recalled her pokemon. The referee, who was watching the whole time, blew his whistle.

"Match over! Alex wins!" The referee called out from the sidelines.

"You did all you could, Loomy...I thank you..."

"Great job, Alakazam. I knew you could do it." Alakazam simply shrugged. Alex smirked slightly.

"Always the serious one...Alakazam, return!" Alakazam vanished into its pokeball as Alex recalled it. Alex noticed his opponent had already left by now, so he left for the waiting room as well and healed his pokemon for his next match.

May, meanwhile, was telling Wally and his family all about the battles she had experienced since she had left Littleroot.

"...and then his Kadabra appeared next to my Kirlia and hit it hard with a Psybeam attack. Sure, Alex beat me, but just barely! Next time I'll be the one who wins." Wally seemed to be particularly interested in hearing her stories.

"Wow...Alex must be pretty good if he beat you." Wally said.

"Yeah...I guess he's good. Kinda bugs me, though, that he plans everything in advance. He's probably already figured out his strategy for the 8th gym when he isn't even halfway there."

Their conversation was interrupted as Wally's aunt handed him a lunch box.

"Wally, could you please take this to Wanda? She's been in that cave since this morning..." Wally nodded.

"Ok, Aunt Willma." Wally left his aunt's house for Rusturf Tunnel and May followed behind him.

"Hey Wally, why's your cousin in that cave anyway?" May asked as they left.

"Her boyfriend is on the other side of the tunnel..." Wally replied. "He's been digging the tunnel by hand, but there's a big rock in his way and he can't break it."

"Wow...thats so sad..." It didn't take them long to reach the tunnel, since it was just north of the town. Just inside the tunnel was Wally's cousin Wanda, who was standing near a large, cracked rock. They could also hear something on the other side of the rock, sounded almost like someone punching it.

"Wanda, Willma wanted me to take this to you..." Wally held out the lunch box for her. Wanda turned towards them and took the lunch box from Wally.

"Thank you, Wally...who is your friend?"

"Oh, this is May! She's the one who helped me catch my Ralts!" May smiled slightly and waved.

"Hi there, nice to meet you." Wanda gave a slight nod.

"It is a pleasure to meet you too, May."Wanda sat down near the rock and took a sandwich out of the lunch box Wally gave her. She started to eat it, but her attention was focused mainly on the large rock. May looked over towards the rock as well.

"How long has he been trying to break that?" She asked Wanda.

"A few weeks now..." Wanda replied, a hint of concern in her voice.

_"A few weeks? He could have almost gone the long way around by now..."_ May thought to herself. _"I bet Combusken could break that rock down." _May turned to face Wanda.

"Mind if I try breaking it?" Wanda paused momentarily, wondering if May was being serious.

"If you think you can...then by all means."

"Huh? What are you going to do May?" Wally asked in confusion.

"Just watch!" May grabbed Combusken's pokeball from her belt. "Go, Combusken!" She threw the pokeball out in front of her, and it landed near the rock. The pokeball opened and Combusken appeared.

"Combusken! Use Double Kick to break that rock!" Combusken gave a nod and took up a fighting stance. It then lunged forward and delivered a hard kick to the rock. It shook and seemed to crack more. Combusken spun around and kicked it one more time, and this time it shattered to pieces and fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. When the dust cleared, they could see a young man in a white karate gi and wearing a black belt on the other side, looking surprised.

"Alright! Way to go Combusken!" Combusken gave a slight bow, and May couldn't help but giggle slightly as she recalled it.

"Whoa! Your pokemon did that, kid?" The guy on the other side asked. May nodded.

"Your pokemon sure are tough..." The man walked past the rubble and handed May a white HM disk. "Here, you can have this as a token of my appreciation! Its the Strength HM."

"Thanks!" May put the disk in a pouch on her belt. The man then approached Wanda and the two of them embraced.

"Wanda...now I can visit you anytime..."

"Thats...wonderful dear. Lets go to my place..." Wanda's eyes seemed to be fighting back tears as she embraced her boyfriend, and they left the cave for Wally's house.

"Wow! That was cool, May! I never would have thought to have a pokemon break that rock!" Wally exclaimed.

"Pokemon can be very helpful outside of battling each other. Pokemon are our friends and are more than willing to help us when we ask them to."

"I know, me and Ralts are best of buddies! Anyway we should head back to my place." May nodded and followed Wally back to his house.

Alex was now in the second round and was on the battlefield, facing down his next opponent. His opponent was a ten year old girl who, unlike someone else he knew, actually looked like she was ten and had her hair tied back into a ponytail.

"Trainers, begin battle!" The referee yelled from the sidelines. The two trainers each released their first pokemon.

"Go, Alakazam!"

"Go, Delcatty!" Alex once again started off with Alakazam, since he had to start with the same pokemon in each match. His opponent started off with Delcatty, a cute cat-like pokemon. Delcatty wasn't on the field long before it unleashed an attack that Alex recognized all too well. Alakazam was forced to brace itself as Delcatty unleashed waves of electricity from its body.

"Wonderful..." Alex muttered. "It knows Shockwave..." Alakazam struggled against the attack until it was finally able to concentrate enough to strike Delcatty with a Psychic attack, knocking it prone. It then used recover to restore the damage caused by the Shockwave attack. Delcatty hopped back to its feet and used what appeared to be Attract and was trying to act cute. Alakazam sweatdropped and didn't seem to be buying it.

_"Guess her Delcatty is female..."_ Alex thought to himself. Alakazam used another Psychic attack on Delcatty, and Delcatty was once again knocked to the ground. It hopped to its feet again and seemed to pause. Alex had no idea what it was doing this time, and neither did Alakazam. Alakazam decided to use Psychic again, and Delcatty was struck by an invisible force. This time, however, Delcatty...shattered to pieces.

"The heck!" Alex wondered out loud. The other trainer simply smiled, and Alakazam was suddenly struck by another Shockwave attack, seemingly from out of nowhere.

_"Her Delcatty knows Substitute!" _Alex thought. _"It knows Shockwave and Substitute...she's obviously better than the average trainer...this one might be tough..." _Alex smirked.

_"Good...so far these battle tent matches have been a joke..." _Delcatty looked like it was getting pretty exhausted from the combination of Alakazam's Psychic onslaught and its previous Substitute attack, so Alex figured Alakazam wouldn't have to worry about that again. Alakazam, meanwhile, managed to focus through the Shockwave attack and deliver a Psychic attack to Delcatty, and this was enough to finish it off. The other trainer recalled her Delcatty.

"Not bad...no one's ever managed to beat my Delcatty before...of course, if I was in command things would have ended differently." The trainer stated. "But my next pokemon will more than make up for it! Go Vigoroth!" She tossed another pokeball out onto the battlefield, and a white, sloth-like pokemon appeared. Unlike a sloth, however, this pokemon was very energetic.

Alakazam began to use Recover to restore the damage from Delcatty's final attack, but it didn't get much of a chance to heal as Vigoroth immediately charged towards it and started striking it with a Fury Swipes attack. Alakazam was knocked back, and Vigoroth charged forward for another attack. Alakazam quickly used Teleport to get out of the way, reappearing behind Vigoroth and striking it with a Psychic attack. Vigoroth didn't stay down, though, and was immediately charging towards Alakazam.

_"This one obviously isn't going to give up..."_ Alex thought. _"Its very aggressive and energetic...Alakazam probably won't get a chance to use Recover...its going to have to try to finish Vigoroth off quickly."_

Alakazam tried to hit Vigoroth with another Psychic attack, but Vigoroth got to it before it could attack and Alakazam was hit by another flurry of Fury Swipes as Vigoroth relentlessly scratched it with its claws. Alakazam was starting to look pretty bad, and Vigoroth wasn't giving it much of a chance to use Recover either. Eventually, it collapsed from the onslaught and Alex recalled it.

"You did your best, Alakazam..." Alex grabbed Swellow's pokeball and threw it out onto the battlefield. "Alright, Swellow, lets go!" Alex's green Swellow appeared on the field, and the other trainer seemed mesmerized by it.

"Wow! Your Swellow is so beautiful!" Her Vigoroth didn't seem to agree, though, and charged towards Swellow, preparing to unleash a Fury Swipes attack. Swellow took off into the air to avoid the attack, and Vigoroth started trying to jump up to reach it.

"Err...thanks..." Vigoroth jumped at Swellow again to try to hit it, but this time Swellow was ready and knocked it back to the ground with a Wing Attack. Vigoroth got back up and seemed furious. It then did something Alex definitely didn't see coming...Vigoroth fired an icy blue beam towards Swellow, which Alex immediately recognized as Ice Beam. Swellow saw the beam coming, and moved out of the way of it then used Quick Attack to strike back at Vigoroth.

_"Great..."_ Alex thought. _"This one knows Ice Beam...I doubt it'll use it very often, though...seems more in favor of using Fury Swipes." _Vigoroth was starting to look very angry now, and started to fire Ice Beams seemingly at random. Swellow managed to dodge them all, but the field was starting to get covered in ice, as well as the rest of the room. The referee raised a red flag and blew his whistle.

"Vigoroth is disqualified for endangering the battlers! Suzy, recall your pokemon!" The other trainer, Suzy, seemed to pout as she recalled her Vigoroth. Swellow landed on an unfrozen portion of the battlefield.

"Your lucky! My Vigoroth would have frozen your Swellow solid! You won't be so lucky with my next pokemon though! Go, Milotic!" Suzy released her next pokemon onto the field, which was a fairly large, beautiful, serpent-like pokemon called Milotic, considered to be the most beautiful pokemon. Swellow immediately took to the air again, and Milotic started off the battle by using an Attract attack. Swellow didn't seem to think anything of Milotic's Attract, however.

_"She has a Milotic!" _Alex thought to himself. _"Swellow might have its work cut out for it...Milotic is a very strong pokemon...wonder how it will do without its trainer, though?" _Milotic, realizing its Attract attack was having no affect on Swellow, fired out blue rings of water energy towards Swellow. Swellow easily swerved out of the way of the attack, then swooped in and struck Milotic with its wings.

_"Water Pulse...well, I guess I should be thankful it doesn't know something stronger at least."_ Alex thought to himself. While Swellow was flying back up, however, Milotic unleashed another attack and caught it off guard. Milotic fired a steady stream of blue flames from its mouth, hitting Swellow from behind and knocking it to the ground. Swellow seemed to be having trouble getting back up too. Alex didn't recognize the attack and had to get out his pokenav, which revealed it to be Dragon Breath.

"It knows Dragon Breath! I didn't even think Milotic could learn Dragon Breath..." Alex thought, placing his pokenav back on his belt. Swellow finally got to its feet and turned towards Milotic with a glint in its eyes. Milotic looked like it was preparing to use another attack, but before it got a chance to Swellow managed to get into the air and struck it with a Quick Attack, then collapsed onto the ground again.

Despite the paralysis inflicted by Milotic's Dragon Breath attack, Swellow seemed to be fighting a lot more fiercely. It was already struggling to get up for another attack while Milotic was still recovering from Swellow's Quick Attack. It managed to make its way over to Milotic and hit it hard with its wings, sending Milotic sprawling onto the ground. Milotic seemed to be in worse condition than Swellow at this point, but both pokemon were struggling to stay up.

Both pokemon managed to get up once again, but before Milotic could even make another move Swellow used another Quick Attack, striking it before it got a chance to attack and knocking it out, winning the match.

"Match over! Alex wins!" The ref called out.

"No way! How could your bird beat my Milotic!" Suzy cried out as she recalled her pokemon. Alex recalled Swellow as well.

"Simple...when it was paralyzed by your Milotic's Dragon Breath attack, its Guts ability made it even stronger. Even though it was having trouble moving, it was able to hit your Milotic a lot harder."

"...Hmph! You only won because you got lucky! Next time we meet I'll beat you for sure!"

"Whatever you say..." Suzy left the battle tent fuming, while Alex returned to the waiting room and placed the pokeballs containing his pokemon in the restoration machine.

"Only one match to go..." Alex said to himself as he sat on one of the benches.

"So you think Alex is almost done, Wally?" May asked him as they walked through the town. Wally nodded.

"They usually end around this time, or close to anyway. Thats if he made it to the final round anyway." May rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure Mr. Know-it-all did fine..." She stated dryly.

"Why do you call him that anyway?" Wally asked her. May was about to answer, when someone else interrupted her.

"Well well well...May Maple...imagine seeing you here..." May and Wally turned to the source of the voice, and saw a man wearing a black trenchcoat and matching hat. It was Detective Dirk.

"What do you want?" May asked him with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Tracking down Alex, of course...and imagine my surprise when I find your here with him. Yes...I'm surprised I didn't notice it before...you weren't Alex's target at all...no...your his accomplice!"

"Accomplice!"

"May...who is this guy?" Wally asked in confusion. Dirk laughed.

"You should be thanking me, kid...seems her and her boyfriend were targetting you next." The detective reached into his coat and pulled out a pokeball. "But I'm here to stop these two once and for all!" May, remembering that Dirk had a Poochyena last she saw him, reached for Combusken's pokeball.

"Wally, you go on ahead...this guy won't take me long..." She then realized what Dirk had said and turned to him. "Alex is not my boyfriend!" Dirk snickered.

"It doesn't matter to me either way...Go, Mightyena!" Dirk threw his pokeball out onto the ground, and his evolved Poochyena, Mightyena, appeared with a growl.

"Go, Combusken!" May released her Combusken from its pokeball, and it appeared before Dirk's Mightyena, ready to fight.

"Err...you sure you don't want any help, May?" Wally whispered to her.

"I'll be fine..." She whispered back. "Alex told me his pokemon are fairly weak, so I'll probably be able to take him on without any trouble...you just go on ahead and I'll meet up with you later." Wally nodded and ran off towards the battle tent, and Dirk watched with mild interest as Wally ran off.

"Enough stalling..." Dirk grumbled. "Mightyena, Bite attack!"

"Combusken, use Double Kick!" Mightyena leapt forward to bite Combusken, but Combusken's foot met with its face and sent it sprawling. It struggled to get back to its feet, but before it even got the chance to Combusken had caught up with it and kicked it again, and Dirk's Mightyena was quickly out cold from Combusken's attack.

_"Wow...one Double Kick..."_ May thought to herself. _"Alex wasn't kidding about how weak this guy is." _Dirk snorted.

"Lucky shot, brat... Mightyena, return." Mightyena disappeared into its pokeball and Dirk reached for another one.

"Go, Shroomish!" Dirk obviously didn't know much about type alignment, as he released the grass type Shroomish as his next pokemon.

"Combusken, use Flamethrower!" Shroomish was quickly engulfed by a steady stream of flames from Combusken. When the flames cleared, Shroomish was lying on the ground, unconcious and charred. Dirk recalled this one as well, growling as he did.

"Go, Loudred! Take her stupid chicken down!" Dirk released his Loudred from its pokeball, but it didn't look any stronger than his previous two pokemon. Combusken didn't look too happy about being called a stupid chicken either, and without May commanding it to it struck Loudred with a Double Kick attack, instantly KOing it and making May three for three.

"Wow...you really are pathetic, Detective Dork. Plan to send out a pokemon that can survive one attack anytime soon?" Dirk clenched his fist angrily.

"Its DIRK! D-I-R-K! That does it!" Dirk reached for his remaining three pokeballs and released all three of them at once. "Dustox, Wingull, Numel, go!" All three of his pokemon appeared, and Combusken took up a defensive stance.

"Hey! Three against one is against the league rules!"

"I said I'll take you and your boyfriend in and I'm going to do it!"

"Damn it would you just drop the whole criminal thing...and he's not my boyfriend!" May reached for two more pokeballs as well.

"Corphish! Roselia! Go!" May released her two recently caught pokemon, deciding to use this opportunity to give them some battle experience.

"Combusken, use Flamethrower on Dustox! Corphish, use Bubblebeam on Numel! Roselia, use Poison Sting on Wingull!" May's pokemon unleashed a flurry of attacks on Dirk's pokemon. Dustox was struck by Combusken's Flamethrower attack, and after one blast from the flames it was looking extremely weak, Numel was struck by a continuous stream of bubbles from Corphish and instantly fainted, and Wingull was still going fairly strong after a Poison Sting attack from Roselia.

"Dustox, use Confusion on her Combusken! Wingull, use Water Gun!" Both of Dirk's pokemon turned their attention towards Combusken. Combusken was struck by a psychic energy attack from Dirk's Dustox and a stream of water from his Wingull. Despite taking a hit from two attacks, both of which it was weak to, Combusken was still standing.

"Lets end this! Corphish, use Vice Grip on Dustox! Combusken, use Flamethrower on Wingull! Roselia, use Poison Sting again!" May's pokemon launched another volley of attacks towards Dirk's remaining pokemon. Corphish clamped down hard on Dustox with its claws, and Dustox fell to the ground unconcious. Wingull was struck by a blast of flames from Combusken as well as being hit by Roselia's Poison Sting attack, and was defeated as well. Dirk recalled his pokemon and ran off with a look of fear on his face.

"Well we sure showed him what happens when you don't follow rules, huh?" May's pokemon each seemed to be doing a victory pose of sorts. Combusken raised its fist in the air triumphantly, Roselia gave a slight bow, and Corphish raised its claws and clicked them together.

"Now that thats done with..." May muttered as she recalled her pokemon. "I have to go catch up with Wally..." She clipped her three pokeballs to her belt and ran off in the same direction Wally left in.

"I hope your ready to get burned, kid!" Alex's opponent said, taunting him. His was guy named Dante, and Alex could already tell all three of his pokemon would be fire types. Dante even had his hair dyed a very bright shade of red and was spiked up as if to resemble a flame.

"You know, a team based on one type of pokemon doesn't work out very well..." Alex stated as he reached for Alakazam's pokeball.

"Shut up! What would you know anyway!" Dante yelled.

"Enough bickering!" The referee called out. "Begin match!"

"You'll see the beauty and power of fire pokemon! Go, Inferno!"

"We'll see about that...go, Alakazam!" The trainers released their pokemon onto their respective side of the battlefield, and Alex's Alakzam and Dante's Inferno, a Combusken, were facing off. Inferno started the battle off with a Flamethrower attack, and Alakazam was quickly engulfed by a blast of flames and seemed to disappear into a sea of fire. Shortly after, however, it appeared behind using Teleport and looked fairly scorched from the attack. Dante clenched his fists as he helplessly watched his Combusken continue to attack nothing.

Alakazam took this time to use Recover to restore any damage Inferno's Flamethrower attack might have done, and gathered energy to restore itself. It then struck Inferno with a Psychic attack, catching it off guard by striking it from behind. Inferno turned around to face Alakazam, looking particularly angry as well. The Combusken raised its hands in the air then brought them down towards the ground, and Alakazam was suddenly struck by a continuous shower of rocks. It was hurt pretty badly by the attack, but managed to get back up.

_"That Combusken seems to be about as hot-headed as its trainer..."_ Alex thought to himself. _"Knows Rock Slide too it seems..." _Inferno raised its arms again, preparing to use another Rock Slide attack, but Alakazam saw this and used Teleport to get out of the way again, then once again used Recover while Inferno was in the middle of its attack and hit it with another Psychic attack from behind.

Inferno was looking pretty weak at this point, but was mad as heck. Without thinking it rushed towards Alakazam and looked like it was about to use a Double Kick attack, but Alakazam struck it with another Psychic attack. Inferno was sent flying across the battle field and landed on the other side, unconcious. Dante recalled his Combusken.

"Your stupid Alakazam is going to pay for what it did to Inferno! Go, Volcano!" Dante threw the pokeball containing his next pokemon onto the field. The pokeball opened and out came...a Numel. Alex sighed and decided to do something he didn't do often.

"Alakazam, good job. You can take a rest now. Return." Alakazam seemed a little surprised to find that Alex was recalling it, but didn't try to resist as it returned to its pokeball. Alex clipped it to his belt and reached for another one.

"Azumarill! This one's yours! Go!" Alex tossed the pokeball onto the battlefield and Azumarill appeared. Volcano had an opening to attack at this point, as Azumarill was unprepared, but it didn't seem to be taking it. In fact, Volcano didn't seem to be doing much at all. It was just standing there, looking quite unmotivated. Azumarill looked at it curiously and started hopping around it. Volcano didn't even bother trying to keep up with Azumarill's movements. After several moments of this, Volcano raised one of its feet and hit the ground, causing a relatively minor tremor that only succeeded in knocking Azumarill on its butt.

_"This Numel is really lazy."_ Alex thought to himself. _"And unless I missed my guess that last attack was Magnitude...and a very weak one at that." _Azumarill got up, but still had a somewhat bewildered expression on its face. Seemingly unsure of what to do, it shot out a continuous stream of bubbles towards Volcano. Volcano stumbled as the bubbles struck, and winced in pain as each bubble hit it and burst on impact. After just one attack it was looking ready to collapse. Seeing how effective its attack was, Azumarill decided to use Bubblebeam again, and the second attack knocked Volcano down for the count. Dante recalled his fallen Numel.

"This can't be happening, damn it! Volcano fought its hardest and was beaten by a lucky shot from your clown of an Azumarill!" Alex narrowed his eyes.

"Are we watching the same battle...?"

"That does it! This battle ends now! Go, Fire Fox!" Dante threw his last pokeball out onto the field in a fit of rage and his final pokemon appeared, a Ninetales. Fire Fox's eyes started glowing red, and Azumarill started to glow red as well. The glow quickly faded, though, and Alex checked his pokenav to see what just happened. Fire Fox had apparently used Imprison, but it had no affect at all on Azumarill.

Fire Fox's eyes glowed again, and a blue flame appeared before it. Azumarill watched the flame curiously as it zigzagged towards it, but Azumarill hopped out of the way at the last second, still watching the flame as it disappeared. Azumarill then suddenly decided to curl up into a ball, using Defense Curl, but didn't do anything else. Alex checked his pokenav, and the attack Fire Fox used turned out to be Will-o-Wisp.

_"Feel free to attack any time Azumarill..."_ Alex thought to himself. Fire Fox spewed out a blast of flames towards the curled up Azumarill, and soon Azumarill was completely engulfed in the flames. Shortly after, however, it burst through the flames and slammed into Fire Fox with a Rollout attack, then rolled around on the ground and got ready to come back for another attack.

Fire Fox got up and shook off Azumarill's attack, then ran towards it as if it were going to use Tackle, only it gave off a slight white glow. Azumarill and Fire Fox slammed into each other and both were knocked back and Azumarill stopped spinning. Azumarill stood up and seemed like it was still ready to fight, but Fire Fox looked like it was in pretty bad shape. Alex checked his pokenav again to see what attack Fire Fox had used, and it turned out to be Double Edge.

Azumarill fired a stream of bubbles towards the struggling Ninetales, and Fire Fox winced in pain as each bubble struck it until finally it collapsed.

"Match over! Alex is today's champion!" The ref called from the sidelines.

"WHAT!" Dante cried. "No way! How the hell did my pokemon lose to you!" Alex shrugged.

"Well it might have been the type disadvantages...it might have been your lack of variety...or maybe it was just sheer luck on my part?"

"This isn't over! Next time we meet my fire pokemon will incinerate you!" Dante left the battle tent fuming. The referee approached Alex and handed him the Verdanturf Battle Tent Badge, it was round, bronze in color, and had what looked like an open box in the center. After receiving his badge, he was approached by Scott, who was watching all the battle tent matches.

"Well congratulations, Alex! Its not often someone wins the battle tent their first time in, and yet this is two in a row for you. I look forward to seeing how you do in the next one."

"Thanks. By the way, since you seem interested in these battle tents, what exactly does all this lead up to anyway?" Scott grinned and adjusted his sunglasses.

"You'll find out when the time comes. Well, I'll be seeing you around, Alex..." Scott turned and left the battle tent using a different door than the one Alex used to get in.

"That leaves me with more questions than answers..." Alex muttered, then left the battle field. Upon entering the lobby, he found Wally was waiting for him, and out of breath as well. Wally looked up and saw Alex entering the lobby.

"Alex! Some guy named Dirk is trying to find you and May is..." At that moment May walked through the door and entered the battle tent.

"...Uhh...nevermind..." Wally muttered.

"...Huh? Did I interrupt something?" May asked, looking between the two.

"Not really." Alex replied. "So whats this I hear about Dirk?"

"Oh, Dirk seems to think I'm your 'accomplice', so I battled him and sent him home crying. He even tried to cheat, but I still beat him."

"You beat him that quickly May?" Wally asked. "Wow...is he really that weak?"

"Dirk isn't anything special, just an annoying detective." Alex stated. "I'm surprised you never heard of him since you lived in Petalburg."

"So, Alex, how did the battle tent go?" May asked.

"I won, of course." Alex grinned.

"Wow, you must be really good Alex..." Wally said. "I've only challenged May, and I lost to her..."

"Well its not like you can always win. All you can do is learn from your losses and be better prepared next time." May rolled her eyes.

"This coming from someone who's never lost..." Alex smirked slightly.

"Don't worry, May, someday I'm sure you'll be half as good as me." Alex's comment earned him a punch in the shoulder, and Alex made it look like it hurt more than it actually did since May didn't hit him hard.

"Watch it buddy...I know where your sleeping tonight." Alex grinned sheepishly. "Anyway...since you done here we should probably head back to Mauville now."

"...Already? Eh...if you say so." Alex shrugged.

"Huh? You two are leaving already?" Wally asked.

"I want to get to Mauville quickly to make sure we can get rooms at the hotel. After last night, I'm looking forward to a soft bed and a hot shower..." Alex, May, and Wally left the battle tent and said their goodbyes. Wally watched as Alex and May departed for Mauville.

"Just you wait, May! I'll get even stronger, and when I do I'll challenge you again!" Wally said to himself, a smile forming on his lips. "With Ralts by my side, there's nothing I can't do!"


	16. Chapter 10: Winstrate Family Reunion

This one's a bit later than I planned it to be, but it also turned out a bit longer too and I ended up with an english essay due as well as stuff going on at college. College is probably the big reason I've been slowing down, but I'm going to try to pick up the pace a bit next chapter. Oh, and most of the yuri relationships will probably be in the history chapters until around the end. Anyway enough ranting .

...Well actually one more thing. Anyone else notice the pun with the name Winstrate? As in "win straight"? .

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Ten:**

**Winstrate Family Reunion**

"That hotel was horrible..." May muttered. "No wonder it was so cheap."

"Well I offered to pay for a room for you at the other hotel, so this time you can't pin your discomfort on me." Alex said. May was staring daggers at him, but he couldn't tell since he was holding a newspaper in front of him, taking the occassional sip from a cup of tea.

"Well at least I'm not going to go broke from throwing my money around..." May muttered, resting her head on the table next to an empty plate. The two of them had met in a small restaurant for breakfast.

"I'm not particularly worried about it." Alex replied, his attention still on the newspaper.

"Right...and you get all this money where?" May asked, peering at him.

"I spent an extra two years preparing for this, remember?"

"Right...so what are you so interested in reading in there anyway?"

"Horo..." Alex barely got the word out of his mouth before May had snatched the paper from him and started reading it quickly. "...scopes, and thats quite alright May...go ahead and rip the paper from my hands, I was finished reading anyway." May looked up at him and grinned broadly, then went back to the paper.

"Hey Alex, whats your sign anyway?" May aksed out of curiosity.

"Thats for me to know." Alex said, taking another sip from his tea. May looked up from the paper.

"You know, you never really told me anything about you aside from your name and where you live...I don't even know your last name now that I think about it. Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?" Alex seemed a bit caught off guard bt May's question.

"Well there's uh...really nothing that interesting about me. Just an ordinary guy who recently became a trainer, travelling around with the daughter of a gym leader, and being stalked by a detective who, for all I know, is somehow listening in on this conversation."

"Uh huh...ordinary doesn't really describe you well." May folded her arms across her chest and smiled brightly. "In fact, you should consider yourself lucky that a nobody like you has the chance to travel with someone like me!"

_"Me...? A nobody...? If only she knew."_ Alex thought to himself.

"Well, this nobody beat you the last time we battled..." Alex said with a smirk on his face, snapping May back to reality.

"You got lucky! I'll beat you next time and I'll make sure everyone will see it!" May snapped back at him. She then noticed everyone else was staring at her and shrunk back into her seat in embarassment.

"Whatever you say, May...anyway we should probably get going. I think we've overstayed our welcome anyway." May nodded in agreement and the two of them left the restaurant, then started on their way out of the city.

_"This is turning out to be one of those days I should have just stayed in bed..."_ May thought to herself. _"Too bad that bed was stiff and uncomfortable..." _As they were leaving the city, May noticed a large, green tower in the distance.

"Hey Alex, whats that?" May asked, pointing towards the tower. Alex looked in the direction she was pointing.

"I think thats Trainers Hill. They hire tough trainers, who are positioned throughout the tower, and then other trainers can try to make it to the top for a prize. Thats what I heard anyway, but its not open yet."

"Sounds interesting..." May redplied, not sounding very entusiastic. Alex could tell she her day was off to a rough start.

"You know...Lavaridge is famous for its relaxing hotsprings and hot sands. Its quite the destination for tourists, especially since its sitting in the shadow of an active volcano." Alex said trying to make conversation.

"Active volcano...?" May practically yelled at him. "Why the heck would anyone want to live near an active volcano! It could erupt at any time!"

"It erupts on a daily basis actually...its constantly spewing volcanic ash on the route to the north of it."

"Thats even crazier..." May muttered. "We didn't have any volcanoes in Johto...the closest volcano was Mt. Cinnabar over in Kanto...and can we take a break?" Alex looked behind him to where they just came from, then looked back at May and narrowed his eyes.

"May...we just left Mauville...in fact, we're right outside Mauville...how do you expect to make it to Lavaridge if you're tired already?"

"I didn't get much sleep last night, thank you very much!" May shot back at him. Alex sighed and scanned the horizon. He could see the colume of thick, gray smoke in the distance that he figured was coming from Mt. Chimney, and he could see the Trainers Hill nearby as well.

"Alright...Trainers Hill might not be open yet, but they have a fully operational pokecenter. If you want to take a nap in there or something, fine. I'll just go...fish or something while you rest."

"Why don't we just spend another day in Mauville?" Alex rolled his eyes.

"Weren't you the one complaining about me spending too much?" Alex criticized her. "Besides, I'm sure they won't mind you resting there for a while..."

"...Fine, lets just go already." May said walking off ahead of Alex. Alex shrugged and caught up with her. After several more minutes of walking they arrived at the door of the Trainers Hill and went inside. Sure enough, there was a pokecenter operating inside, and it was equipped with everything the usual pokecenter had. The pokecenter took up one side of the lobby, while the registration desk was on the other side. There were plenty of couches, chairs, and tables as well.

The building was mostly empty, though, except for the nurse and a few people trying to get things up and running. They mostly seemed to be working upstairs, though. Alex stepped up to one of the pc's and fiddled around with it for a while before a fishing rod appeared beside it. It was a fairly large rod with a blue handle and a reel with a pokeball design on the side.

"You know, I didn't think you were interested in catching pokemon anymore, Alex..." May said as she saw the rod materialize. Alex shrugged and picked it up.

"Who says I'll catch anything?" He replied as he walked by her and out of the building. May got permission from the nurse to rest there for a while and sat down on one of the couches in the lobby. Soon enough, she was fast asleep...

Alex sat down near a house on the shore of the lake and cast out his line. He didn't notice the house before, but didn't really care much anyway. He was keeping quite a bit of distance between himself and the water as well, which was normal for him. After securing his rod he lied back on the ground and relaxed, staring up at the sky. He wasn't even lying down for a minute, though, before the reel started spinning rapidly. Alex lunged for the handle and grabbed it tightly.

"Man! Either they're really biting today or I really lucked out!" Alex said to himself as he tried to reel whatever it was in. It was obviously much stronger than him, though, because he couldn't keep his hand on the handle. It was spinning too quickly. He braced his feet tightly against the ground as the line ran out, and he started sliding forward toward the water as whatever it was continued to pull him forward.

Alex was about to let go when he realized he was going to be pulled into the water...but suddenly the line went completely slack.

"Did it let go...?" Alex wondered out loud. He soon got his answer, though, as a large, dark figure began to move through the water towards him. A large, blue, serpent-like pokemon began to rise out of the water in front of him and towered over him. Alex was overcome with fear as the creature let out a loud bellow, and he immediately recognized what it was. It was a Gyarados. A very angry looking Gyarados, the worst kind.

"Uh...hi there...nice weather we're having huh?" Alex said nervously. The Gyarados was obviously not amused, though.

"...Well I'd love to stay and chat but I really should get going! Bye! Nice meeting you!" Alex took off running away from the Gyarados, and thanked Ho-oh that he had running shoes. After he was a good distance from the lake he turned back to see if it had followed him. Alex breathed a sigh of relief as he saw it had left.

"I didn't know there were Gyarados in that lake..." Alex muttered.

"Only the one." Alex heard someone say. He turned towards the house and saw a middle-aged man standing in front of the door.

"A trainer released his Gyradaos into that lake one day and its been there ever since. As long as no one disturbs it, though, it doesn't really bother anyone."

"Guess I won't be fishing there then..." Alex muttered.

"Well then, if your not busy, what do you say to battling me and the rest of my family?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"And you are...?"

"Oh! I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Victor Winstrate! My family and I all train pokemon. My son, Vinny, is the strongest but he has set off on a journey of his own some time ago. I'd imagine he has become quite the trainer by now. Anyway, my family and I like to test trainers by challenging them to battle each of us consecutively. There's me, my wife Victoria, my daughter Vivi, and my mother Vicky. I am the weakest and my mother is the strongest. So what do you say?"

"Alright then, your on!" Alex said excitedly, reaching for a pokeball. "Go, Graveler!"

"Eager to start, huh? Alright then, go Tailow!" The two trainers released their starting pokemon, and Alex's rock-type Graveler was facing off against Victor's small Tailow.

"This will be a piece of cake..." Alex said, smirking slightly. "Graveler! Use Defense Curl!"

"Tailow, use Wing Attack!" Graveler curled into a ball, giving it the appearance of a large boulder. Victor's Tailow struck it almost ineffectively with its wings. It backed off a bit, staying close to the ground and flapping its wings to stay aloft.

"Now! Hit it with Rollout!" Graveler started to spin rapidly, looking much like a large grey ball as it did. It then shot forward towards Tailow.

"Tailow! Dodge it!" Tailow swiftly flew up and out of the way of the Graveler that was barreling towards it. Alex mentally slapped himself for not taking the possibility of Tailow dodging the attack into account.

"Graveler! Turn back and jump!" Graveler banked to the right and made a complete U-turn and came back towards Tailow again. It seemed to slow down slightly for a brief moment before it launched itself into the air. Tailow was unprepared for this, and was slammed into the ground as it was struck by Graveler's Rollout attack. Tailow struggled to get up as Graveler landed behind it, but was hardly able to move from the impact. It was struck by a red beam as Victor recalled it into his pokeball.

"Nice try Tailow, you did what you could." Victor reached for his only other pokeball. "Zigzagoon! Its your turn! Go!" Victor tossed out his second pokeball. It landed on the ground and opened briefly, releasing the racoon-like Zigzagoon that was contained inside it. Graveler immediately started rolling towards its next opponent.

"Zigzagoon! Use Substitute!" Zigzagoon suddenly seemed to be standing perfectly still, and it shattered as Graveler rolled into it. The shards then disappeared and Graveler started rolling around in circles, unsure of where the Zigzagoon went.

"So it knows Substitute, huh? Alright then...Graveler! Stop!" Graveler slowed down and came to a complete stop, then uncurled itself.

"Now, Zigzagoon! Hit it with Headbutt!" Alex was caught off guard as the Zigzagoon ran between his legs, rushing headlong towards Graveler. It slammed into Graveler headfirst, but Graveler was only knocked slightly off balance by the attack. The Zigzagoon, on the other hand, looked like it was fairly dizzy.

"Graveler! Use Magnitude!" Alex braced himself as Graveler slammed its fists into the ground. The entire area seemed to shake, and several large rocks jutted out of the ground underneath Zigzagoon. Zigzagoon was sent flying across the still shaking ground, and the rocks receeded back into the ground. Zigzagoon struggled to get back to its feet, but it was far too injured and collapsed. Victor returned it to its pokeball.

"Wow! This one's really strong!" Victor exclaimed before running into the house. Alex and Graveler looked at each other and shrugged. It wasn't long before a woman came out of the house.

"Oh my! Aren't you an adorable little trainer!"

"Uh...thanks...I think..." Alex said, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh how rude of me! I'm Victor's wife, Victoria! Since you beat my husband I'm next!" Victoria reached for a pokeball, her only pokeball, and prepared to call out her pokemon.

"Go, Roselia!" The pokeball opened, and out of it came a small, rose-like pokemon that Alex recognized all too well.

"Roselia...wonderful...alright then, Graveler, lets try to take this one down too! Use Magnitude!"

"Oh dear! Your using a rock pokemon against my Roselia? Thats a bad idea! Roselia, use Mega Drain please!" Roselia prepared to use its Mega Drain attack as Graveler slammed the ground with its fists again. The ground shook violently, but only a few small rocks erupted around Roselia. The attack knocked it off balance, however, and it fell onto the ground, causing its Mega Drain attack to misfire. Alex realized the attack was very weak, but that didn't matter much.

"Now! Use Rollout!" Graveler folded its four arms over its chest and rolled towards Roselia, picking up speed as it went. Roselia was still getting back on its feet from the previous attack and was unable to defend itself as Graveler plowed into it, knocking it to the side. Roselia tried again to get up, but Graveler was already coming back around for another attack and struck it again.

"Roselia! Try Stun Spore!" Roselia managed to land on its feet after Graveler's second strike, planting one of its flowered hands on the ground as it flew through the air and flipped upwards, spiraling in the air as it unleashed a cloud of Stun Spore towards Graveler, then landing flat on its feet. Graveler was spinning so fast at this point, however, that the spores didn't stay on it long enough to paralyze it. Roselia was struck once again by Graveler's Rollout attack, knocking it unconcious and sending it flying. Victoria recalled Roselia.

"Oh dear! You ARE strong!" She said before going back into the house. Graveler finally came to a stop.

"You ok there, Graveler?" Alex asked his pokemon. It gave a slight nod, indicating that it was ok. Suddenly a little girl burst out of the house. She looked like she wasn't even old enough to be a trainer, but sure enough she had three pokeballs.

"Wow! You beat my mommy and daddy? You must be really strong mister!" The girl cried excitedly.

"Mister! I'm only twelve for crying out loud!"

"Ok Mister! Anyway lets battle! I'm really good!" The girl reached for a pokeball. "Go, Marill!" She lightly tossed the pokeball onto the ground, which then opened, releasing the blue mouse-like pokemon.

"Alright then...Graveler, your up again!" Graveler took a few, slow steps towards the Marill.

"Marill! Start off with Water Gun!"

"Graveler! Defense Curl!" Marill jumped into the air and shot a stream of water towards Graveler. Graveler curled up into a ball, but that didn't help it much against Marill's Water Gun attack. It was hard for Alex to tell how Graveler was holding up against the attack while it was curled up, though.

"Graveler! Use Rollout!" Graveler started to spin while still being pummeled by Marill's Water Gun attack, and soon it was spinning so rapidly that the water was starting to bounce off harmlessly, which was what Alex had planned. Graveler then started to move forward through the stream of water and rolled right into Marill at top speed. Marill was knocked to the side and hit the ground hard, but it quickly jumped back up on its feet.

"Oh yeah! Two can play at that game! Marill, you use Rollout too!" Marill quickly curled up into a ball and started rolling towards Graveler, who was also rolling towards Marill at this point. The two collided, and Marill was easily knocked away since Graveler had already gained much more speed and was larger than it. Marill struggled back to its feet and looked like it could barely stand now, but was determined to keep going.

"Marill! Lets try Ice Punch!" Marill leapt towards Graveler with its fist out, an icy blue glow surrounding it. It landed the punch, but was also hit hard again by Graveler's Rollout attack and was sent flying. It crashed into a nearby tree, causing many cracks to form in the tree and uprooting it slightly. Alex winced slightly as he saw this.

"Damn...I bet thats going to hurt for a while..." Alex muttered to himself. The girl ran over to her Marill and picked it up. The pokemon had a dazed look in its eyes and was definitely in no condition for battling. The girl sniffed sadly.

"Look what you did to my Marill you big meanie! I'm telling my grandma!" She then ran into the house crying, and still holding her Marill. Graveler came to a stop next to Alex and uncurled.

"This is one strange family..." Alex said with a sigh. Alex decided to wait to see if anyone else was going to show up to battle him, and sure enough an old lady slowly walked out of the house, using a cane to support herself.

"How dare you make my granddaughter cry you brute..." The old lady said in a harsh tone. She already had a pokeball in her hand.

"For that I will teach you a lesson in battling that you will not soon forget! Go! Meditite!" The old lady threw the ball as hard as she could, which didn't get it very far. The ball landed a few feet in front of her and popped open, revealing the fighting and psychic pokemon Meditite.

"Great, life must have a line of code in it that says 'If mistake girl's fault, sendpunishmentto Alex..." Alex muttered. Graveler just stared at him in confusion. "Nevermind...lets just get this over with. Your up again Graveler." Graveler curled up and rolled over to the Meditite, then uncurled itself.

"Meditite...use Brick Break." The old woman commanded.

"Graveler! Use Defense Curl!" Graveler curled up into a ball to protect itself. Meditite leaped towards it and delivered a powerful punch attack, then flipped back and landed on its feet. The attack was powerful, but fortunately for Graveler it didn't take the full force of the attack.

"Now! Use Magnitude!" Graveler rolled forward and uncurled as it did, slamming its fists into the ground and causing it to start shaking. A pillar of rocks shot out from underneath Meditite, sending it flying through the air. It did a flip in midair, though, and landed on its feet. The rocks then receded back into the ground and the ground stopped shaking. Alex could tell the attack didn't do much to Meditite since it recovered so easily.

"This one might be tough...alright, Graveler use Rollout!" Graveler curled up into a ball again and started spinning rapidly, then launched itself towards Meditite.

"You will have to do better than that, sonny. Meditite, use Foresight and grab it!" Meditite concentrated for a moment as Graveler sped towards it. It then moved forward slightly, reached out, and stopped Graveler from spinning by grabbing onto its arms, catching both Alex and Graveler off guard.

"Come on, Graveler! Try to break free!" Graveler got on its feet and tried to push back against Meditite, but the fighting pokemon was stronger than it and able to push back with much more force.

"Meditite! Use Brick Break now!" Meditite let go and jumped back, causing Graveler to fall over on its face. It then delivered a hard punch to the top of Graveler's head, knocking it back several feet. Graveler looked like was hurt pretty badly from that attack too as it slowly struggled to get back to its feet.

"Graveler! You ok there?" Graveler nodded weakly as it rose to its feet.

"Not for long it isn't..." The old lady stated coldly. "Meditite! Finish it off with Brick Break!" Meditite raised its fist and charged towards Graveler.

"Damn it...Graveler, block it and keep it at arms length!" Graveler brought its two longer arms forward and managed to grab Meditite's arm, its fist stopping just inches away from Graveler. Meditite pushed back against Graveler, trying to land the attack, and Graveler was just barely holding back.

_"Graveler's barely holding up out there..."_ Alex thought to himself. _"Maybe I was asking a bit much of him..." _As Graveler continued to fight off its opponent, however, it became shrouded in a white light. When the light cleared, Graveler had evolved into Golem. Its body was much smoother looking now, looking almost like brick, and it had lost its second pair of arms. Its arms, legs, and head almost seemed to resemble that of a turtle now, extending from inside its rock body and having a leathery look. Meditite backed off of its attack in shock of Golem's evolution.

"Looks like the tables have turned..." Alex said with a smirk. "Alright, Golem! Use Rollout!" Golem retracted its head, arms, and legs into its rock body and started spinning rapidly, then rolled towards Meditite.

"Haven't you learned, young man...? Meditite, use Foresight and block it!" Meditite concentrated, using Foresight to determine the right moment to block Golem's attack, but didn't seem to be able to and it was hit by the Rollout attack and was knocked to the side. Golem started to come around for another attack.

"Meditite's not likely to be able to stop Golem now...there's nowhere on its body for Meditite to grip while its spinning so rapidly." As Alex said this, Golem had come back around and had hit Meditite again. Meditite quickly hopped back to its feet.

"Yes...little kids always think they know everything..." The old woman grumbled. "Its time you learned to respect your elders! Meditite, use Brick Break again!" Meditite leapt towards Golem to hit it with a Brick Break, while Golem was still rolling towards it. The two hit each other and the force of the impact sent them flying in opposite directions. Golem stopped spinning and landed on its feet with a heavy thud. Meditite, on the other hand, seemed to be down for the count. The woman recalled it to its pokeball.

"Hmph...you may have beaten me...but I still don't think your any good. If my grandson were here he would leave you in tears!" Alex shrugged at the woman's comment.

"If he's so great, where is he?"

"Why, with his power he's probably challenging the Elite Four by now!" The old woman replied in a harsh tone.

"Well, I would have if they weren't closed. Apparently the so-called 'champion' is off somewhere..." Came a voice from behind Alex. Alex and Golem turned around and saw a boy, probably in his mid-to-late teens. He was wearing a green shirt and brown pants, and proudly pinned on the left side of his shirt were all eight of the Hoenn League badges.

_"Of all the biggest possible coincidences..."_ Alex thought to himself as he realized just who he was staring at.

"Name's Vito...I've watched you battle my family. Your pretty good for a kid...but I'm still better." Vito said, tossing his hair back. "Of course, I've only seen one of your pokemon in battle...so what do you say to a full six on six battle?"

"Your on!" Alex said excitedly. "What do you say, Golem? Still up for it?" Golem nodded and slammed its fists together. "Alright then, in that case my first pokemon will be Golem!" Vito smirked and calmly walked past Alex and Golem, stopping where his grandmother was.

"Grandma, go get the others...I think they should see how much I've improved." Vito said as he reached for a pokeball.

"Hmph! You could at least show a little respect young man!" She said before slowly making her way back towards the house. Vito shrugged, then tossed out his pokeball to release his first pokemon.

"Go! Heracross!" He yelled, and out of the pokeball came a large, blue, beetle pokemon.

"Heracross, huh? Alright...Golem, start off with Rollout!" Golem retreated into its rock body and started spinning rapidly, then launched itself towards Heracross.

"Heracross, use Megahorn and toss it into the air." Vito replied with a calm demeanor. The large horn on Heracross's head started to glow green and it lowered its head to the ground. When Golem came close, it shot up and tossed Golem into the air. Alex stared in shock.

"No way! His Heracross tossed Golem like it was nothing!" By this point, the rest of Vito's family had gathered to watch him battle.

"Now, hit it back down with Brick Break!" Heracross spread its bug-like wings and flew off into the air with amazing speed. It flew past Golem, then came back down and hit it hard with a Brick Break attack from above, sending Golem back down towards the ground like a bullet. Golem hit the ground hard, kicking up a large cloud of dust as it landed. When the dust cleared, Alex could tell Golem was already out cold.

"You already did more than I should have asked you to, Golem..." Alex said as he reached for Golem's pokeball. "Return!" A red beam shot out from the pokeball and struck Golem, absorbing it back into the ball. Alex put the pokeball back on his belt and reached for another one.

"Go Alakazam!" Alex yelled as he sent out his next pokemon. Alakazam appeared on the battlefield with its arms crossed. "Alakazam, use Psychic!" Alakazam uncrossed its arms and focused, its eyes glowing blue briefly as it unleashed its Psychic attack towards Heracross. Heracross was hit by the attack and was knocked off its feet, but seemed relatively unharmed.

"An Alakazam huh? Well this one should be easy..." Vito said, tossing his hair back. "Heracross, use Megahorn!" Heracross's horn glowed green again and it rushed towards Alakazam.

"Alakazam! Teleport!" Alakazam vanished, and Heracross ended up ramming into an empty space. Alakazam then reappeared behind Heracross and, without being given an order, used another Psychic attack on Heracross, sending it face first into the dirt. Heracross easily shook off the attack, though, and got back up.

"You seem to handle that pokemon quite well..." Vito commented, smirking slightly.

"But you can't always rely on Teleport...Heracross, use Earthquake!" Heracross slammed the ground with one of its feet, causing it to ripple out in all directions. Alakazam was struck hard by a mound of rocks and dirt, and fell onto the still shaking ground. It tried to get back up, but the injuries it sustained from that single attack were just too great, and it collapsed.

"Damn, this guy is strong..." Alex muttered as he recalled Alakazam. "He's already taken down two of my pokemon and still looks ready for more...Swellow can probably hold its own against this thing though." Alex reached for Swellow's pokeball and threw it out onto the battlefield.

"Go, Swellow!" The pokeball opened and Alex's green Swellow appeared on the battlefield. Vito whistled appreciatively.

"A green Swellow...now there's something you don't see everyday. Alright, Heracross, use Brick Break!"

"Swellow, use Double Team!" Heracross got ready to deliver a punch to Swellow, but before it even got close it was confronted by multiple Swellow's as Swellow used Double Team to create multiple images of itself. Heracross stared at the images in confusion, contemplating which one to hit.

"Swellow! Now! Use Wing Attack!" The images blinked out as Swellow moved in to attack from the left of Heracross.

"Heracross! Turn left and use Brick Break!" Heracross spun towards Swellow at Vito's command, raising its fist as it did. Its timing turned out to be just right and its fist connected directly with Swellow's head. Swellow was knocked to the side and hit the ground unconcious. Alex reached for his pokenav.

"Just what am I dealing with here...?" Alex wondered as he pointed it towards Heracross. After several seconds, it displayed a reading of Heracross's estimated strength and current condition. Alex's pokenav was placing Heracross's strength level at anywhere from 52 to 54.

"Ok, I'm just a little bit out of my league here..." Alex muttered as he recalled his Swellow and reached for another pokeball. "Well I agreed to this fight...no backing out now...Go, Grovyle!" Alex threw the pokeball out onto the battlefield and released his next pokmon. Grovyle appeared and stared down his opponent.

"A grass pokemon?" Vito said with a laugh. "Thats hardly a fair fight. Heracross, use Megahorn!" Heracross's horn glowed green again as it charged towards Grovyle head first.

"Grovyle! Dodge it with Quick Attack!" Grovyle was a blur of moment as it moved out of the way of Heracross's attack and went around behind it, then slammed into it from behind and flipped back to distance itself from it. Heracross hardly seemed to flinch from this attack, however.

"Another dodgy pokemon huh?" Vito said with a toss of his hair. "Well we know how to deal with these, don't we, Heracross? Use Earthquake!" Heracross turned towards Grovyle and slammed the ground with its foot, causing the earth to shake and ripple, and a large mass of rock and soil began to move towards Grovyle.

"Grovyle! Use Quick Attack and jump!" Grovyle jumped and used Quick Attack to give it a speed boost into the air, putting it far above the ground and out of harm's way.

"Now use Pound!" Grovyle started plummeting back down to the ground, and prepared to hit Heracross with its tail as it fell. Vito smirked.

"A great plan, in theory...unfortunately free fall tends to leave you quite vulnerable...Heracross, use Megahorn!" Heracross's horn started to glow green as it prepared to attack. Heracross brought its horn up to meet Grovyle's aerial assault and the two attacks collided. Heracross staggered a bit as it was struck, but maintained its balance. Grovyle, on the other hand, was knocked to the ground and out cold, defeated in one hit just like every other pokemon so far. Alex recalled it.

"Man...not only is his pokemon strong but its like he's three steps ahead of me..." Alex said to himself as he reached for another pokeball. "Thats four pokemon down and his Heracross is only now starting to tire...well lets see how Azumarill does. Azumarill, GO!" Alex threw the pokeball out onto the field, and out came Alex's Azumarill.

"Azumarill! Use Ice Beam!" Azumarill opened its mouth and shot out an icy blue beam towards Heracross. The beam struck Heracross, which briefly coated it in ice and shattered.

"Well someone's not wasting time now..." Vito stated calmly. "Heracross, use Earthquake!" Heracross slammed the ground with its foot again, causing mounds of earth and rock to ripple in all directions. Azumarill was struck by this ripple and knocked back several feet. To Alex's surprise, Azumarill managed to get up from the attack, but it was obviously struggling to stay up and it looked like it was hit several times by a baseball bat. Heracross was starting to look a bit worn down itself.

"We might be able to take this thing down...alright, Azumarill use Ice Beam!"

"Heracross! Use Endure!" Heracross braced itself, and seemed to be covered in a gold dust. Azumarill's beam struck it hard, but Heracross managed to endure it. Now both pokemon seemed like they were ready to collapse.

"Heracross, finish it off with Brick Break!" Heracross raised its fist and rushed towards the exhausted Azumarill. Its fist connected with Azumarill, striking it hard and knocking it unconcious. Alex recalled it and placed its pokeball back on his belt, then reached for his final pokemon.

"This battle is pretty much one sided at this point...but I might as well go it to the end." Alex muttered. "Go, Minun!" Alex released his last pokemon, the small electric pokemon Minun. Vito laughed when he saw Alex's last pokemon.

"Thats it? Thats your last pokemon? So much for saving the best for last!" Vito taunted. Minun seemed hurt by Vito's words.

"This guy is starting to bug me...Minun, use Thunderbolt!" Minun snapped out of its depressed state and fired bolts of electricity towards Heracross.

"Heracross! Endure it!" Heracross braced itself to try to endure another attack, and once again it was covered in a gold dust. The electricity struck it, but it was still standing. Alex smirked.

"Now! Use Encore!" Minun started clapping its hands, and suddenly applause erupted from out of nowhere. Heracross seemed to grin and struck a pose, and then got ready to use Endure again. Alex knew that Endure didn't always work, and that now he had a chance to beat his Heracross.

"Hmph...well that was a cheap shot." Vito scoffed. Alex just smirked.

"Minun! Use Quick Attack!" Minun shot towards Heracross at blinding speeds as Heracross prepared to endure the hit. It didn't work this time, however, and Heracross took the full impact of Minun's Quick Attack and finally collapsed. Vito returned it to its pokeball.

"Well congratulations. You finally managed to take down my first pokemon...well lets see if you've still got enough fight left for this one!" Vito said as he reached for another pokeball. "Go, Exploud!" Vito released his second pokemon, a large blue beast that seemed to have pipes on its head and had a very large mouth.

"Exploud, use Blizzard!" Exploud breathed out a blast of cold air, snow, and ice from its large mouth, and Minun braced itself against the storm. Ice started to build up around it and it started to shiver. Soon it was completely encased in a block of ice, and Alex recalled it, knowing it wouldn't have been able to survive the attack.

"Looks like I win, not that there was ever a doubt." Vito said, tossing his hair back. He then turned to the rest of his family.

"I plan to stick around until the Devon Grand Tornament. Perhaps I could give the rest of you some pointers before then...it seems like you need it." Vito said with a laugh. "Well, see you around, Alex." Vito said without even looking back, then went into the house with the rest of his family.

"There's nothing wrong with losing to a superior trainer..." Alex muttered. "But this guy is just so full of himself." Alex then thought for a moment.

"So he's entering the Devon Grand Tornament...well by that time I'll be more than ready for him. I think I'll be entering too..." Alex said to himself, before starting on his way back to the Trainers Hill.


	17. Chapter 11: May's TV Debut

Phew...another chapter...and now another english essay coming up. Yay me. Well anyway they're back on the road in this chapter, and from the title you can probably guess who they run into...well anyway, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Eleven:**

**May's TV Debut**

"You lost! And I wasn't there to see it!" May yelled as Alex handed his pokemon over to the nurse to be restored.

"Somehow I knew you'd say that...but yeah, that guy was way out of my league. His Heracross alone took down five of my pokemon, and then he beat Minun with an Exploud." Alex replied before taking a seat at one of the benches.

"Heracross? Whats that?" May asked, sitting down next to him.

"Its a bug/fighting type thats only seen in the Safari Zone near Lilycove City. For a bug pokemon its exceptionally powerful."

"Wow...maybe I should get one and challenge you to a rematch since it beat you so easily." May said with a smirk.

"We're a long way from Lilycove. Besides, with a little bit of training I'm sure I'll be able to beat him and his Heracross in the Devon Grand Tornament."

"...The what?" May asked curiously. Alex stared at her as if she had two heads.

"Don't tell me you've never heard of it..." May shook her head. "Its the biggest event in Hoenn. Trainers from all over Hoenn, and sometimes even from other regions, travel to Rustboro to participate in it. It starts off with a standard tornament, with the preliminaries consisting of double battles where each trainer gets to use only two pokemon. The top eight trainers then battle it out in the standard one on one style, using six pokemon each. There's prizes for the top eight, with a Master Ball for first place. Its such a big event, though, that even trainers that don't participate in the tornament itself go to trade pokemon and battle each other. After the main tornament they have all sorts of things, including contests and a free banquet for all the trainers who enter on the final day."

"Wow...sounds like fun. Who would have the money to run something like that though...? I mean aren't Master Balls worth like...millions?" Alex stared at her again.

"DEVON Grand Tornament, May. You do the math."

"...Huh? ...Oh, now I get it." May said with a nervous laugh. "So uh...catch anything?" Alex thought for a moment before he finally realized what she was talking about.

"Oh...eh...not really. Well, I did catch something...but I decided to let it go."

"Huh? What'd you catch?" May asked curiously.

"A Gyarados...I'm sure I don't have to tell you what that is." Alex said, putting his hands behind his head.

"A Gyarados! Why didn't you catch it then!" May asked in surprise.

"Well, normally I would have if the very sight of it didn't fill me with fear."

"Oh...yeah I guess I'd be pretty afraid too if I wasn't expecting a Gyarados pop up...great so not only did I miss seeing you lose a battle for the first time I missed seeing you running and screaming like a baby!" May practically screamed, before lying back in the bench. "Well at least I had a nice dream about beating you for the title of Pokemon Champion..." May said with a sigh.

"Wow...so your day revolves around my mistfortunes...we make such a great team..." Alex said dryly. The nurse at the desk waved to Alex to let him know his pokemon were fully healed, and Alex got up and walked over to the desk to retrieve them. May just shrugged at what Alex said, then went over to the pc in the corner and started fiddling around with it.

May had decided that she'd take some of her other pokemon with her today. When she was finished, her team consisted of Combusken, Kirlia, Corphish, Gulpin, Oddish, and Electrike. Before logging off, May briefly wondered what it was like for a pokemon that was being stored as data in a computer. She decided it couldn't be too bad, though, or her Corphish and Roselia probably would have shown signs of displeasure.

"Switching pokemon?" Alex asked when he saw her at the pc.

"Yep! I'm taking a few pokemon I never use with me today. I figure they could do with a little fresh air, maybe some battle experience..." May said happily.

"Think you'd be alright using those pokemon? I mean they haven't really seen much action, unlike your other pokemon..."

"I'll be fine! Besides, I can always rely on Combusken to pull through for me. Anyway are we going or not?" May said, then started for the door.

"Well she's obviously made a full recovery..." Alex muttered to himself, before turning to follow May. The two of them left the Trainers Hill and started back on the road towards Lavaridge. As they set off, Alex took one last look at the Winstrate house. Images of how each of his pokemon were defeated in a single blow flashed briefly through his mind.

"Next time, things will be different..." He muttered silently.

"Alex! Are you coming or not!" May yelled, already way ahead of him.

"Hey! Wait up!" Alex yelled before running to catch up with her. The two of them started on their way again, and it wasn't long before they found themselves walking through a vast canyon. The sides of the canyon were steep and high up, so they couldn't climb up out of the canyon even if they wanted to.

"Since we stopped for a while back at Trainers Hill we should probably set up camp near the entrance to the desert on the other side of this canyon." Alex said, looking over the map in his pokenav.

"So when do you think we'll get to Lavaridge?" May asked.

"Well, we would probably be able to get there sometime tomorrow. We'd just have to get to Mount Chimney, take the cable car up, and then climb down the volcano. Oddly enough, getting up is the easy part thanks to that cable car...but then again without it its impossible, this side of the volcano is far too steep to climb." May shuddered at the thought of being so close to an active volcano, she had seen one volcano documentary too many. She always thought people were crazy for voluntarily going so close to liquid magma and flying over active volcanoes.

"Just who would want to build near the base of a volcano anyway..." May muttered.

"Don't start that again...there's absolutely nothing wrong with..." Alex stopped as he heard voices around the bend in the canyon.

"I told you the chances of us running into a trainer out here are next to none, Gabby." He heard someone saying.

"Well I didn't hear you giving any better ideas, Ty." He heard someone else, presumably Gabby, say.

_"Great...not those two..."_ Alex thought to himself. _"Stupid reporters..." _May didn't notice Alex stop walking, though, and kept going until she went around the corner and bumped into the two news reporters, Gabby and Ty. Gabby, upon noticing May's pokeballs, was immediately on her.

"Excuse me, miss! You wouldn't happen to be a trainer would you?" Gabby asked her.

"Huh? Me?" May asked, slightly confused. "I'm a trainer...but who are you?"

"I'm Gabby, and this is my partner Ty. We're news reporters, but we also interview trainers on the road every now and then. Well, first we battle them in a two on one match and record the battle on Ty's camera." Ty grinned and patted his camera as Gabby said this.

"Afterwards..." Gabby continued. "We interview the trainer and ask them their opinion on the battle, why they became a trainer, etc...anyway, what do you say?" May tried to conceal her excitement, she could hardly believe that she was going to get the chance to be on TV! She turned around to see if Alex had heard all that, but realized Alex wasn't there.

_"Where did he go!"_ May wondered. _"Forget it...I'll worry about that after I've become a tv star." _May then turned back towards the reporters.

"Alright, I'll battle you." May said, trying to contain her excitement.

"Alright Ty, get that camera rolling!" Gabby said as she and Ty both reached for a pokeball. May reached for two pokeballs.

"Ready...and start!" Ty said as he finished setting up the camera. "Go, Magnemite!" Ty raised his pokeball and released his only pokemon, a floating magnet-like pokemon called Magnemite.

"Go, Whismur!" Gabby yelled, holding her pokeball in one hand and a microphone in the other. The pokeball opened and out came a small pink pokemon with large ears.

"Oddish! Electrike! Lets get this started!" May yelled, throwing both pokeballs. They landed next to each other and popped open, revealing two of May's lesser used pokmon. The first was a small blue pokemon with three green leaves on its head called Oddish, and the second was a green dog-like pokemon called Electrike.

"Magnemite, use Sonicboom on Oddish!"

"Whismur, use Uproar!" Whismur started screaming loudly and creating an uproar, meanwhile a loud boom was heard from Magnemite as it fired a sonic burst towards Oddish. Electrike dropped to the ground and used its front legs to cover its ears, but Oddish had no limbs to cover its ears with. Both pokemon were being hit repeatedly by Whismur's Uproar attack. Oddish was also struck by Magnemite's Sonic Boom attack, knocking it over and causing it to roll back until it was pretty much right in front of May.

_"Why do they have to use such loud attacks..."_ May wondered as she covered her ears. "Electrike, use Thunder Wave on Magnemite! Oddish, use Sleep Powder on Whismur!" May yelled, making sure her pokemon could hear her over Whismur's Uproar.

Electrike rose up on its hind legs and fired rings of electricity from its body towards Magnemite, while Oddish managed to release spores of Sleep Powder into the air in Whismur's direction. Magnemite dropped to the ground as it was no longer able to levitate, and Whismur was struck by the spores and fell asleep, ending its Uproar attack. May breathed a sigh of relief as things finally got quiet again.

"Magnemite, use Metal Sound!" Ty commanded, keeping his camera focused on the battle. Magnemite started emitting a terrible sound like metal scraping against metal, and May and her pokemon once again found themselves covering their ears, or trying to in Oddish's case. Whismur woke up in the middle of this confusion, but was unaffected by Magnemite's Metal Sound attack.

"Whismur! Now! Use Uproar!" Whismur, now fully awake, once again started causing a loud uproar. May could barely hear a thing over the two attacks combined, and she knew her pokemon would never hear her over Gabby and Ty's pokemon.

_"There has to be some noise pollution law that prevents this..."_ May thought to herself as she found herself suffering the attacks just as much as her pokemon were. _"Or at least some law against this...I'm not going to be able to give my pokemon any commands at this rate and I'll probably go deaf...I need to stop Gabby's Whismur somehow...but how? ...Maybe if I could direct my pokemon's attention to it, they'll attack on their own."_

May's pokemon looked back at her, waiting for an order. May thought for a moment, then pointed at Whismur. Her pokemon looked at each other, Electrike holding its front paws over its ears and Oddish unable to do anything but suffer the attacks. The two nodded, and Electrike dropped on all four legs and ran towards Whismur, charging up electricity while Oddish hit Whismur with an Absorb attack, distracting it and stopping its Uproar. Electrike then tackled Whismur and shocked it with its Spark attack in the process, then backed off. Whismur was looking pretty bad after being pummeled by the two attacks, but was still standing.

"Whismur, get back in there and use Uproar again!" Whismur opened its mouth to start its attack again, but before it even got a chance Electrike appeared seemingly out of nowhere and tackled it using Quick Attack, then ran past it and hit it with another Quick Attack from behind. Whismur tried to get back up on its feet, but collapsed, leaving May's pokemon only having to deal with one noisey pokemon now. Gabby recalled her Whismur and clipped its pokeball to her belt, not seeming to be bothered by the fact that she had lost.

_"Guess Electrike was getting pretty annoyed..."_ May thought to herself. _"Well thats one down anyway, just need to take down Ty's Magnemite."_ May then started to come up with a plan. She realized that while Magnemite didn't have any attacks that would be very effective against her pokemon, her pokemon didn't have any attacks that would be very effective against Magnemite, and Magnemite was still using its annoying Metal Sound attack.

Before May had a chance to give another order, however, Electrike charged up electricity and rammed into Magnemite, sending Magnemite rolling and bouncing off to the side since it still couldn't levitate. The attack didn't seem to do much, but it had at least stopped Magnemite from using its Metal Sound attack. Oddish did nothing but watch.

"Electrike is still attacking? But...I only told them to attack Whismur...well, whatever." May thought to herself. "Electrike, use Spark again! Oddish, use Absorb!" Oddish struck Magnemite with its Absorb attack, and energy could be seen moving from Magnemite to Oddish, however it didn't seem to do much. Electrike, on the other hand, didn't use Spark like May had commanded and instead seemed to become a blur as it struck Magnemite with Quick Attack, which didn't seem to do much to it. Magnmeite barely budged from its spot on the ground.

_"Huh? Electrike used Quick Attack didn't it?"_ May thought to herself. _"But I told it to use Spark...why isn't it listening to me all of a sudden? ...I'll worry about that later I guess and just let it do what it wants for now and concentrate on Oddish."_

"Magnemite, try to get back into the air and use Supersonic on Oddish!" Ty said to his Magnemite. Magnemite tried to levitate and get up off the ground but to no avail. It then turned towards May's Oddish and fired a series of high-pitched sound waves towards it, confusing it. Oddish suddenly seemed to be unaware of its surroundings or what it was doing.

"Oh great now I'm in trouble...Oddish is confused and Electrike won't listen to me..." May said to herself. "I have to try to get Electrike to listen to me...Electrike, use Spark!" Electrike once again decided not to listen to its trainer, and instead hit Magnemite with another Quick Attack. Magnemite hardly seemed effected by the attack, and Electrike came to a stop on the other side of Magnemite. Just as it came to a stop, though, Oddish ran into it and both Oddish and Electrike fell over. Electrike quickly got back to its feet and growled at Oddish, and Oddish started growling back.

_"Everytime I tell Electrike to use Spark...it uses Quick Attack..."_ May pondered over this for a moment. _"Its like its trying to keep up the offensive, but doesn't want to do what I tell it to do...since Quick Attack and Spark are its only offensive attacks, maybe it will use Spark if I tell it to use Quick Attack? Worth a shot I guess..."_

"Electrike! Ignore Oddish and use Quick Attack on Magnemite!" Electrike snorted and turned away from Oddish, turning its attention towards Magnemite. It then, as May had predicted, charged up electricity in preparation to use its Spark attack instead of using Quick Attack. It rammed into the defenseless Magnemite once again, sending it sailing towards the canyon wall and smashing off it. Magnemite was starting to look pretty beat up and dented after that last hit, but it was still able to fight and had finally managed to get back up off the ground as well as it started levitating again.

"Magnemite, use Sonic Boom on Electrike!"

"Electrike, dodge it and use Spark!" A loud boom was heard as Magnemite fired a sonic burst towards Electrike, but Electrike dodged using Quick Attack and leapt towards Magnemite, then once it landed it struck Magnemite with another Thunder Wave attack, causing it to fall to the ground and lose conciousness upon impact, ending the battle. Ty recalled his Magnemite as Gabby moved in front of the camera.

"And there you have it, folks! In a dominating performance, we were flattened, rolled up, and tossed aside without a single loss on the trainer's side!" Gabby said, holding up her mic. She then turned to May, who had just recalled her two pokemon.

"Excuse me, miss, but could you tell us your name please?" Gabby then held the mic out towards May.

"...Huh? Oh! I'm May Maple from Littleroot, I recently moved there from Johto." May replied, smiling sheepishly.

"Wow! You've come quite a long way, miss. Would you mind telling us what made you decide to become a trainer?"

"Well...I guess it was mostly because of my father. He's been a trainer since before I was born, and a pretty good one at that. I would watch him training his pokemon every now and then and always thought that that was something I'd like to do someday, and now...here I am!"

"Amazing! And what do you hope to achieve as a trainer someday?"

"I want to beat the Elite 4 someday, of course! Oh and help Professor Birch with his research a bit since I have a pokedex." Gabby couldn't help but laugh a little at May's response.

"Of course, every young trainer wants to beat the Elite 4...now, what was your strategy when you were battling us?" May had to think about that question. Her strategy ended up being telling Electrike to do the opposite of what she wanted it to do because it wasn't listening to her, but she knew that wouldn't go over well...

"Well I knew I had to take out the Whismur first, since it was the uh...loudest of the two pokemon and between it and Magnemite my pokemon couldn't even hear me, so I just motioned for them both to attack Whismur. Once Whismur was down I just had my pokemon concentrate on finishing off Magnemite."

"Thank you for your time miss." Gabby turned back towards the camera. "That was May Maple from the town of Littleroot, and that is it for this edition of 'Travelling Trainers'! Be sure to tune in next time when we interview another trainer on the road!" Ty pressed a button, turning his camera off and Gabby put her mic away, and the two of them left towards Mauville.

"Phew...that was nerve wracking...but I got to be on tv! I wonder if my mom or dad will be watching it? Alex missed the whole thing too...wonder where he ran off to anyway?" May turned back to go look for him, only to find he was standing right behind her!

"Ack! Alex! Where the hell did you disappear to!" May yelled. Alex shrugged.

"I don't like reporters, so when I heard Gabby and Ty I decided to take cover and wait for them to pass by." He replied calmly.

"Well you could have at least said something! Just whats wrong with reporters anyway?"

"They're annoying, obnoxious, and always sticking their noses in other people's business, and I'm sure you've noticed how loud their pokemon can be...as the saying goes, like trainer like pokemon. I may not have seen you fighting them, but people back in Mauville could have heard those two..."

"I guess you have a point..." May replied, thinking back on their Uproar/Metal Sound combo. "Well anyway lets get going already!" May said before starting off through the canyon again.

"Sheesh...there's just no slowing down for her is there?" Alex said to himself with a laugh before catching up with her. It was another couple of hours before they finally reached the end of the canyon, and over to the west of them they could clearly see Mount Chimney in the distance, and the entrance to a desert a bit to the north of them. They could also see the sun starting to set over the horizon.

"Hey Alex...whats in the desert?" May asked as she stared off towards the desert.

"Well, desert-dwelling pokemon of course, and supposedly there's some tower made of sand that appears every now and then. I don't believe that though. There's no force on Earth to explain something like that, not even pokemon."

"Your so narrowminded...anyway its still light, might as well go a bit further right?" Alex thought for a moment then look out his pokenav.

"There's a large rock formation further west thats fairly close to the base of Mount Chimney. We can camp near that." May nodded, and the two of them headed off west while the sun slowly set over the horizon. Before long the arrived at the large rock structure. They both released their pokemon, but Alex noticed May left one of her pokemon in its pokeball.

"Hey May, aren't you going to let Electrike out?" Alex asked her.

"Well umm...kinda had a bit of trouble with him earlier...I mean, when I started the battle with those reporters, he was listening to me fine. Then suddenly he started doing the opposite of what I wanted him to do and just wouldn't listen to me..." May said with a sigh.

"I'm sure there's no harm in letting him out, May. Besides, if it tried anything its outnumbered eleven to one."

"I guess your right, Alex. I guess I was just being paranoid." May reached for Electrike's pokeball and turned to the rest of their pokemon, and that was when she finally noticed one of them was missing and the rest of their pokemon were staring at May's Gulpin.

"What the...! GULPIN YOU SPIT ODDISH OUT RIGHT NOW!" Gulpin looked at her sheepishly, then spit Oddish out on the ground in front of her. Oddish looked unaware of what just happened, but hid behind May's leg once it saw Gulpin. May sighed.

"From now on I'm not having Oddish and Gulpin with me at the same time..." May muttered. She then released Electrike, who looked around at the rest of May's pokemon before sitting by itself at the base of the rock.

"Guess he won't be causing trouble then...well guess we should feed our pokemon then." May said, then noticed that Alex was already feeding his pokemon. She rolled her eyes, then set to feeding her own pokemon. She took out a couple of cans of pokefood and fed each of her pokemon the appropiate food. Her Electrike refused to accept any food, but ended up snatching some while May wasn't looking.

Once the pokemon were all fed they went off to play, and spar in some cases. May kept a close eye on her Gulpin to make sure it didn't try to swallow Oddish again, or any of the other pokemon for that matter. Alex, meanwhile, was helping himself to some relatively tasteless trail rations that he had packed, then took a tally of what he had left in his backpack after taking out his sleeping bag.

May got out her sleeping bag as well and rolled it out on the ground. Neither of them bothered to bring their tents along this time since they figured it wouldn't matter. After quickly eating a chocolate bar she decided to turn in for the night, while Alex was still taking inventory.

She removed her bandana, shoes, and belt pouch and placed them all next to her sleeping bag, then climbed inside it.

"Hey Alex...think you could recall my pokemon before you go to sleep?" May asked tiredly.

"Sure..." Alex replied without even looking up from his clipboard.

"Thanks...goodnight..." May said, then turned over on her side and went to sleep. Shortly after she dozed off, her Gulpin slowly made its way towards an unsuspecting Oddish.

"Don't even think about it..." Gulpin looked over at Alex surprised, who looked like he hadn't even lifted his head towards him. Gulpin, thinking Alex wasn't really watching, made for Oddish again but suddenly Alakazam appeared between them.

"Thank you, Alakazam...he tries anything, feel free to use Psychic." Alakazam nodded, and Gulpin quickly backed off in fear. It could tell Alakazam was a much stronger pokemon and didn't want any trouble. Despite having just been fed, Gulpin always had a constant urge to be swallowing things, and Oddish was unfortunately the most swallowable pokemon in the group.

Combusken and Grovyle were busy sparring with each other, with Grovyle dodging most of Combusken's punches and getting the odd punch in itself. Kirlia had been having psychic battles with Alakazam before, but now Alakazam was busy keeping an eye on Gulpin. Oddish and Minun had occupied themselves watching May's Corphish and Alex's Azumarill have a bubble blowing competition, and Swellow was perched on the rock overhead, observing everything.

After a few minutes, Alex had finally finished taking stock of how much he had left in terms of supplies and about how many days it'd last him. He picked up May's six empty pokeballs and recalled her pokemon, placing the pokeballs in her pouch then recalling his own pokemon. He then set his backpack, hat, shoes, and belt containing his pokenav and pokeballs beside his sleeping bag. He looked over at May briefly, before finally going to sleep himself.


	18. Chapter 12: Into the Fire

Was hoping to get this done sooner than I did, but exams started this week. Anyway, thanks for the reviews everyone, they're much appreciated -

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Twelve:**

**Into the Fire**

"So why is it we're going through Fiery Path?" May asked Alex as they walked through the cave. The cave they were in was actually inside of Mount Chimney. It was inhabited mainly by fire pokemon as well as Koffing and Grimer, but there were none nearby at the time. Steam would erupt from holes in the floor every now and then as they walked through the cave.

"Because beyond it lies the town of Fallabar." Alex replied.

"Right...and we would ever want to go there because?"

"Dude, weren't you paying attention to that Scott guy?" May shot Alex a look for calling her 'dude'.

"Just indulge me..."

"Because within Fallabar lies the Fallabar Battle Tent, where I can get my third and final battle tent badge."

"Right...everything revolves around those badges doesn't it?" May replied, rolling her eyes. Suddenly a slight tremor shook the cave, knocking them both off balance.

"Are you sure this cave is safe Alex...?" May asked nervously. She wasn't very keen on being inside a volcano, and she initially wanted to return to Mauville instead of going with Alex to Fallabar anyway.

"Of course it is. People travel through here all the time." Alex replied. Not long after he said that, however, the cave began to shake again, and the floor began to crack underneath them. They both found themselves fighting to keep their balance.

"I knew this was a bad idea!" May yelled. Suddenly the ground between her legs split into a large fissure. It continued to widen, and by the time May realized this she had lost her balance and fell in. Alex tried to grab her, but was too late, she was already out of his reach. May watched helplessly as she fell towards the liquid hot magma at the bottom of the fissure...

May woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily as she scanned her surroundings. She finally calmed down when she realized she was still in her sleeping bag, with the large rock behind her.

"It was just a dream..." May muttered. "Of course it was just a dream...we're going to Lavaridge...not Fallabar...nothing to worry about...besides, Alex doesn't talk like that." May laughed quietly, not wanting to wake Alex up who was still asleep nearby in his own sleeping bag. It was early morning, very early morning. The sun was just starting to rise and was still low in the sky. May couldn't really see it from her spot on the ground, though.

"This is what I get for watching those silly science documentaries..." May said with a sigh before getting up out of her sleeping bag. "Well no point in going back to sleep now I guess..." She picked up her bandana and tied it around her head, then slipped her shoes on and tied her belt pouch around her waist. She then rolled up her sleeping bag and attached it to the back of her belt pouch.

"Now...what to do while I wait for Alex to wake up..." May wondered out loud, then grinned mischeviously.

"Of course, Alex would probably want to get an early start anyway..." May opened her pouch and took out a canteen full of water. She then quietly approached Alex, and poured the canteen onto his face. Alex woke up sputtering and coughing.

"May! What the hell!" Alex yelled as he sat up in his sleeping bag.

"Morning Alex!" May said sweetly, trying to act innocent.

"That was NOT funny May!"

"That depends on which end of the prank your on..." May said, stifling a giggle.

"And what are you doing up at five in the morning anyway?"

"Huh? Its really that early?" May asked before looking at her watch.

"Guess it is...I kinda thought it was later than that because the sun was coming up..." May said sheepishly.

"Whatever...since we're up anyway we might as well get going...and do NOT try something like that ever again..." Alex got up out of his sleeping bag and grabbed a towel from his backpack to dry himself off with. He then put the towel back in his backpack and rolled up his sleeping bag, attaching it to the top of his backpack. He then put on his shoes and hat. May waited patiently, leaning against the rock while Alex packed up his stuff.

"Alright, lets go..." Alex muttered, adjusting his hat. The two of them left their campsite, travelling on the right side of the large rock formation they camped by. Further to the right of them as they walked was a lot of grass and brush. Past the brush was the base of the volcano that was Mount Chimney. It never occurred to May that they were walking right next to the volcano now, which was probably for the best. She had seen volcanoes erupting on T.V. and destroying entire villages, towns, and cities. She wasn't comfortable being so close to one that was active, and continuously erupting ash for that matter.

They weren't walking for long before they stumbled onto a pokemon sleeping on the path. It was a pokemon that Alex and May had encountered several times before, courtesy of Dirk. It was a Numel, a small camel-like pokemon with a large hump for a back that almost looked like its body could be a miniture volcano. It wasn't exactly blocking their path, it just happened to be there.

"Wow...not often you see a sleeping pokemon..." Alex commented. "But then again not many people are even up this early, MAY..."

"Look! We're getting an early start AND we found an easy catch! Its easier for a pokeball to contain a sleeping pokemon you know!" May shouted at Alex.

"You've obviously forgotten who you're talking to...there's nothing I don't know about catching pokemon."

"Then why don't YOU catch one for a change Mr. Know-it-all!"

"Maybe I will!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!" Alex reached for the pokeball containing Azumarill. As he did, though, he realized the Numel had woken up during his argument with May.

"Great, now look what you did...its awake." May shrugged.

"Your the expert...that shouldn't be a problem now should it?" Alex muttered something that May couldn't hear, and quite possibly for the best. Alex reached for one of his pokeballs.

"Go! Azumarill!" Alex pressed a white button on the pokeball he was holding, which then opened and fired out a red beam. The beam started to form into a creature, and soon Azumarill was standing before him. The wild Numel didn't wait for Azumarill to make a move before it shot a fireball towards it, which was an Ember attack.

"Azumarill! Use Bubblebeam!" Azumarill shot a continuous spray of bubbles from its mouth towards the Ember attack. The fireball started to shrink as it got closer to Azumarill before it finall disappeared in a puff of smoke. The bubbles then started striking the wild Numel, causing it to wince in pain as each bubble burst upon touching it.

"Now, use Rollout!" Azumarill curled up into a ball and started rolling towards Numel, picking up speed as it went along. The Numel tried firing another Ember attack at the rolling Azumarill, but the attack seemed to bounce off almost ineffectively. Azumarill rammed Numel and bounced off, while Numel was sent sliding across the ground. Alex reached into his pocket and pulled out an empty Nest Ball he bought back in Verdanturf.

"Might as well give these things a shot..." Alex said to himself before throwing it at the Numel, who was staggering to its feet. The ball struck Numel and opened up, sucking the Numel inside. It then fell to the ground and started to shake as the Numel tried to break free. The ball shook twice before exploding into several pieces as Numel broke out.

"Aww...what happened Alex? It broke out on you!" May said, taunting him. Alex ignored her.

"Azumarill! Hit it again!" Azumarill, who had been going around in circles for the past while, shot forward towards Numel and struck it as it tried to get up again. Numel was knocked back several feet, landing on its back then rolling over onto its side. It was looking fairly beat up, but still concious.

Alex reached into his pocket again, pulling out a Great Ball this time. He threw the Great Ball towards Numel while it was still on its side. The ball struck Numel and opened up, sucking it inside. The ball landed on the ground and started to shake as the Numel tried to break out. After several tense moments, the ball clicked shut, locking the Numel inside. It then started to glow white and vanish as the Numel was automatically transferred to Alex's PC.

"And thats how you catch a pokemon. Good job, Azumarill. Return!" A red beam shot out from pokeball Alex was holding and struck Azumarill, who then disappeared back inside its pokeball. Alex clipped the pokeball to his belt.

"Great...if your done with that little distraction lets keep going." May said dryly, then started off towards Mount Chimney. Alex clenched his fists.

"That girl doesn't have even the slightest bit of patience...either that or she's in a bit of a rush today." Alex looked up towards the summit of Mount Chimney. Mount Chimney was considered to be the tallest mountain in Hoenn, with Mount Pyre being fairly close to it.

"Maybe she doesn't want to be around Mount Chimney very long..." Alex shrugged. "I'm probably reading too far into this..." Alex paused for a moment, then it suddenly dawned on him that May was now quite a bit ahead of him. Alex ran to catch up to her, but slowed down as he got close, not wanting to seem like he was in a hurry to catch up with her.

After another half an hour of walking, the two of them reached a set of stairs carved into the base of Mount Chimney. The stairs lead up to the entrance to the cable car. Once they got to the top of the stairs, however, they found two men dressed like repairmen were blocking it off.

"Excuse me!" May said as she approached them. "Could we get by so we can use the cable car?"

"Uh...sorry miss...the cable car isn't operating right now." One of the repairmen replied.

"Yeah it probably won't be operating for the rest of the week..." The other added.

"Huh? Why's that?" Alex asked.

"Maintenance issues." One of them stated.

"Why don't you kids run along and quit bothering us..." The other stated coldly. Alex and May took several steps back, stopping at the top of the stairs.

"Is there any other way to Lavaridge?" May asked Alex.

"Not unless you have a rope and a grappling hook..." Alex replied, pointing to where the volcano started going up to the west, almost straight up.

"Lavaridge is up there...getting down is easy enough, although probably not very safe. Getting up is another matter. We're better off waiting until the end of the week."

"Great..." May said, sighing. "So I guess now its back to Mauville..."

"Well actually...I was thinking of going to Fallabar since we're not going to be going to Lavaridge for a while." Alex said. "Gives me a chance to get my last battle tent badge and its about as far to Falabar from here as it is to Mauville. Just have to go through Fiery Path and..."

"Fiery Path!" May yelled in shock.

"Yeah, Fiery Path..." Alex repeated, pointing at a nearby cave that seemed to lead into the volcano.

"No way! I am NOT going in there, and you shouldn't either!" May said frantically.

"Why not? Whats the problem?"

"Travelling near a volcano is one thing, but going INSIDE one is definitely not safe! What if lava started erupting from the walls or if the floor split open revealing a pit of lava underneath it!"

"You watch too many movies, May..." Alex replied, shaking his head.

"So obviously your not coming to Fallabar then." He continued.

"No! I am going to go back to Mauville, thank you very much!"

"Suit yourself then." Alex said with a shrug, turning towards the cave. "See ya in a week."

"Fine. Go ahead and get yourself killed...see if I care..." May grumbled, heading back towards Mauville. She then paused, remembering the dream she had that night.

"I hope he'll be ok..."

Alex, meanwhile, was well on his way through the cave and seemed to be deep in thought.

_"There's something fishy about those two repairmen..."_ He thought to himself. _"Like why don't they just block the cable car off instead of standing there all day, and why are they even there this early in the morning? ...Well whatever I have more important things to worry about anyway."_

Alex came to a stop as he noticed the ground underneath his foot felt different, and heard something below him. He hopped backwards as a blast of steam erupted from a hole in the floor.

"Well that could have taken a couple layers of rubber off my shoes...but a steam vent is just like a trap, and there has yet to be a trap made that can get me..." Alex said smugly. "And I've been through much worse than that in my days..." Alex continued through the cave, avoiding the occassional steam vent. The cave was fairly warm, and being inside of a volcano meant there were plenty of fire type pokemon around such as Torkoal and Slugma, as well as the odd Grimer or Koffing.

Alex didn't encounter any of these pokemon while going through the cave, however. In fact, it was pretty quiet other than the steam vents shooting up steam every now and then. After a while, however, he started hearing footsteps behind him. He quickly darted around a bend in the cave and waited, reaching for the pokeball containing his Azumarill, assuming it was a pokemon.

Alex waited several anxious moments as the footsteps got closer and closer. As they got closer he noticed the footsteps sounded like someone wearing a pair of shoes, which pretty much guaranteed it wasn't a pokemon. He was completely surprised, however, when May finally came into view.

"May...? What are you doing here? I thought it was 'too dangerous'?" Alex asked her teasingly. May hmphed and crossed her arms.

"Well if you're still alive it can't be that dangerous now can it?"

"Great...so I'm expendable, huh? I'll keep that in mind..." Alex replied dryly.

"You asked, I answered. Besides, I'm allowed to change my mind aren't I?"

"Uh huh...so why DID you change your mind then? You seemed pretty adamant about not being in here..." Alex asked, crossing his arms.

"You know you're being a big JERK today Alex! I thought you might be glad to have some company but instead you sneak up on me and badger me with questions!" May snapped.

"I'm being a jerk! You're the one that poured water on me this morning!" Alex shot back.

"It was just a harmless prank AND I wanted to wake you up!"

"Well maybe I wasn't ready to wake up! Especially at five in the morning!"

"Well being a little early certainly isn't going to kill you!"

"Well we don't know that for sure now do we? Maybe because of you getting us on the road early we'll end up in the wrong place at the wrong time?" May gasped as Alex's words brought images of the dream she had to mind, and she started wondering if maybe she would be responsible for both of them getting killed. Alex noticed that what he said seemed to strike a cord with her.

"Uh...May...you ok?"

"No..." May sobbed. "We're both going to die and its all my fault..."

"I think you're overreacting a bit, May..."

"No I'm not!" May choked back. "I had a dream last night...we were both in this cave...and suddenly a fissure opened beneath us and we fell into a pool of lava..."

"And I'm guessing thats why you were up so early?" Alex asked her. May nodded.

"Look, dreams are rarely that obvious May. If thats why you keep thinking we're going to die in here, then relax, we'll be fine. The worst we have to worry about are the steam vents."

_"I guess he's right..."_ May thought to herself. _"Now that I think about it...I probably shouldn't get so worked up over a dream anyway..." _May barely finished her train of thought before a loud explosion shook the cave, and May once again felt her fear from the dream take a hold of her.

"What the heck was that!" Alex yelled in surprise. He could see nothing looking up the corridor directly ahead of him, but he could tell the explosion came from that direction.

"Come on...lets go see what that was." Alex said to May, starting to walk down the corridor. May cautiously followed behind him. When they got to the end of the corridor, they could hear some sort of machine just around the corner, as well as voices. Alex peeked around the corner and saw about four men dressed in Team Magma uniforms. He quickly ducked back behind the corner.

"Its Team Magma..." Alex whispered.

"Who's Team Magma?" May asked, keeping her voice low as well.

"A criminal organization dedicated to expanding the land mass of Hoenn...I don't know what they'd be after in here though..."

"Why would they want to expand the land?" May asked curiously. Alex shrugged.

"To build on? Or maybe they just really like the land?"

"Think they caused that explosion we heard?"

"Wouldn't doubt it..." Alex peeked around the corner again to try to figure out what they were doing. There was definitely rubble and debris from an explosion scattered about the area, and it looked like there was also magma seeping out of the walls in large orange blobs. The machine Team Magma had with them seemed to be sucking up the magma. Alex then noticed that the 'magma' they were sucking up seemed to have eyes, and thats when it dawned on him.

"They're illegally capturing Slugma..." Alex muttered.

"Slugma?"

"Its a pokemon whose body is made up almost entirely of magma...see for yourself." Alex moved out of the way so May could take a look. Just like Alex, she saw the Slugma creeping out of holes in the wall of the cave, then get sucked up by the strange machine Team Magma had. There were three men running the machine, and a fourth who seemed to be doing nothing but gloating.

The machine itself was basically a large, cylindrical pod with wheels on the bottom and a tube coming out of each side of it. There was a control panel on the front being operated by one of the Team Magma men, while the other two were each holding one of the tubes and sucking up any Slugma they saw. The body of the machine seemed to be made out of a metal alloy riveted together, probably something strong enough to resist the heat from a Slugma's body.

"Why are the Slugma coming out of the walls like that...?" May whispered to Alex.

"I'd say Team Magma used the explosion to get their attention, and now the Slugma are trying to defend their home. Team Magma is getting them before they get a chance to attack, though, because Slugma are slow pokemon..."

"We have to stop them somehow!"

"Already thought of that...see the three operating the machine? Call out Oddish and have it use Sleep Powder on them. Once the fourth guy notices, he'll probably battle you. While your distracting him, I'll make my way over to the machine and see if I can reverse it or something." May nodded and reached for Oddish's pokeball.

"Alright then, lets do this Oddish!" May turned around and released Oddish from its pokeball. Oddish appeared, looking ready to fight, but then realized it wasn't called out in the middle of a fight.

"Oddish, I want you to go around the corner and use Sleep Powder on the three men near the machine." Oddish nodded, getting a serious look on its face as opposed to its usual somewhat clueless look. It skipped around the corner, unnoticed by the four Magmas, then unleashed a cloud of Sleep Powder towards the three operating the machine. The three of them instantly fell asleep, leaving the machine unattended.

"The hell do you three think your doing sleeping on the job!" The fourth man yelled at the other three. "Damn it do I have to do everything myself!" The Magma picked up one of the hoses, turning towards the only remaining Slugma.

"Not so fast!" May called out, now standing behind her Oddish. "Your days of illegally capturing pokemon are over!"

"What the! Isn't it past your bedtime kid? Well no matter...I'm not going to let some pesky brat and her Oddish ruin my chance at becoming an admin! Once Maxie sees all the Slugma I've caught for our cause he will have no choice but to promote me!"

_"So Maxie is the leader of Team Magma afterall..."_ Alex thought to himself as he listened in. _"In that case, Archie is probably the leader of Team Aqua..."_

"What your doing is not only cruel but its against the law! Oddish, use Sleep Powder!" Oddish fired another cloud of Sleep Powder towards the Team Magma member. The man, however, simply turned the hose he was holding towards the cloud, sucking the powder into the machine.

"Nice try, kid, but you'll have to do better than that!" The Magma said, then pointed the tube towards her Oddish.

"Now say good bye to your weed!" He turned the tube towards May's Oddish next, and Oddish tried to hold its ground as the machine tried to suck it in. It quickly lost the battle, however, and was soon being pulled through the air towards the tube.

"No! Oddish!" May cried out helplessly. Just as Oddish was about to be sucked into the machine, however, it was struck by a fireball and knocked to the side. Oddish got up, slightly charred but otherwise ok. Apparently the Slugma that Team Magma had missed used its Ember attack to knock Oddish away from the tube. May ran over to her Oddish to see if it was ok.

"This is RIDICULOUS!" The Team Magma member shouted, tossing the tube aside. "This was supposed to be an easy job but your ruining it! For that I'm not showing you any mercy kid!" He reached for two pokeballs.

"Poochyena! Numel! GO!" He simultaneously released his two pokemon, releasing Numel in front of Oddish and Poochyena in front of Slugma.

"Poochyena, use Bite on that Slugma! Numel, use Ember on Oddish!"

"Oddish! Duck and use Poison Powder!" Oddish curled up into a ball on the ground, wrapping its leaves around itself as an Ember attack from Numel flew overhead and narrowly missed both Oddish and May. Oddish got up and retalliated by releasing a cloud of Poison Powder towards Numel, which seemed to stagger as it breathed in the poison which started to course through its body, slowly weakening it.

Meanwhile, Poochyena ran toward Slugma and made an attempt to Bite it, clamping its teeth down on it around where one might think its neck might be. Poochyena yelped in pain as it realized that biting a Slugma was a bad idea and backed off several feet, shaking its head as it felt a searing pain from its mouth. The wild Slugma took advantage of the situation, and fired an Ember attack towards Poochyena, which hit it square on the head.

"Damn it! This is why we need more pokemon! " The Magma grunt yelled. "Numel, use Ember again! Poochyena, forget about your mouth and use Bite again!"

"Oddish, dodge the attack and try to get to Slugma!" Oddish rolled under another Ember attack fired from Numel's mouth, and then got up and easily ran by the slow moving Numel. Poochyena had decided not to attack Slugma, despite its orders, in fear of being burned again. Instead it tried to Bite Oddish as it ran by, but as it did it was struck by a shower of rocks and ran out of the way to avoid being buried. Slugma had apparently used Rock Throw to protect Oddish, and now the two of them were standing side by side.

"Worthless pokemon..." The grunt muttered. "Attack that Oddish! Numel, use Ember! Poochyena, use Bite!"

"Oddish, hide behind Slugma and use Acid on Poochyena!" Oddish hid behind the wild Slugma as Numel fired another Ember attack towards it. The attack struck Slugma instead, who barely even flinched as the fireball struck it and seemed to get absorbed into it. Poochyena looked like it was about to attack, but backed off when it saw the Slugma. Oddish spit a glob of acid towards Poochyena, which struck it in the leg. Poochyena gave a yelp before collapsing and falling unconcious.

As the grunt recalled his Poochyena, May's Oddish started glowing white to the point where it could no longer be seen at all.Oddish's body seemed to grow while it was glowing, and a flower seemed to sprout on its head and small arms seemed to form. When the light vanished, Oddish had evolved. May took out her pokedex to see what it was.

"Gloom, the weed pokemon. Gloom releases a foul fragrance from the pistil of its flower. When faced with danger, the stench worsens. If this pokemon is feeling calm and secure, it does not release is usual stinky aroma." The pokdex read.

_"I don't smell anything..."_ May thought to herself. _"Guess that means my Gloom is calm right now..."_

"Son of a...as if I didn't have enough problems with that pipsqueak already!" The grunt grumbled. "Well I'm not done yet!"

"Now's my chance..." Alex whispered. The remaining Magma grunt was too preoccupied with the battle and had his back turned to Alex now, so Alex took the opportunity to quietly slip by him to the machine. He looked over the control panel, trying to find the button that would open the capsule, or at least set the machine into reverse.

"Numel! Use Tackle on Slugma!" The grunt commanded.

"Gloom! Block its attack and use Absorb!" Gloom jumped out from behind Slugma, taking Numel's Tackle attack instead of it. As Numel made contact with Gloom, however, Gloom grabbed it with its tiny arms and started to drain its energy from it by using its Absorb attack. After several moments of this, the Numel collapsed in Gloom's arms. The grunt recalled it.

"Blast it all! I may have lost the battle but I can still take care of YOU!" The grunt yelled, raising a fist and turning towards May. As he turned around, however, he was met by an army of Slugma. A very unhappy army of Slugma. Each one of them opened their mouths, preparing to use their Ember attacks.

"CRAP! I'm getting out of here!" The grunt turned and ran towards the exit of the cave as each Slugma fired their Ember attacks. He started running pretty quickly after one of the fireballs struck him from behind in the butt. Soon the other three finally woke up, and also took a quick exit upon seeing the angry Slugma.

"We did it, Gloom!" May yelled excitedly as she ran over to her pokemon, scooping it up in her arms and hugging it tightly.

"...Yeah, your welcome." Alex muttered. By now the Slugma were starting to retreat back into the holes that they crawled out of.

"Oh, sorry Alex...you did great too I guess."

"You know, you were pretty good out there. I've never seen anyone cooperate with a wild pokemon like that before." Alex commented.

"Thanks." May replied, setting her Gloom down on the ground before recalling it to her pokeball. "It seemed like it got along well with my Oddish so I decided it was worth a try. So what are we going to do with that machine?"

"We'll wheel it outside then I'll get Minun to use Thunderbolt on it. That should overload it and cause it to explode." May nodded and the two of them started to push the large device towards the exit. After several minutes, though, they realized they were being followed. One of the Slugma was following them, and it was moving pretty fast to try to keep up. Or at least, fast for a Slugma.

"Hey Alex...why is that Slugma following us?" May asked.

"Well its possible its the one you were battling with earlier...maybe it wants to go with you?" May walked over to the Slugma and crouched down to its height.

"Is that it? Do you want to come with me?" May asked it. The Slugma gave a slight nod. May stood up and took a pokeball out of her pack.

"Alright then! Welcome to the team, Slugma!" May activated the pokeball while still holding it, and Slugma was struck by a red beam from the pokeball and was sucked inside. The pokeball then immediately clicked and locked shut, as Slugma didn't even try to break free. The pokeball glowed white and vanished as it was sent to May's PC.

"Alright! I caught a Slugma!" May shouted excitedly.

"Great, can we go now?" Alex said, leaning against the machine.

"Fine..." The two of them started pushing the machine towards the cave exit once again.

"You know what May?"

"What?"

"We're still alive..."


	19. Chapter 13: Skarmory Scare!

Glad everyone liked the last chapter! Was hoping to get this one up sooner than I did, but ran into a few snags despite having been planning this one for a while. Anyway, here it is!

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Thirteen:**

**Skarmory Scare!**

"I still don't see why we couldn't just take a break at that nice old lady's house..." May said to Alex. The two of them were now on Route 113 heading towards Fallabar Town.

"Because I don't trust her. She was way too eager to have us stay at her place..." Alex replied.

"She's just an old lady, Alex...whats the worse she could have done?"

"Does the term 'child molestor' mean anything to you?"

"Your just being paranoid..."

"If you can be paranoid about a volcano, I can be paranoid about an overly-eager old lady."

"Oh come on...she probably just wanted some company...I mean she's probably lonely way out here..." Alex shrugged.

"Maybe...but I still don't trust her. Besides, if we keep up our current pace we'll be in Fallabar by nightfall."

"Fine...but I'm taking a break whether you like it or not!" May yelled, stopping in her tracks.

"Alright, fine..." Alex said, coming to a stop as well. "But only a short one. We need to get to Fallbar before all the hotels are booked up or something."

"I highly doubt there's enough people travelling this time of year to book up an entire hotel, we have plenty of time. Besides, if your that worried about it just call ahead with your pokenav." Alex slapped his hand against his forehead.

"Why didn't I think of that..." He muttered.

"Because I did!" May replied, smiling brightly. "And while you do that...I'm going to go look for any nearby pokemon. I have a pokedex to work on, afterall. Anyway I'll be back in about 15 minutes! See ya!" With that, May ran off towards some nearby bushes, disappearing in the foilage.

"...She wanted to take a break to catch pokemon? Well she could have at least asked me what pokemon are in the area." Alex shrugged, taking out his pokenav.

"Well, whatever, her loss...she probably won't find anything anyway."

May, meanwhile, was slowly making her way through the bushes, pushing aside branches and searching for pokemon.

"There has to be pokemon hiding in here somewhere..." May said to herself as she continued searching through the bushes.

"And why do I keep talking to myself anyway...?" May continued on her way through the bushes, until eventually she heard what sounded like snoring. The snoring, however, was followed up by the sound of metal hitting metal. May started crawling on her hands and knees, trying not to make a sound as she made her way towards the sound. Eventually, she emerged from the bushes into a small clearing, where a large metal bird was making its nest.

"Aha! Found one, and its asleep too! This will be an easy catch!" May said to herself, reaching into her pouch for a pokeball. She lobbed the pokeball at the sleeping pokemon. The pokeball split open upon impact and shot a red beam towards the pokemon, which then disappeared inside the pokeball. The ball dropped to the ground, but as soon as it landed it broke into several pieces as the sleeping pokemon broke free.

"It broke out that easily...? Must be a strong pokemon. Guess I'll just have to weaken it first..." May reached for Combusken's pokeball, but as the did the metallic pokemon before her woke up and immediately fixed its eyes on her, and it didn't look very happy either. May looked back up, holding Combusken's pokeball, and saw the pokemon giving her a very intimidating glare.

"Oh...uh...your awake...um...good morning?" May said nervously. The pokemon didn't seem at all amused, and thrust its beak forward in an attempt to stab May. May managed to move to the side, the pokemon narrowly missing her right arm!

"Yikes! This thing is trying to kill me!" The pokemon rose to its feet and attempted to stab May from above this time. May quickly shuffled backwards into the bushes, once again narrowly avoiding the pokemon's attack and instead its beak ended up about three inches into the ground. May quickly jumped to her feet and ran back into the bushes. The pokemon pulled its beak out of the ground and tried to chase after her. Luckily for May, it wasn't very fast on its feet. She ran through the bushes at top speed, not looking back to see where the pokemon was.

"...No, I'm not interested in hearing your winter deals...I just want to make a reservation. ...Look I don't want to hear your seasonal rates period I want to make a reservation for TONIGHT. ...Just make my reservation already. Two rooms, single bed, alright? ...Your not listening to me at all are you? ...Know what? This conversation is officially over."

Alex clicked the off button on his pokenav and clipped it back onto his belt.

"Fallabar has two hotels...why do they both have to have blabbermouth receptionists?" Alex said with a sigh. "Guess we're just going to have to hope there's still vacancies left when we get there..." Alex sat down on a nearby rock, folding his arms over his chest.

"Now I have to wait for May to give up on her hunt. Of course, I suppose she might find a lone Spinda if she's lucky...but Spinda usually travel in groups and you always know when they're nearby...other than that all thats around here are Skarmory. Skarmory aren't seen very often though, anyway..." Alex looked to the sky, briefly thinking about the first time he saw a Skarmory in battle against a wild Aggron. His thoughts were interrupted, though, when he heard a commotion coming from the bushes, and shortly after May ran out through the foilage.

"Alex! We have to get out of here! NOW!"

"...Huh? May, whats in those bushes...?" Alex asked, hopping back to his feet.

"I...I don't know some big metal bird thing was sleeping there and I woke it up and now its pissed off and it tried to kill me!"

"Figures you'd run into a Skarmory..." Alex muttered, reaching for Minun's pokeball.

"Well Skarmory is a Steel and Flying type. Almost all physical attacks are useless against it, but fire and electric attacks should work. When it comes out, I'll have Minun hit it with Thunderbolt and you have Combusken use Flamethrower." May gave a nod and moved over to the side of the bushes, reaching for Combusken's pokeball.

"Combusken, GO!"

"Minun, Go!" Alex and May released their pokemon just as the wild Skarmory burst through the bushes. It looked around, not really taking any interest in Alex, and immediately fixed its gaze on May and her Combusken. Combusken took up a defensive stance, ready to protect May from the Skarmory.

"Now! Minun, use Thunderbolt on that Skarmory!"

"Combusken, use Flamethrower!"

Minun leapt into the air and released several lightning bolts from its body towards the wild Skarmory, while at the same time Combusken breathed out flames from it's mouth towards it. The attacks struck the pokemon simultaneously, and the Skarmory let out a sharp cry of pain as the two attacks struck it hard. To Alex and May's surprise, however, it was still standing when Combusken and Minun let up on their attacks, its metal body now glowing a bright orange which seemed to match the anger that could be seen in the Skarmory's eyes.

"Damn, if nothing else that thing is resilient..." Alex muttered.

Skarmory thrust its beak toward Combusken, catching the pokemon off guard with a Peck attack. It then repeatedly pecked at Combusken, slowly pushing it back towards May.

"May! Recall Combusken and get out of there!" Alex yelled as he recalled his Minun. Combusken seemed to be taking a pounding from Skarmory. May seemed hesitant at first, but she reluctantly recalled her Combusken. Skarmory immediately turned its attention back to May, but quickly vanished as it was sucked into a pokeball that Alex had thrown at it.

"Come on! We have to get out of here! That probably won't hold it for long!" May gave a nod and the two of took off running towards Fallabar. They heard a familiar 'pop' behind them as the pokeball Alex had used broke. Alex looked back and saw the Skarmory staring them down, but it didn't seem to be doing anything otherwise. Alex wondered if maybe it had given up, but then it fired out a barrage of stars from its mouth which Alex recognized as a Swift attack.

"Ah crap..." Alex muttered. He knew those stars would continue to follow the two of them until they were hit.

"What? Whats it doing?" May asked, looking back. She gasped as she saw the stars flying towards them. The two of them dove out of the way of the attack, but soon the stars divided into two groups and circled back on the two of them. May and Alex barely had time to get up before the stars were upon them again. A few of the stars struck both of them, but luckily the stars only caused a few minor scratches and rips in their clothes as they flew by, then vanished. Alex took most of the hits in the shoulder, which completely destroyed the shoulder of his green shirt and part of his vest.

"Well that hurt slightly..." Alex muttered, examining his shoulder.

"I guess we got lucky..." May said. She then looked back towards the Skarmory, which started flapping its wings and slowly lifted up off the ground, then started straight towards them.

"Alex! Its attacking!" Alex looked up from his shoulder and saw the Skarmory coming towards them. Figuring it to be his best option, he reached into his backpack for the first pokeball he felt and threw it towards the Skarmory, hitting it in midair and capturing it within the ball.

"That should stall it...come on! If we can put some distance between us and it we can try to attack it again!"

"Alright...but that didn't seem to do much good last time!" The two of them once again took off running towards Fallabar, trying to put as much distance between themselves and the contained Skarmory as possible. It wasn't long before the Skarmory once again broke out of the pokeball. Alex reached for Minun's pokeball while he was running and May reached for Corphish. Once they felt they had put enough distance between themselves and the Skarmory, they turned around and simultaneously released their pokemon.

"Lets try this again! Go, Minun!"

"Corphish! Your turn! Go!" Their two pokemon appeared in front of them, but Skarmory was too far away for either of them to hit it with their attacks.

"Alright, Minun, once its in range hit it with a Thunderbolt..." Alex said to his Minun. Minun gave a nod and started charging electricity.

"Corphish, when its close enough hit it with a Bubblebeam!" Corphish gave a nod and stood at the ready. They had managed to put a fair bit of distance between themselves and the Skarmory, and were now standing in grass that was covered in ash from Mount Chimney. The Skarmory didn't seem to be making a move, and just seemed to be standing there.

"...Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"Why isn't it doing anything?"

"...I don't know. I don't think it'd give up that easily, though." The two of them kept watching the Skarmory, as if in a standoff, Minun and Corphish both ready to strike at a moment's notice. After several tense minutes, the Skarmory began to lift up off the ground slowly.

"Alright, get ready..." Alex said, his voice barely above a whisper. The pokemon got ready to launch their attacks as the Skarmory suddenly shot forward, its wings flapping at blinding speeds. Minun and Corphish released their attacks simultaneously towards Skarmory as it flew towards them but it was moving far too fast. Everyone dove out of the way as Skarmory flew by, and shortly after it past them they all heard a sonic boom.

"What the hell!" May screamed.

"I...I think its been using Agility all this time...to increase its speed..." Alex stuttered, a look of fear in his eyes.

"Going at that speed it could easily slice us in two if it flew into us!"

"Oh great! Now we're REALLY in for it!" May whined. "I knew I shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning!"

"You know your 'we're going to die' attitude is really starting to bug me today...now lets get out of here before that thing comes back around, and recall Corphish! There's no way it can keep up..." May looked in the direction the Skarmory flew off in. It was just starting to make its way back now, as it needed a lot of room to turn going at mach speeds.

"How are we supposed to stop this thing now?" May asked as she recalled Corphish.

"I have a plan...its risky but it should slow that thing down big time. Only wish I thought of it before it gained so much speed...even without using Agility, Skarmory can reach speeds of over 150 mph , or well over 200 km/h."

"Look out! Its coming back!" May yelled as the Skarmory approached. The three of them dove out of the way of Skarmory's attack again, just barely missing getting torn to shreds by its sharp wings. The three of them got up and once again took off running.

_"Why couldn't she have found a more docile Skarmory?"_ Alex thought as he ran. _"This is a lot more exercise than I intended to get today..."_

_"If I survive this I NEVER want to see another Skarmory again!" _May thought to herself.

The Skarmory was starting to circle back around towards the group as the three of them ran towards Fallabar. It was going faster than the speed of sound, but it was flying relatively silently since it had no engines unlike supersonic jets. At the speed it was going it had to make relatively wide turns, which was a bit hard to do at such low altitudes, especially with Mount Chimney near by.

This helped buy Alex and May some time while they continued running, but before long they were diving out of the way of Skarmory's attack again. The two of them got up again, and Alex and Minun took off in the direction of the Skarmory, leaving May puzzled.

"Wouldn't it make more sense...to run the other way? I'll never understand that boy..." May takes off after him, trying desperately to catch up and hoping he has something planned. She had been travelling with him for about a week or so now, and had come to realize Alex tends to plan ahead a lot. She wouldn't be surprised if he had actually planned his funeral already...

"You got all that, Minun?" Alex asked his pokemon as they ran side-by-side. Minun gave a nod, running on all fours. Skarmory was starting to circle back around towards them, and was already coming back at top speed. Skarmory was coming in towards them like a jet fighter coming in for a landing, and it was right where Alex wanted it.

"Minun! Now!" Alex ran off to the side, out of the Skarmory's path, while Minun jumped into the air and released a Thunder Wave attack towards the Skarmory, which flew right into the attack and started plummeting towards the ground as the paralysis set in. Minun then used Quick Attack to quickly get out of the Skarmory's way, landing near Alex. The paralyzed Skarmory crashed into the ground, skidding through the ash-covered grass and narrowly missing May.

"Alex, watch it!" May called out indignantly. "That Skarmory almost hit me thanks to you!"

"Sorry..." Alex replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "My plan kinda didn't count on you being behind me... And speaking of my plan, Minun hit it with a Thunderbolt now!" Alex said, pointing towards the fallen Skarmory which was now trying to get up. Minun ran towards its opponent and leapt into the air to get a better vantage point, then released several bolts of lightning from its body towards the fallen Skarmory. The Skarmory let out a cry of pain as the Thunderbolt attack struck it and collapsed to the ground once more.

"And just for good measure..." Alex reached into his backpack for a great ball, and threw it as hard as he could towards the Skarmory. The great ball connected and popped open, shooting a red beam towards the Skarmory which converted it into an energy state and sucked it inside the pokeball.

"Was the great ball really necessary?" May asked as she finally caught up with Alex. "I mean you've wasted a fair number of pokeballs and your not even trying to catch it."

"Oh come on, the things are a dime a dozen anyway...besides, I don't see you trying anything." Alex replied in contempt.

"Maybe to you they're a 'dime a dozen', but I'd rather reserve mine for pokemon I actually want to catch...and I really don't want to catch that Skarmory, not after it tried to kill me anyway. If you catch it, its YOUR problem!"

"Skarmory are very hard to capture, its like trying to catch a fully evolved pokemon. Even in its weakened condition it can probably break free, which is why we should be running instead of wasting time discussing my wasting pokeballs!" Alex was about to take off running when he felt Minun tugging on his pant leg and pointing towards where the Skarmory was. Alex and May looked in the direction he was pointing, but saw nothing.

"I don't get it...what are you trying to say, Minun?" Alex asked his pokemon. Minun made a motion as if throwing a pokeball, then shot forward and acted like it had been hit by a pokeball. It then curled up into a ball and started rolling around on the ground like a pokeball when a pokemon is inside of it, then stops, uncurls, and frantically points where the Skarmory was again.

"I get it!" May exclaimed. "Its saying you caught the Skarmory!"

"...Huh? ...Oh now I get it." Alex looked over where the Skarmory was supposed to be, and figured it should be staggering its way to try to attack them by now, but he couldn't even see it. He couldn't find the great ball he through at it either, or the pieces of it if it happened to break out.

"Maybe I did catch the Skarmory...and I guess by now it'd be in my PC..." Alex paused for a moment, letting this sink in as he once again thought back on his encounter with a Skarmory as a child. Things were a bit different that time, though. He was about to be attacked by a wild Aggron, but the Skarmory stopped it. This time, a Skarmory was attacking him.

"Alex, come on already! That Skarmory isn't bothering us anymore so lets get going already!" May yelled, snapping Alex out of his thoughts.

"Ever hear of a little thing called patience?" Alex said, turning to her. She was now cradling his Minun in her arms, and Minun seemed quite content and was eating a piece of a chocolate bar.

"Err...what are you doing, May?"

"Well this little guy fought hard to protect us from that mean old Skarmory, I think he deserves a little reward..." May said, smiling down at Minun and setting him back down on the ground. "Now lets get going already!" May started back on her way towards Fallabar, Alex's Minun walking beside her. Alex stared as she walked off.

"She switches between 'we're taking a break' and 'lets get going!' awfully quickly..." Alex said to himself.

"Well one good thing came out of this anyway...with all that running now we'll get to Fallabar faster. Speaking of which, I should stop talking to myself and get going..." Alex caught up with May, and the two of them continued on their way to Fallabar. They finally arrived several hours later and their first stop, as usual, was the pokemon center. The two of them handed over their pokemon to be healed, and Alex finally put Minun back in its pokeball so it could rest.

Most of the people in the pokecenter were crowded around the T.V., including May. There was a battle being televised of a Salamence, a fierce pokemon that resembled a dragon from mythology, fighting a Raichu, an orange colored mouse pokemon that had black stripes along its body and a long tail. Alex was one of the few not watching the battle, even though he usually watched T.V. often. Instead, he was waiting to use the pokecenter's PC. A woman in a green dress was already using it, but Alex had no idea what she could be using it for because as far as he could tell she wasn't carrying any pokeballs.

"Oh, sorry, did you want to use the computer?" The woman asked as she finally noticed Alex standing behind her.

"Well actually I...Lanette...?" Alex recognized the woman before him as Lanette, who was responsible for developing the current pokemon storage system, which was easy for trainers to use and apparently didnt put a stored pokemon into stasis, like the old system used to. Apparently now each "box" was some sort of virtual environment, thanks to Lanette.

"Do I know you?" Lanette asked him, peering at him through her glasses.

"Err...uh...no! I mean...I just happen to know about your work on the pc storage system and I was surprised to see you here." Alex replied nervously. Lanette could tell he was hiding something, but decided not to pry.

"I am truly sorry for holding you up, you see a friend of mine named Celio over in Kanto has been trying to establish a more permanent connection between Hoenn, Kanto, Johto, and the Sevii Islands. The nurse here has been kind enough to allow me to use this pokecenter's PC for testing, while Celio is using one in the Sevii Islands. Although I have many pc's at my house, they do not have the same functions as the pc's here. In any case, we haven't had much luck. ...Oh, terribly sorry, I'm holding you up again aren't I?"

"Don't worry about it..." Alex replied.

"I should be going now anyway...sorry to bother you." Lanette gave a slight bow before leaving the pokecenter, and Alex finally accessed his storage system on the PC. Sure enough, there were two pokemon in there. The Numel he had caught earlier that day, and the Skarmory he had just accidentally caught.

"Great...so I did catch it...now what do I do with it?" Alex wondered out loud.

"If I try to release it, it'll probably just cause trouble again. If I try training it and using it in battle, it'll probably try to kill me, or just not listen to me if I'm lucky. ...I guess I'll just leave it there for now and go check out one of those hotels."

The battle between the Raichu and the Salamence had just ended, with Raichu coming out victorious and the other trainer sending out a Metagross next, a large metal pokemon with four legs ending in spikes for feet and two large, red eyes. Except for the Raichu, May didn't recognize either pokemon. She knew Raichu was a fairly popular pokemon, though. Mostly because of the popularity of its first form, Pikachu. Alex started watching the battle as well as he waited for the nurse to finish with his pokemon.

The Raichu jumped into the air, seemingly expecting the Metagross to use Earthquake. Of course, anyone that could teach their Metagross Earthquake often did. The Metagross responded by firing a huge orange beam of energy up at the Raichu, catching it completely off guard with a Hyper Beam attack. The Raichu was slammed into the far wall of the arena then fell to the ground unconcious. The other trainer recalled his Raichu and sent out a Blaziken next, the evolved form of Combusken.

The two didn't see how that battle ended, however, as just then the nurse approached them and informed them that their pokemon were fully healed. Alex and May retrieved their pokeballs and left the pokecenter.

"Well, now we have to find a hotel to stay at..." Alex said as they left the pokecenter.

"You mean you didn't book one already...?"

"No, had a little trouble with that...couldn't get past the 'specials' and all that other stuff they go through to try to make you some sorta permanent member of their particular hotel chain...bah...anyway lets just find a hotel and then get some food, and by food I mean real food, not travel rations and candy bars..."

"Great, you can pay for room service for the two of us then, since you seem to like throwing your money around."

"If I'm paying for your room service your getting a salad."

"...Are you trying to say I'm fat, Alex?"

"No, I'm just saying your diet is less than healthy...eating nothing but chocolate bars isn't good for you."

"When I want a personal trainer, I'll let you know..."

The two continued to argue the entire way to the hotel. Once they got there, they each paid for their rooms and Alex put in a complaint about the employee he had been talking to earlier. They stopped at the hotel's restaurant and had a quick meal before retiring to their rooms for the night, which were across the hall from each other. Their rooms were pretty much the sam, both had a single bed, a tv, sink, and a small bathroom.

Alex dropped his backpack on the floor as he entered his room and tossed his hat on the floor. He sat on his bed and took his vest off, examining where the Swift attack from the Skarmory had hit him.

"Its a good thing I have a spare set of clothes...I doubt this can even be repaired now, even if I knew how to sew." Alex reached into his backpack, pulling out a shirt similar to the one he was wearing now, and took his old one off. He tossed his old vest and shirt into the trash can and put on his new shirt, which he hadn't worn since it got wet back in Rustboro, courtesy of Azumarill who was only a Marill at the time.

"I'll have to pick up some new clothes tomorrow I guess before entering the battle tent...I guess I should be thankful the attack tore up my clothes and not my arm. I can't afford to end up in a hospital at this point...it probably wouldn't take the staff long to realize who I am..." Alex lied back on the bed, thinking back on the day's events, and once again he recalled that day when he had first seen a Skarmory in battle...

_Alex was only about five at the time, and was still living with his parents in Rustboro. Neither of his parents were home very often, however, and he wasn't even allowed outside the house. On this day, though, he decided he was tired of being in the house all day, and being such an eccentric child he wanted to go out and explore. He spent several weeks planning his escape, but today he had finally put that plan into action._

_He had tricked his would-be-babysitter into going into the bathroom, saying that there was water everywhere. He had put on a convincing act and the man went in to check it out. Once he did, however, Alex quickly shut the door behind him and locked him in. Even as a child, he was pretty smart, and had managed to figure out how the door worked and had used a wedge to make sure the door couldn't open from the inside._

_He had also figured out how the lock on the front door of his house worked, and, using a stool to reach it, he managed to get the door open. He happily ran through the streets of Rustboro, drawing quite a bit of attention to himself. No one said anything, though, because he was just a kid then._

_Eventually, he ended up just outside Rustboro to the south, and the first thing he spotted was a large tree full of berries. He ran to the base of the tree and started jumping up and down frantically, trying to reach the berries. They were far out of his reach, however. He looked around for something to help him reach the berries, but found nothing, so he started trying to climb the tree._

_Little did Alex know, however, that he had chosen a bad day to venture outside. A wild Aggron was spotted in the area, a ferocious pokemon that was rarely seen in the wild at all, but even when it was it was usually in caves were Aron and Lairon, its previous forms, lived. Aggron was a very large pokemon covered in armor plating and had horns on its head._

_As Alex was trying to climb the tree, he could hear very loud footsteps behind him. He hopped down from the tree and turned around to see what it was, and saw the monsterous Aggron slowly approaching him. Alex let out a scream and hid behind the tree, to a child his age an Aggron was a monster that one would have nightmares about._

_Suddenly, a large metallic bird flew into the approaching Aggron at high speeds, knocking it onto its back and sending it skidding several feet. The metallic bird pokemon, a Skarmory, then landed in front of Alex, putting itself between him and the Aggron. The Aggron got up and cast a furious glare towards the Skarmory._

_"Skarmory, use Steel Wing!" Alex heard someone shout. Then the Skarmory standing in front of him lifted up off the ground again and flew towards the Aggron, smashing it with its wings and knocking it back further. The Aggron gave a loud roar and charged towards the Skarmory with a Take Down attack._

_"Skarmory use Spikes and aim in front of it!" The voice sounded familiar to Alex, but he couldn't see who it was. The Skarmory spread out its wings, and as it did it released a volley of spikes towards the Aggron, landing in front of it. The Aggron kept charging forward, stepping onto the spikes as it did. The Aggron stopped in its tracks and bellowed in pain._

_"Now hit it with another Steel Wing!" The Skarmory toward the Aggron again, striking it hard with its steel wings and sending it skidding across the ground and almost into a nearby lake. The Aggron slowly rose to its feet, the constant assault starting to slowly weaken it. _

_"Not so tough for a wild Aggron...Skarmory, use Air Cutter!" The Skarmory brought its wings together, releasing a v-shaped blade of air towards the Aggron. The blade struck Aggron, causing it to stagger back slightly and drop to its knees. It was then struck by a yellow and black pokeball, which opened and sucked it inside. The pokeball shook several times before it finally clicked shut, sealing the Aggron inside. _

_A silverhaired teenage boy finally came into view as he walked over to the yellow and black pokeball, which was an ultra ball, and picked it up, clipping it to his belt which already had five pokeballs of varying colors and patterns. He then turned to where Alex was hiding._

_"You can come out now..." Alex timidly came out from behind the berry tree he was hiding behind, and looked up at the silver haired boy standing before him. The boy reached up and grabbed a large blue fruit hanging from the tree, then pulled it off and handed it to Alex._

_"Thats what you were after, wasn't it?" Alex nodded slightly and took a bite of the large fruit. He immediately spat it out, however, as it tasted horrible! The other boy chuckled._

_"Thats an Oran Berry. It has a variety of flavors, but tastes horrible to a human. Now, shouldn't you be home?" Alex shook his head defiantly._

_"No! Nononononono! No home!" _

_"What if I took you for a ride on my Skarmory?" Alex looked over at the pokemon and thought about it._

_"Kay!" He shouted excitedly. The boy picked up Alex and placed him on Skarmory, then got on as well._

_"Alright, lets go Skarmory!" The Skarmory took off into the air, and Alex watched excitedly as the ground started to disappear beneath him..._

"...Maybe I will try to train that Skarmory." Alex said to himself, before drifting off to sleep.

May, meanwhile, had gotten a shower and was now sitting on her bed in her shorts and bra, and was busy sewing up her top, which had a few rips in it thanks to the Skarmory.

"I'm glad my mom taught me to sew..." May said to herself, "But I wish I brought the right color thread with me...everyone's going to be able to see the blue stitching on my top now. I wonder if the shops in this town have anything good..."

May finished up her top and put her needle and thread in a small case, then put it in her fanny pack before turning out the lights and climbing into bed.

_"Between Team Magma and that Skarmory, today was way too eventful...hopefully tomorrow won't quite so eventful..."_ May thought to herself before drifting off to sleep. Little did she know, tomorrow wouldn't be any easier...


	20. Chapter 14: Mystery at Meteor Falls

Phew! This chapter is really long, around 23 pages in wordpad. Anyway, enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Fourteen:**

**Mystery at Meteor Falls**

"May...are all these really necessary?" Alex said from under a pile of clothes while May browsed through a rack of t-shirts.

"A girl can never have too many clothes, Alex!" May said as she looked over another shirt before tossing it onto the pile Alex was carrying.

"Just how the heck do you plan to carry all this around?"

"Easy! I'll store them in my PC!" May had picked out many different outfits by this point, including a kimono, which Alex had no idea what she'd have any need for anyway. Alex had already picked out another green t-shirt and vest to replace the ones he threw in the trash the night before.

"And how are you paying for them...?"

"...Oops, forgot about that part. I can only really afford one outfit after buying all those supplies..." The muttering of several swear words could be heard from Alex.

"Now which one to keep?" May asked herself, looking over the pile. She searched through the pile, while Alex was still holding it. Eventually she pulled out a long, orange, sleeveless top with a white stripe down the middle and a white pokeball pattern on each side.

"I think I'll take this one!" May said as she held up the top.

"Thats the same one you were wearing before..." Alex muttered.

"Yep! No point changing perfection, right Alex? Anyway you can put the rest of those back now..." May happily made her way over to the checkout to pay for her new top, leaving Alex with the rest of the clothes she had picked out.

"I am NEVER going shopping with her again..." Alex muttered, dropping the clothes on a nearby stool used for trying on shoes and set to putting them away.

_"Wonder if I should help him..."_ May thought to herself as she stood in line. _"...Naw."_

As May stood in line, she heard the two women in front of her gossiping.

"Have you heard about Professor Cosmo?" One of them asked the other.

"No, what about him?"

"He apparently just left for Meteor Falls with some men from Team Magma."

"Team Magma? Can they really be trusted?"

"I don't know...apparently they wanted him to show give them a tour of Meteor Falls...I don't see what harm there could be in that."

"I suppose your right...its not like they've ever been caught causing trouble anyway..."

"Never been caught having trouble?" May thought about their previous encounters with Team Magma. Alex had mentioned them sneaking aboard the ferry running between Dewford and Slateport, but that was under the cover of night and Alex was the only witness and never said anything to the authorities either. There was also the incident at Mount Chimney, but Alex and May were the only witnesses again and since Alex blew up their machine already they didn't even have any evidence to back up their story.

Team Aqua, on the other hand, attempted to steal Devon equipment twice, both in broad daylight. The incidents were reported on the news but somehow Team Aqua always managed to evade authorities. In fact, the closest thing to a police officer May's seen around lately was Detective Dirk, but he hardly qualifies as a detective since he got fired.

_"If Team Magma is at Meteor Falls it can only mean trouble...wherever Meteor Falls is. I better tell Alex..."_ May looked back at Alex, who was still putting the clothes back on the rack.

_"...Once he finishes putting the clothes away anyway." _May finally made it to the front of the line and paid for her top, then left the store while Alex was still putting away the clothes she didn't buy. She quickly ducked into the pokecenter and changed into her new top in the bathroom and stored her old, stitched up top in her pc using the pokecenter's pc. As she left the pokecenter, Alex was just leaving the clothing store.

"Alex! Team Magma's gone to Meteor Falls!"

"Meteor Falls? You sure?"

"I overheard someone in the store saying they went there with a guy named Professor Cosmo!"

"Oh so you overheard this?" Alex said with a laugh. "Look, I doubt it was Team Magma. Team Magma wants to expand the landmass and I don't see what they'd find at Meteor Falls that would help them in anyway. Its really not worth looking into and I'm definitely not missing my chance to enter the Fallabar Battle Tent just because of something you overheard."

"Alright then, fine, I'll go. Its not like I have anything better to do anyway and maybe I'll be able to get another pokemon for my pokedex at the very least." May walked by Alex, heading towards the east exit of Fallabar.

"May...do you even know where your going?" Alex said, without looking back at her. "Meteor Falls is southwest of here..." May turned around and started walking the other way, walking by Alex again.

"I knew that, was just making sure you knew..." Alex shrugged and started on his way towards the final battle tent while May left for Meteor Falls. The first thing Alex did upon arriving at the battle tent was, as usual, read up on the rules. Apparently each match would have a time limit of two minutes, and if both pokemon were still standing after two minutes the judges would choose the winner.

Several judges would judge the pokemon in the battle based on the attacks they use, the damage that was dealt to them, and how often they attacked their opponent. The pokemon that loses the judging is disqualified while the other will compete in the next battle as well. Pokemon cannot be switched during the battle and pokemon also had to be used in the order they were registered, the pokemon would remain on the battlefield until they were either knocked out or disqualified by the judges.

_"I think I'll enter Golem, Grovyle, and Minun this time."_ Alex thought to himself as he read over the rules. _"I'll enter Minun first, and since electric types are weak to ground type pokemon I'll follow up with Grovyle, and Golem should be able to handle whatever might be able to take down Grovyle as well. They all fit together so perfectly...and with Grovyle and Minun's speed and Golem's durability they should be able to hang in there the full two minutes at least."_

Alex filled out everything on the Battle Tent registry sheet and handed it to the man at the desk, who then entered the data into the computer database. Alex was the fourth entry today, but he was going to be in the third match so he had to wait a while. He was soon ushered into a small waiting room. The matches were set to start as soon as there were eight trainers registered, which meant there were another four trainers still needed. Alex wasn't particularly worried, though, as it was only 10:45 AM anyway and he wasn't in any hurry anyway.

"I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner..." May said to herself as she followed the detailed map on her pokenav towards Meteor Falls.

"Meteor Falls is inside a cave further south from here according to this map..." May looked up from her pokenav and stretched out before her was a large lake with a wooden bridge crossing over it. Further in the distance she could see a small mountain where Meteor Falls was. She could also hear the sound of a waterfall nearby that was emptying into the lake before her. The terrain was quite the opposite of what they had passed through on the way to Fallabar Town.

May walked over to the side of the lake and looked down into the water.

"I wonder if there's any pokemon in this lake...wish I had a fishing rod. I guess I could have borrowed Alex's but I didn't know there was even a lake here...I should probably keep going though, if Team Magma really is at Meteor Falls there's no telling what they're up to." May started on her way across the bridge, but as she did she heard a splashing noise nearby. She looked around but didn't see anything at first, but then she noticed a small blue bird pokemon with cloud-like wings near the edge of the water at the other side of the lake. The pokemon seemed to be cleaning its wings off in the water.

"Aww! What a beautiful little bird pokemon! I think I'll catch it!" May reached for a pokeball and prepared to release one of her pokemon, but stopped herself.

"...But then again, there's bound to be more nearby and I really ought to get to Meteor Falls. I'll just try to find one later." May clipped the pokeball to her waist and started off across the bridge again. The pokemon looked up as it heard footsteps coming across the bridge and saw May approaching. It quickly flapped its wings, drying them off, and took off into the sky. It then proceeded to quietly and curiously observe the trainer from above, following her as she crossed the long bridge over the lake.

_"First match...here goes nothing..." _Alex's hand hovered near Minun's pokeball as he anxiously waited for the judge to signal the start of the match. His opponent was an old man who looked like he could be some sort of sage. Alex felt a little worried that an elderly trainer like him would have some pretty powerful pokemon, as well as being extremely skilled.

Suddenly, a bell rang, signalling the start of the match. Alex grabbed Minun's pokeball and threw it out onto the field, while his opponent produced a pokeball seemingly from out of nowhere.

"Minun go!"

"Hariyama, come forth!"

Alex's Minun appeared on his side of the battle field, looking ready to fight. On the other side appeared a huge, muscular fighting pokemon that seemed to resemble a sumo wrestler.

"Hariyama, lets begin with Bellydrum!" Hariyama pounded its chest hard, and as it did its already huge muscles seemed to grow considerably. Alex smirked.

"Bad move pal...Minun, use Encore!" Minun clapped its hands together, and suddenly applause seemed to erupt out of nowhere and Hariyama continued poundings its chest, spurred on by the applause.

"Now jump above it and use Thunderbolt!" Minun stopped clapping, but the applause seemed to keep going, and ran towards Hariyama. It jumped straight up into the air over Hariyama and Hariyama simply watched as Minun released bolts of electricity down towards it. Hariyama seemed to give off a yellow glow as the electricity coursed through its body before collapsing to the ground. Minun landed nimbly on its feet in front of it. Alex's opponent recalled his pokemon.

"Remarkable strategy taking advantage of my pokemon's own attack like that...however my next pokemon shall not fall so easily. I shall not fall for your Encore trick again." The old man seemed to slide the pokeball into his sleeve and produced another one.

"Metang! It is now your turn!" The old man released his second pokemon onto the field. It was a metallic blue pokemon with two arms, no legs, red eyes, and floated above the ground. In fact, when one was flying with its arms behind it, it could resemble the Enterprise from Star Trek.

_"Metang huh? Guess I should be thankful its not fully evolved...a Metagross would be a huge thorn in my side..." _A bell sounded to signal the start of the next battle.

"Metang, use Shadow Ball."

"Minun counter with Thunderbolt!" The old man's Metang produced a dark purple ball of crackling energy and shot it towards Minun, while Minun countered by firing bolts of electricity towards Metang. The attacks collided and exploded in a burst of energy, engulfing both pokemon. Minun quickly jumped out of the burst one way while Metang flew out the other, both had small columns of smoke rising from them.

"Attack Minun with Metal Claw, Metang!"

"Minun, get out of the way with Quick Attack then strike back with Thunderbolt!" Metang raised its arm back to strike Minun, but just as it went to strike Minun moved out of the way at incredible speeds, becoming a blur of motion then stopping behind Metang. It then released a shower of lightning bolts towards the pokemon.

"Metang send it back with Psychic!" Metang turned around just before the Thunderbolt attack struck it and suddenly the lightning bolts seemed to converge into one giant lightning bolt and turned back towards Minun.

"Minun us Charge and absorb it!" Minun started charging electricity into its body, and as the Thunderbolt struck it most of the electricity from the attack was absorbed into it, and Minun's body seemed to be crackling with electricity.

"Now use Thunderbolt again!" Minun unleashed another, more powerful Thunderbolt attack from its body, sending all its charged up electricity towards Metang in one giant lightning bolt. Metang tried to use Psychic to bounce the attack back again, but it didn't work and it was struck by the vast amount of electricity from the attack and fell to the ground, no longer able to hover as its conciousness slipped away. The old man recalled his Metang.

"It seems I have severely underestimated your abilities, child...no matter, for your attacks will be useless against my next pokemon." The man once again slide the pokeball into his sleeve and produced another.

"Swampert! It is up to you now! Go!" The old man released his Swampert from its pokeball, and a large blue pokemon appeared. It was almost five feet tall with orange whiskers, a pair of large dark blue fins on its head, and similarly shaped tail. From looking at it one could easily tell it was a water pokemon that walked on land, but Alex also knew that it was a ground type as well. That meant trouble for Minun since that made Swampert immune to Minun's most powerful attacks, leaving him only able to use Quick Attack.

Another bell rung for the start of the next battle.

"Swampert! Use Mud Shot!"

"Dodge it and use Quick Attack Minun!" Swampert shot a blast of mud towards Minun, but Minun easily manuevered out of the way of the attack and shot forward, striking Swampert in the chest with a Quick Attack but bounced off and seemed to do almost nothing to it.

"Hit it with an Ice Beam now, Swampert!" Swampert fired am Ice Beam attack towards Minun, who was practically standing right in front of it. The beam struck Minun and soon it was encased in a block of ice.

"Now use Mud Shot again!" Swampert shot a steady stream of mud from its mouth at the frozen Minun, smashing its icy prison and pushing it towards the other end of the battlefield, Minun seeming to be helpless to do anything as it became encased in mud. Soon, Minun wasn't able to take anymore, and was knocked out. Swampert let up on its attack, leaving the unconcious Minun in a pool of mud. Alex recalled his Minun.

_"This Swampert is going to be a tricky foe..."_ Alex thought to himself as he clipped Minun's pokeball to his waist and grabbed Grovyle's.

_"Although Grovyle has the type advantage, his Swampert apparently knows Ice Beam...and if Grovyle doesn't beat this guy it'll probably finish Golem off pretty easily since it would at least know Water Gun...I'm going to have to rely on Grovyle's speed."_

"Grovyle! Go!" Alex held up Grovyle's pokeball and pressed the button to open it. A red beam shot forward towards the battlefield and Grovyle materialized, ready to attack.

"Grovyle, use Leaf Blade!"

"Swampert, use Ice Beam!" A green blade materialized on Grovyle's arm as it ran towards the Swampert. Its opponent fired a beam of ice towards Grovyle, but it jumped into the air, avoiding the attack and leaping clear of the mud. It brought the blade on its arm forward, striking the Swampert across the chest and flipping backwards onto the ground in front of it. Swampert was clutching its stomach in pain. Being a ground and water type meant being hit by Grovyle's Leaf Blade attack would hurt like hell for it.

"Swampert, lets try Ice Beam again!"

"Grovyle, use Quick Attack and get out of the way!" Swampert fired another beam of ice from its mouth towards Grovyle, but by the time it reached him Grovyle was long gone. Grovyle seemed to become a blur as it used Quick Attack and circled around behind Swampert, ready to strike it from behind.

"Now hit it with another Leaf Blade attack!" Grovyle leapt towards Swampert from behind, a green blade forming on its arm again as it did. Grovyle raised its arm and struck Swampert across the back with its blade, and Swampert staggered forward from the impact, growling in pain.

A blue glow seemed to surround Swampert after that last attack, which Alex recognized as its Torrent ability. When Swampert or any of its previous forms were in a weakened state they were able to call forth water energy to increase damage from their water attacks. Alex wasn't particularly worried about this, though, since Grovyle had been able to easily evade Swampert's attacks so far and it was a grass type anyway.

"It seems I may have to use drastic measures. Swampert...use Hyper Beam!" Swampert turned towards Grovyle and charged up an orange ball of energy in its mouth.

"Grovyle! Jump!" Grovyle jumped high up into the air as Swampert fired its Hyper Beam attack. There was an explosion of concrete and dust as the beam struck where Grovyle was just standing, but fortunately Grovyle had managed to jump clear of the attack.

"Now hit it with pound!" Grovyle brought its hands together as it started to drop to the ground. It hammered Swampert hard on the head as it came down, and Swampert's eyes seemed to bulge as it was hit. Grovyle landed in the crater made by Swampert's Hyper Beam, while the other trainer's Swampert collapsed in front of him, a dazed look in its eyes.

"The match is over! Alex is the victor!" The judge declared.

"Alright! We did it Grovyle!" Grovyle folded its arms and shrugged, as if taking down a Swampert was no big deal. The old man recalled his Swampert.

"I extend my congratulations to you..." The man stated, before exiting the arena. Alex recalled his Grovyle and returned to the waiting room. He placed his three pokeballs in the restoration machine and sat down in a chair with a sigh of relief.

"That...was intense..."

May, meanwhile, had crossed the long bridge across the lake and was still unaware that the pokemon she saw earlier was still following her high above and observing her. The entrance to the cave known as Meteor Falls was on a ledge high above her, and she couldn't seem to find a way to climb up there either.

"There must be some easier way up there..." May started walking along the base of the ledge, looking for a way up to the cave entrance. She came to a stop, however, when she felt something land on her head. She looked up and saw the blue bird pokemon from before looking down at her.

"Umm...hi there..." May said to it, smiling slightly. The pokemon chirped happily.

"Sorry, I don't have time to play right now...I have to go stop some bad men in Meteor Falls..." The pokemon tilted its head, looking slightly confused, then pointed one of its towards the ledge above her.

"Yep, thats where I'm trying to get to..." The pokemon chriped and hopped off May's head, then flew off low to the ground. It then turned back towards May and seemed to be waiting for her.

"Huh? Do you want me to follow you?" The pokemon nodded and flew off again. May shrugged and followed behind it, unsure of where it was taking her. She followed it for a while, and eventually it stopped at another part of the ledge, only this part wasn't nearly as steep and would have been easy for her to climb. May was quite surprised as she finally realized that this pokemon seemed to be trying to help her.

"Is this where you were leading me?" May asked it. The pokemon gave a nod and chirped happily.

"Well thanks! You've been a great help! I wonder what kind of pokemon you are anyway..." May pulled out her pokedex and pointed it at the pokemon, then clicked the button to record its infortmation. A picture of the pokemon appeared on the screen, as well as its name, Swablu.

"So your a Swablu huh...? Well thanks Swablu!" The Swablu chirped in response then flew up to the top of the ledge and landed on a nearby rock. May put her pokedex back on her belt and soon followed. When she reached the ledge, she could see the entrance to the cave across from her. She could also see two members of Team Magma standing just outside the cave, and a black helicopter with a red "M" on it nearby.

"So Team Magma IS here..." May said, quickly hiding behind the rock Swablu was perched on so they wouldn't see her.

"Now I need to find some way to get past them and see just what they're doing in there..." The Swablu listened closely to what May was saying, then looked over towards the two Team Magma guards. May noticed the Swablu looking at the two men.

"Those people are bad, Swablu. I don't know what they're doing here but it can only mean trouble, otherwise they wouldn't be guarding the cave. They must be after something inside the cave that their leader thinks will help them to expand the land mass. If they did that, a lot of people could get hurt and there'd be less places for water pokemon to live..." The Swablu seemed to understand what May was saying and flew off towards the two guards, landing in front of them.

"Huh? Whats that?" One of the guards said as it noticed the Swablu.

"Eh...just a Swablu. Wimpy pokemon really." The other guard said.

"Go on, shoo. Go dust some crops or something..." The Swablu didn't seem to like their attitude, and opened its mouth and started to sing. The two guards looked at each other and shrugged, neither really had a clue as to what it was doing until suddenly they collapsed against each other, both sound asleep. May, upon seeing this, quickly ran over to where the Swablu was. She couldn't really make out Swablu's singing from where she was and wasn't affected by it.

"Great job Swablu! I didn't even know you could do that! Now that those two are out of the way we can go in and find out what Team Magma is up to!" Swablu nodded and chirped happily, and May entered the cave with Swablu following behind.

"Hit it with a Thunderbolt attack Minun!"

"Pelipper! Block Minun's attack with Protect!" Minun fired a burst of electricity from its body towards its opponent, a Pelipper, but a blue orb formed around the Pelipper and Minun's attack was deflected off it harmlessly.

"Now strike back with Water Gun!" Pelipper dropped its protective barrier and shot a stream of water from its mouth towards Minun. Minun was struck by the stream of water and was knocked back onto its butt. It quickly got back up and shook off the water.

"Try Thunderbolt again Minun!"

"Pelipper, Protect!" Pelipper put up a protective barrier around itself as Minun launched another blast of electricity towards it. The attack once again deflected off of Pelipper's protective bubble, causing no harm to the pokemon within.

"Damn...I can already tell this kid likes to use annoying strategies..." Alex thought to himself. His opponent was a boy probably only around age ten or eleven. When he first saw his opponent send out Pelipper he thought it'd be an easy match with Minun, but Pelipper is quickly proving itself to be a nusiance.

"Now hit it with another Water Gun attack Pelipper!" Pelipper dropped its barrier and sprayed another stream of water at Minun.

"Minun! Use Encore now!" Minun stood its ground and took the attack, and at the same time started clapping its hands. Soon a round of applause erupted from out of nowhere and Pelipper, drawn in by the false applause, got ready with another Water Gun attack. Alex planned this, though, so it couldn't use Protect again.

"Now use Thunderbolt again!" Minun unleashed another Thunderbolt attack towards Pelipper, and the bolts of electricity collided with Pelipper's Water Gun attack and quickly travelled up to Pelipper, shocking it with a tremendous jolt of electricity. Pelipper fell onto the ground in a smoking heap, not moving at all. The trainer recalled his pokemon.

"Using Encore is so cheap, dude! Cool people don't use Encore!" The boy taunted.

_"Right...this is coming from a kid who's strategy revolves around hiding inside a bubble...I pity whoever he managed to beat in the first round..."_ Alex thought to himself as he waited for his opponent to call out his next pokemon.

"Nothing to say? JERK! Lets see how you deal with this one! Go, Masquerain!" The boy pitched the pokeball out onto the battlefield as if he were throwing a baseball. The pokeball bounced hard before popping open and releasing the boy's Masquerain, a bug pokemon with two sets of wings which seemed to form a scary looking face. Minun was startled when it saw the wings and backed off. A bell soon sounded for the next match to begin.

"Minun, attack with Spark!"

"Masquerain, use Double Team!" The image of Masquerain seemed to blur momentarily, and suddenly a circle of images of the pokemon formed around Minun. Minun kept on course, though, and charged directly at the Masquerain that was right in front of him, sparks flowing over his body. Minun jumped towards Masquerain...and flew through him, crashing into the ground. The image he flew through vanished.

"Why do I feel like I should have expected something like that?" Alex muttered. "Minun use Charge, and keep your guard up! That thing can attack from anywhere!"

Minun turned back towards the Masquerain images as it started gathering electiricity, and was prepared to move out of the way at a moment's notice if any of them tried to attack.

"Masquerain get ready with a Solar Beam attack!" The Masquerain images started to glow a bright white as they drew in light energy in preparation for a Solar Beam attack. Alex couldn't tell which one was going to fire the Solar Beam because each image was doing exactly the same thing.

"Minun keep charging and be ready with a Thunderbolt attack!" Minun continued storing electrical energy while Masquerain stored sunlight. The two pokemon continued charging their attacks, until finally one of the Masquerain's fired a white beam of energy towards Minun, releasing its Solar Beam attack as the rest of the images disappeared.

"Minun! Now!" Minun released all of its stored electricity in one powerful Thunderbolt attack, aiming his attack towards the incoming Solar Beam. The two attacks collided and exploded into a huge burst of energy. A glowing white ball of energy combined with electricity formed and soon engulfed the entire battlefield. When the energy finally disspitated, both pokemon were lying on the ground looking pretty badly injured.

_"Damn it! I should have known that would have happened! The hell was I thinking!"_ Alex thought, mentally slapping himself. Both pokemon seemed to be down for the count, but just as the trainers were about to recall them they started getting up. Minun slowly and weakly stood up on its tiny legs, while Masquerain seemed to be frantically trying to flap its wings to get back. Neither seemed to be in any condition to keep fighting, but they didn't get the chance anyway as the judges rang the bell signalling that time was up.

"We will now judge the pokemon based on how they fought!" One of the judges declared. Three judges were sitting on a table off to the side and started conversing with each other, trying to come to a conclusion as to who had won the match. Alex folded his arms and waited, while the other boy tapped his foot impatiently. Both pokemon sat down on the battlefield, trying to catch their breath. Alex wanted to recall Minun, but knew he couldn't until it was no longer able to fight at all. Minun had been through a lot lately, and Alex was wondering if it was such a good idea to use him in this battle tent.

Eventually one of the judges, whom Alex assumed to be the head judge, stood up.

"We have come to a conclusion. We have decided that Minun is the winner of this match. Dwaine, you may recall your Masquerain." The boy muttered something, but no one heard what it was, before recalling his Masquerain and reaching for his third and final pokeball.

"Your Minun may have won but now your toast pal! Go, Gardevoir!" The boy pressed the button to open his pokeball, releasing his final pokemon onto the battlefield, Gardevoir. Gardevoir was pokemon that somewhat resembled a lady wearing an elegant dress, and was the evolved form of Kirlia. Gardevoir were usually green and white with red eyes, but this one was blue and white with orange eyes.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Alex muttered. "This kid not only has a Gardevoir, but if I'm not mistaken that would be considered a 'shiny' Gardevoir...the heck are the chances, especially after seeing his other two pokemon, and Minun has to fight this thing..." Minun weakly stood on its feet as its next opponent appeared. It knew the rules for these battles and that it had no choice but to fight because recalling a pokemon was disallowed.

"I already know my Gardevoir has nothing to fear from your weakened Minun, so instead I'm going to let my Gardevoir power up a bit and defeat your Minun at the last second! By that time it'll be more than ready to take on whatever pokemon you might have left! This was my mom's Gardevoir and its not going to lose to a jerk like you! Lady Garde, use Calm Mind!" Gardevoir closed its eyes and focused its mind, increasing its mental abilities. Alex knew that by doing that it'd increase the power of any non-physical attacks it uses, as well as being able to take those attacks easier.

"Where does he get off calling me a jerk anyway with an attitude like that...well now I'm feeling spiteful." Alex said to himself. "Minun! Use Encore!" Minun started to weakly clap its hands together, but its weak clapping was soon followed by a burst of applause. Gardevoir, or Lady Garde, opened its eyes briefly before closing them and starting to concentrate again, continuing to use its Calm Mind attack.

"Well that was pretty stupid! Now my Gardevoir is just going to get stronger and stronger! Ha!"

"...Minun, use Thunder Wave!" Alex commanded, trying to ignore the kid's comments. Minun raised its hands and released several rings of weak electricity towards Gardevoir. The rings struck Gardevoir one by one, immediately paralyzing it and locking up its muscles. It didn't seem to take much notice, however, and simply kept its eyes close and kept concentrating on focusing its mind.

"Alright, your doing good so far Minun, now hit it with everything you've got! Thunderbolt!" Minun gathered electricity, taking a bit longer than usual, and fired several lightning bolts towards Gardevoir. Gardevoir was shocked severely as the lightning bolts struck it, but quickly recovered from it and seemed realtively fine courtesy of its mental strength.

_"Minun just has to keep that Gardevoir busy until time runs out..."_ Alex thought as Minun continued zapping Gardevoir with Thunderbolts.

_"Then it can take a rest, and Grovyle should be able to easily finish what Minun started. If not, Golem will definitely make short work of Gardevoir if it comes to that."_

After yet another blast of lightning from Minun, Gardevoir finally opened its eyes as the applause died down. Before the other trainer even got to issue a command, however, the bell rang signalling the end of the match. Alex folded his arms as he once again waited for the verdict, and the other trainer, Dwaine, started pacing back and forth impatiently. Minun lied back on the ground, trying to catch its breath. After several tense moments, the head judge stood up to make his announcement.

"After careful consideration, we have decided on the winner of this match. We declare Minun to be the winner!" Both Alex and the other trainer were in shock.

"What! Why would you choose that mouse over my Gardevoir!" The other trainer demanded.

"Minun and his trainer showed much more skill and courage than you and Gardevoir." The head judge stated calmly. "Minun fought hard and bravely, using what skills it had to keep your Gardevoir pinned down while you intended simply to take advantage of your opponent's weakness to gain power. Although it may have been a smart move, Minun still fought more skillfully, and taking advantage of an opponent's weakness like that is cowardly."

The other trainer grumbled and raised Gardevoir's pokeball.

"Come on, Lady Garde, we don't need to take this! We're going home!" The trainer recalled his Gardevoir and stormed out of the battle tent. Alex, meanwhile, ran out onto the battlefield to see if Minun was ok.

"Are you ok, Minun?" Alex asked it, picking the pokemon up in his arms. Minun gave a weak nod.

"I'm sorry I put you through that. I know its odd for me, but I just wasn't thinking...but I promise you, once this tornament is over you can take a long, well deserved rest." Minun smiled weakly, before falling asleep in Alex's arms. Alex returned it to its pokeball and left the battlefield, returning to the waiting room and placing Minun's pokeball in the restoration machine. Alex watched the pokeball disappear inside the machine as he sat down across from it.

"Hang in there, Minun. We only have one battle left to go..." Alex sighed. "I shouldn't have used him for my starting pokemon in this kind of tornament. I was asking way too much of him...Grovyle or Golem probably could have handled it better, but I guess I shouldn't push my pokemon so hard, even if there's a lot at stake if they're not ready..."

May walked quietly through the cave, trying not to make a sound just incase Team Magma happened to be nearby. She didn't have much to worry about, however, as someone would really have to be listening for her footsteps over the sound of the roaring waterfall. The Swablu flew silently behind her, a little nervous as well. It lived near Meteor Falls, but had never gone into the cave itself.

May came to a stop as she heard voices up ahead, and quickly hid behind a rock while Swablu landed on her head. Below them, May could see two men in Team Magma uniforms and another man in a white lab coat who seemed to be keeping his distance from the two Magmas. One of them, who happened to be wearing a gold 'M' on his uniform, was holding a silver colored rock in his hand.

"This meteorite is just the power source Maxie needed..." The man holding the rock said. May noticed that although this person looked like a guy to her, he sounded more like a woman, but didn't really make anything of it as she didn't think it was overly important.

"I don't get it...this rock is going to make Mount Chimney erupt...?" The other Magma asked in confusion.

"Yes. This meteorite contains energy from particles floating around in space, as well as gamma and ultra violet radiation. The composition of this meteorite is perfect for it to attract the various energy up there. The machine Maxie created will tap into this power source and use it to cause the volcano to erupt. When the lava from the volcano cools new land will be formed and Team Magma will be one step closer to fulfilling its dream..."

"Please! Don't take that meteorite! It could hold vital information about our universe!" The man in the labcoat cried.

"Ah put a sock in it..." The seemingly lower ranked Magma shot back. The man backed away from them and seemed to be cowering.

"So thats they're plan..." May whispered. "They're going to make Mount Chimney erupt...sheesh. Is it just me or does everyone in this reason seem a little nuts? I mean hello! Volcano! Stay away from the lava and ash spewing mountain! Well I'm not letting them leave here with that meteorite!" May looked around for a way down to where Team Magma was, and up ahead she could see a pathway leading down towards the open area where Team Magma and the other man, presumably Professor Cosmos, were.

May reached for one of her pokeballs and ran to the top of the sloped pathway. Swablu , startled by this sudden action, quickly hopped of May's head and started flying. Swablu quickly caught up with her and landed on the ground beside her.

"If you two think you're leaving this cave with that meteorite you've got another thought coming!" May declared, startling the two Team Magma members.

"What the! How'd you get past our guards outside!" The one wearing the gold badge demanded.

"Your guards? Oh...they fell asleep on the job..." May said with a slight giggle. "Now put that meteorite back right now!"

"Not a chance, kid!" The other Magma said. "We're taking this meteorite back to the boss!"

"Well you'll have to get past me first! Gulpin, GO!" May released her Gulpin from the pokeball she had previously removed from her belt. Gulpin appeared on the sloped path leading down to the open area where Team Magma was.

"Lets see you try to stop us! There's no way I'm being beaten by a brat twice! Go, Mightyena!" The higher ranking Team Magma member took one of his pokeballs from her belt and quickly pressed the button to release the pokemon within it, and a Mightyena appeared before her.

"I'll help too, Tabitha! Go, Numel!" The other Team Magma member released one of his pokemon as well, and the ground and fire type pokemon Numel appeared standing beside Mightyena.

"Hmph! You should have just put the meteorite back where you found it! Gulpin, use Poison Gas!" Gulpin opened its mouth wide and spewed a purple gas towards Team Magma's pokemon.

"Mightyena go through it and use Tackle on Gulpin!"

"Numel, use Ember!" Numel shot a small fireball from its mouth towards Gulpin, which passed through the gas and went straight into Gulpin's still open mouth. Gulpin immediately closed its mouth in surprise as it accidentally swallowed the Ember attack, but the fireball had no effect on Gulpin's tough stomach, which was pretty much all it was. A stomach with a mouth. Mightyena, meanwhile, charged through the cloud of poisonous gas and rammed Gulpin, sending it rolling up the path and almost hitting May.

The poisonous gas that Gulpin released from its mouth and started to spread thinly throughout the cave, and Mightyena and Numel started to succumb to the poison just before the cloud finally dissipitated. As the battle went on, however, no one seemed to notice Tabitha pull out a small, cylindrical object from his pocket. The Swablu that had followed May didn't take part in the battle, and instead just continued to watch.

"Gulpin use Sludge on that Mightyena!" Gulpin rolled forward so that it was rightside up again, spurting out a purple goo from pores on its body towards Mightyena. Mightyena noticed the attack too late, and was hit square on in the face by the Sludge attack. Mightyena growled and looked like it was ready to retalliate, when it was suddenly recalled. The other Magma was confused as well, but recalled his Numel too.

"I don't have time to play with little girls..." Tabitha said, pushing a button on whatever it was she took out of her pocket.

"And its about time we got going..."

"Hold it right there Team Magma!" Came a voice from deeper within the cave. Archie, the leader of Team Aqua who May met back in Slateport, emerged from the shadows with two other members of Team Aqua.

"Your not going anywhere with that meteorite! Team Magma will never succeed in its goal to expand the land!" Archie stated.

"So even Team Aqua joins us!" Tabitha said with a laugh.

"Well I'd love to stay and chat, Archie, but Maxie would hate for me to keep him waiting..." Tabitha threw the object she was holding down to the ground, which exploded in a thick blast of smoke and suddenly no one could even see two inches in front of them. Everyone started coughing, except Gulpin, as they breathed in the thick smoke. When the smoke cleared, Team Magma was gone, leaving behind a worried looking Professor Cosmos.

"Damn it! They've got!" Archie shouted in anger. He quickly calmed down though as he noticed May recalling her Gulpin.

"So your after Team Magma as well?" He asked her.

"Duh! They want to make Mount Chimney erupt!" May replied, folding her arms over her chest.

"Heh...figures...children are so narrow minded these days...they just can't see the bigger picture..." Archie said, chuckling to himself.

"Uh...sir...shouldn't we give chase to Team Magma?" One of the grunts said.

"Ah! Yes! Of course! Back to the helicopter!" Archie started to leave the came back the way he came, but turned to May one last time.

"You should keep an eye out for Team Magma as well!" The three of them left, and May looked at Swablu and shrugged.

"Something tells me Team Aqua and Team Magma don't exactly get along..." Swablu nodded in agreement.

"And Team Magma is gone to Mount Chimney in their helicopter probably...by the time me and Alex get there it'll probably be way too late...and I hardly believe they'll be able to make Mount Chimney erupt myself, so I doubt the police would buy it either. Even if they did I don't know if they'd make it in time...I guess all I can do is hope Team Aqua can stop them. I have my doubts though, even if its Team Aqua's water pokemon against Team Magma's fire pokemon. I wonder if Alex could come up with anything..."

May turned to exit the cave, but Swablu chriped at her to get her attention. May looked back and saw Swablu pointing towards something with its wing. She looked in the direction Swablu was pointing and saw Professor Cosmos, still cowering.

"Oh yeah...forgot about him...guess I should walk him back to Fallabar..." May said, giggling at the idea of her walking an older man home. The poor professor looked like Team Magma had scared him out of his wits. May lead him out of the cave and started on her way back to Fallabar with the Swablu still following along behind her.

"Oh great I'm battling YOU again!" Alex's opponent, Suzy, yelled across the battlefield. Alex had battled her previously in the Verdanturf Battle Tent and won with his Swellow finishing off her Milotic.

"Well this time I'm going to win! You just got lucky last time but this time no amount of luck is going to help you! My pokemon will stun you completely with their graceful techniques!"

"Right..." Alex unclipped Minun's pokeball from its belt and tossed it out onto the field. The pokeball split open and Minun appeared on the field, stretching and yawning. Although it seemed a bit tired, it was looking much better off than before.

"A Minun? Cute...but not nearly as cute as my electric pokemon! Pikachu, go!" Suzy pulled out a pokeball, a yellowish one that Alex didn't recognize, and released her Pikachu above the battle field. Pikachu did a somersault before landing on the field and raising its hand into the air. Almost immediately, the bell rang to start the first match.

"It takes more than cute looks to win a match...Minun, use Spark!" Minun started running towards Suzy's Pikachu, electricity crackling around its body as it did.

"Pikachu use Double Team!" Pikachu's body seemed to shimmer momentarily before splitting into several mirror images of itself. Minun kept charging forward in hopes of hitting the right one, but found itself charging straight through a fake.

"Now hit it with a Slam attack!" The images all started to run towards Minun until they had all combined back into one Pikachu. Pikachu quickly came to a stop, spinning around and bringing its tail around to hit Minun. Minun turned around in time to get hit by Pikachu's tail in the side of the face. Minun staggered as it was hit, trying to keep its balance and stay focused as the hit to the head seemed to knock a screw loose.

"Minun attack Pikachu with Quick Attack!" Minun quickly regained its composure as it heard Alex telling it to attack, who turned towards Pikachu and shot by it with a Quick Attack, striking it as it passed by and knocking Pikachu to the ground. Pikachu quickly hopped back to its feet and located Minun behind it.

"Pikachu, use your Quick Attack!"

"Keep attacking it Minun!" The two pokemon became white blurs as they shot towards each other, colliding at high speeds and bouncing back onto the ground. The two immediately got back to their feet and raced towards each other again.

"Pikachu go up!" Just before the two pokemon collided Pikachu altered its course, and instead of colliding with Minun it shot straight upward just before impact. Minun came skidding to a stop as it realized it had missed its target.

"Now come down on it with an Iron Tail attack!"

"Minun hit it with a Thunderbolt!" Pikachu did a flip in the air, its tail starting to glow and turn a silverish color as it did and came down towards Minun, preparing to hit it with its tail. Minun, meanwhile, quickly charged up electricity and fired a Thunderbolt attack towards Pikachu. Pikachu was helpless to do anything but take the hit in its brief state of free fall, and was knocked slightly off course in the process and landed beside Minun instead of hitting him from above. Pikachu didn't give up on the attack, however, as it placed its hand on the ground and spun around, striking Minun in the side with its Iron Tail attack, sending Minun sprawling onto its side. Alex was about to call another attack when the bell rang declaring the match to be out of time.

"We will now judge the pokemon to determine the winner." The head judge declared before sitting down to discuss it with the other two judges. It didn't seem to take them long to come to a decision, however. The head judge got up again to make his announcement.

"We have decided that Pikachu is the winner! Alex, recall your Minun and release your next pokemon." Alex recalled Minun, placing his pokeball back on his belt then grabbed Grovyle's.

"Grovyle! Your up next! Go!" The pokeball opened and a red beam fired out, forming into Grovyle who landed nimbly on the battlefield and stared down his opponent.

"A Grovyle huh? Not bad but my pokemon is still the better looking one!"

_"Geez...whats with her and looks..."_ Alex wondered before the bell rang, starting the second match up.

"Grovyle, start off with Leaf Blade!"

"Pikachu, dodge it with Quick Attack and use Thunderbolt!" A green blade formed on Grovyle's arm as it ran towards Suzy's Pikachu. Grovyle slashed down towards Pikachu, but Pikachu quickly got out of the way with Quick Attack and Grovyle's blade ended up imbedded in the floor instead. Suzy's Pikachu then gathered electricity, sparks emitting from its cheeks, and released a powerful Thunderbolt attack towards Grovyle.

Although Grovyle was hit full force by the attack, it wasn't hurt much by it due to a combination of its body being a poor conductor of electricity and much of the attack being grounded out by its blade. After the electricity stopped flowing through it, Grovyle withdrew its blade and spun around towards Pikachu and slashed it across the chest, the force of the attack sending it face down into the floor.

"Come on, Pikachu! Get up! Don't let that dumb lizard knock you around!" Alex and Grovyle both shot Suzy a look after her last comment, but Suzy just stuck her tongue out at the two of them while her Pikachu weakly climbed back onto its feet.

"Pikachu use Iron Tail attack!"

"Grovyle jump and use Pound!" Grovyle turned towards Pikachu, catching a glimpse of it running towards it, its tail having a silverish coloring to it. It quickly jumped straight up out of the way as Pikachu brought its tail around to strike Grovyle, missing it completely. Grovyle then came down on top of Pikachu, punching it hard in the head and using its fall to boost the strength of its attack. Pikachu was hammered hard into the ground, and didn't get back up. Suzy recalled her pokemon.

"Grr...your lizard better not have hurt my Pikachu or you'll both be sorry!" Suzy took out another pokeball from her pocket and pressed the button to release the pokemon contained inside.

"Phanphy, go! Lets teach these two a lesson!" A red beam shot from the pokeball, and a small blue elephant-like pokemon appeared on the battlefield. A bell rang to start the next match.

"Phanphy huh? Don't think I have much to worry about from that...Grovyle, use Leaf Blade!"

"Phanphy use Defense Curl!" Grovyle rushed towards Phanphy, the green blade on its arm appearing once again. Phanphy curled up into a ball to protect itself, and as Grovyle slashed it with its blade it was sent rolling instead of taking the full force of the attack.

"Now strike back with Rollout!" Phanphy started spinning rapidly on the spot and launched itself towards Grovyle, hitting it square on the chest and sending it sprawling to the floor. Grovyle quickly got back onto its feet as Phanphy started to come back around for another attack.

"Grovyle dodge it with Quick Attack then follow it from behind!" Grovyle quickly shot to the side with Quick Attack, getting out of the way of Phanphy's Rollout attack. It then started running behind Phanphy at top speeds to keep up with it. Alex knew that it would be hard for Phanphy to make any kind of turn, and Grovyle could easily outmanuever it anyway. And if it tried to jump and turn around directly towards Grovyle, it'd give Grovyle the perfect opportunity to strike it with a Leaf Blade attack.

"Phanphy! Reverse!" Phanphy came almost to a stop and hopped into the air, spinning around towards Grovyle, who was still running towards it.

"Grovyle! Now! Hit it with Leaf Blade!" Grovyle raised its arm and struck Phanphy with its blade before it landed. Phanphy was hit out of the field like a baseball, smashing into the wall behind Suzy. It got up slowly after landing on the floor, dazed from the impact.

"Oh no! Phanphy!" Suzy ran over to her pokemon to see if it was ok. The judge rang the bell to end the match and began contemplating the winner.

"You better not have hurt my Phanphy!" Suzy yelled at Alex, cradling the still dazed pokemon.

_"I'm starting to wonder if she's even cut out for battling..."_ Alex thought to himself as he and Grovyle awaited the judge's decision.

_"Then again, she doesn't seem half bad given how she acts...but I don't think she's an actual trainer...wonder if maybe she's a coordinator?" _

The judges seemed to take a bit longer to decide this match, but after a while the head judge finally stood up to make his announcement.

"We have come to a conclusion. We have decided that the match between Grovyle and Phanphy will be considered a draw, and both trainers are asked to recall their pokemon."

"A draw, huh? Well that makes things a bit more intense...that means we'll both be on our last pokemon...alright, Grovyle return!" Alex raised Grovyle's pokeball and a red beam shot out from it, striking Grovyle and returning it to his pokeball. Suzy did the same with Phapnhy, who she was still holding in her arms.

"Now your REALLY going to pay! Lets go, Vigoroth!" Suzy drew another pokeball from her pocket and opened it, releasing Suzy's fierce looking Vigoroth onto the battlefield. Alex placed Grovyle's pokeball on his belt then grabbed Golem's pokeball.

"Alright! Lets do this! Go, Golem!" Alex raised the pokeball and released his final pokemon, Golem, onto the battlefield. His Graveler had evolved into Golem after battling the Winstrate family, but was then quickly defeated by Vince's Heracross. Of course, almost all of Alex's pokemon were defeated by that same Heracross except Minun.

With both their final pokemon on the battlefield, the bell rang to start the final match of the third and final round.

"Vigoroth use Ice Beam!"

"Golem use Rock Throw to make a barrier then use Rollout!" Vigoroth fired a beam of ice towards Golem, but a shower of rocks landed in front of Golem and the Ice Beam attack struck the rocks from Golem's Rock Throw instead. Golem then retracted inside its body and rolled towards Vigoroth, knocking the ice covered rocks aside.

"Try another Ice Beam attack, Vigoroth!" Vigoroth shot another Ice Beam attack from its mouth, and this time Golem could do nothing but take the hit as it was rolling. Its body became encased in ice as the beam struck it, but instead of stopping it Golem became a rolling ball of ice, unable to stop even if it wanted to. It slammed into Vigoroth hard, sending it flying across the battlefield and the impact shattering the ice covering Golem, and Golem finally came to a stop.

"Nice shot, Golem! Now hit it with a Rock Throw attack!" Vigoroth quickly hopped back up onto its feet as it recovered from Golem's attack, but as it did it was hit by several small rocks. Vigoroth braced itself against the attack, trying to keep the rocks from hitting its face.

"Grr...Vigoroth use Fury Swipes!" Vigoroth ran towards Golem and started slashing at it furiously with its claws. The attack didn't really do much to Golem's hard rock body, but the constant assault wasn't letting Golem try to make a comeback.

"Golem, Defense Curl!" Golem retracted inside its rock shell to protect its softer arms, head, and legs from Vigoroth's assault. Vigoroth simply continued to claw at Golem's hard shell with its Fury Swipes attack.

"Alright! Back away from it and use Ice Beam, Vigoroth!" Vigoroth hopped back several feet and reared its head back as it prepared to fire an Ice Beam.

"Golem use Rollout and go to the side!" Golem rolled to the side as Vigoroth fired its Ice Beam attack, instantly covering the ground next to it in a coat of ice. Golem continued rolling, gaining speed as it did and turned towards Vigoroth. Vigoroth didn't have much time to react before it was hit again by Golem's Rollout attack. Vigoroth was tossed to the side as Golem plowed by it. It quickly got back to its feet as Golem started coming around for another attack.

"Vigoroth dodge to the side and use Ice Beam!" Vigoroth easily jumped to the side of Golem's attack and fired another Ice Beam towards it as it passed by. Golem once again kept going as it was covered in ice, and was unable to stop itself as it rolled out of the arena and crashed into a wall, leaving several large cracks and fissures in it and shattering the ice covering Golem. Alex was about to issue another command when the judge's rang the bell, signalling the end of the final match. Both trainers recalled their pokemon, since at this point neither would be battling anyway.

After several moments, the head judge once again stood up to announce the decision.

"We have decided that Alex and his Golem are the winners."

"What! No way!" Suzy yelled before turning to Alex, pointing a finger at him accusingly.

"You! You got lucky again this time! But next time we meet I'm going to win and I'll show you why beauty is more important then strength!" With that, Suzy stomped off out of the battle tent. One of the judges approached Alex.

"Congratulations, sir! Here is the Fallabar Battle Tent badge!" The judge handed him a circular, bronze colored badge with the shape of a diamond in the middle. Alex placed it in a case with the others.

"I see you have the other two badges as well. If you manage to collect all eight gym badges as well then Scott may consider letting you into the..." The judge was quickly silenced as the other two covered his mouth and dragged him away.

"Thats a secret!" The other judge scolded him. Alex scratched his head, but shrugged and started on his way out of the battle tent. He stopped just before the door, however, and turned back and looked around the battle tent.

"...Guys?" The three judges stopped arguing and looked up at Alex.

"For future battles...I suggest you switch to an outdoor arena." The judges each looked around the damage that had been done to the battle tent. There was a few cracks in the wall where Phanphy hit, and the wall Golem hit looked like it was ready to collapse. There was also a hole in the floor where Grovyle impaled it with his Leaf Blade, and another large hole in the floor from a Swampert's Hyper Beam attack. Alex left the battle tent, leaving the judges to consider this.

By the time Alex had left the battle tent, May had finally gotten back to Fallabar with Professor Cosmos. She had taken professor Cosmos back home and was pacing anxiously outside the battle tent. The Swablu was still with her and was perched on the sign outside, watching May curiously. It wasn't long before Alex finally emerged from the building however.

"Back from Meteor Falls already? And I bet you found nothing there, of course..." May stopped pacing and turned to Alex.

"Alex! Its about time you got out of there! Team Magma WAS at Meteor Falls and they're planning to use a meteorite to make Mount Chimney erupt!" Alex narrowed his eyes.

"A meteorite...?"

"Yeah, their leader Maxie made some device that can use the meteorite as a power source to make Mount Chimney erupt!" Alex thought about that for a moment.

"You know...in theory...that might actually wo..." Alex stopped mid sentence.

"...Damn. That might actually work...where'd they run off to!" Alex demanded.

"They took a helicopter to Mount Chimney, and Team Aqua went after them as well."

"Team Aqua? Right like they will be any help...and there's no way anyone else is getting to Mount Chimney in time unless they can fly..." Alex paused and thought for a moment, and that was when he noticed Swablu.

"Caught a Swablu?" May looked over at the Swablu perched on the sign.

"Oh! No, its been helping me out!" May smiled, taking the Swablu in her arms.

"Its such a cute and friendly little guy! And its been following me around so long I think it might want to come with me..." Swablu gave a nod and chirped happily.

"Alright then! Welcome to the team, Swablu!" May said to it, taking out a pokeball and pressing the button on the front of it. A red beam shot out from the pokeball, striking the Swablu and turning it into energy. Swablu was then pulled inside the pokeball and the pokeball quickly clicked shut, not getting any resistance. It then glowed white and vanished while still in May's hand.

"Alright! I caught a Swablu!" May shouted triumphantly.

"Congratulations...but we still have to find a way to get to Mount Chimney and fast..." Alex stated. May quickly calmed down.

"Yeah...but how? It'd take forever to climb even if we had the equipment, and it'd take us way, way too long to walk all the way there. It'd be great if we could fly up there like Team Aqua and Team Magma did..."

"...Yeah, and you know what? It just occurred to me that those repairmen we saw back at Mount Chimney are probably Team Magma members in disguise." Alex continued thinking, trying to come up with a plan while at the same time trying to figure out just how much time they had left. Suddenly an idea dawned on him, but he wasn't too sure about it...

"I...I think I might know a way up there...but its risky..." Alex said nervously.

"Great! How?" May asked.

"Skarmory..."


	21. Chapter 15: Battle for Mount Chimney

Its a bit earlier for either of them to have a Metagross or a Tyranitar . And I have a fair amount of future pokemon catches already planned out. Anyway thanks for the reviews and here's the next chapter!

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Fifteen:**

**Battle for Mount Chimney**

Alex looked over the pokeball in his hand. He was standing just outside Fallabar, and had left just incase went completely out of control. He had deposited his Swellow in the PC in exchange for Skarmory, and had also deposited Minun for Numel since he promised to let Minun rest for a while. May had also exchanged her Combusken and Kirlia for her two newest pokemon, Swablu and Slugma.

"Come on, Alex! Me and Slugma are right behind you!" May shouted.

"Behind me? Yes. Right behind me? I think not." Alex shouted back. May was standing a good 60 feet behind him, keeping her distance for when Alex released Skarmory. She wasn't expecting it to have gotten any friendlier in the past day. The only reason she was watching was to see if Alex could actually get Skarmory to listen to him, and if he could May figured she could take some notes and get her Electrike to listen to her as well.

May's Slugma was standing in front of her in a patch of grass. Or at least, there was a patch of grass there. It was mostly a pile of ash now as the heat from Slugma's body caused the nearby grass to burst into flames. She had her Slugma out to deal with Skarmory in case it got out of control. She would have felt better with Combusken with her but knew Slugma should be able to handle itself fine and could probably benefit from a bit of real battle experience, even if it had fought back at Mount Chimney. Plus, she didn't think two fire type pokemon were necessary and Combusken and Kirlia were the only pokemon that had never left her party yet.

"Well...here goes nothing..." Alex muttered, turning his attention back to the pokeball in his hand.

"Skarmory, come on out!" Alex made sure he released Skarmory a good distance away, making sure he had plenty of reaction time in case it attacked, and the red beam from the pokeball reached a good 30ft before Skarmory materialized before him. Skarmory stretched its wings and scanned its surroundings, eventually turning to face Alex and May and giving both of them a death glare.

"Look, Skarmory, we're not going to hurt you just as long as you..." Before Alex finished his sentence Skarmory was rushing towards him, beak lowered in an attempt to stab him. Alex quickly jumped out of the way to the side to dodge the attack, but Skarmory immediately came around and started trying to stab at Alex again with its Peck attack, and Alex was just barely avoiding each stab.

"Slugma use Ember!" May's Slugma shot a fireball from its mouth towards Skarmory, catching the steel bird completely by surprise as the intensely hot fireball struck it in the side. Skarmory quickly forgot about Alex and turned its attention to Slugma. Alex took this time to back away from Skarmory and reach for the pokeball containing his recently caught Numel, releasing it in front of him.

"Numel, Ember!" Skarmory was getting ready to release a Swift attack towards May's Slugma, when it was caught off guard by another Ember attack from Alex's Numel who he had just released. The fireball struck Skarmory from behind, leaving a red mark on its back where it had struck which quickly faded. Skarmory found itself standing between two fire pokemon, and it knew Alex still had the pokeball to recall it with, and decided to give up and turned back towards Alex.

"Now if you don't try anything else, Skarmory, we won't hurt you either. Got it?" Skarmory gave a slight nod, although its eyes still had a look of rage in them. Alex could tell it was much calmer today, though, as compared to yesterday.

"May and I really need to get to the top of Mount Chimney, and quickly too. Your the only one that can get us there in time. Will you help us?" Skarmory looked at Mount Chimney in the distance, then behind it at May. It cast another death glare towards May before turning back to Alex and shaking its head.

"If your still upset about yesterday, we were only trying to defend ourselves, and I'm sure May's sorry she disturbed your sleep. Right May?"

"VERY sorry!" May replied quickly. "It'll never happen again! I promise!" Skarmory shrugged, seeming to be unphased by May's apology. May clenched her fist and gritted her teeth, resisting the urge to have Slugma attack it again for refusing to accept her apology. Alex sighed. He knew this wouldn't be easy, and knew Skarmory would try to attack them too. He took some comfort, though, in knowing that Skarmory was at least listening to them at this point and acting a bit more rational.

"Look, if we don't get to the top of Mount Chimney quickly thousands of people and pokemon will die! Team Magma is trying to make the volcano erupt so they can create more land, but they don't seem to realize that the eruption will kill just about everything in the outlying area, including us! Do you know what will happen to you when your hit by liquid hot lava, Skarmory?"

Skarmory paused and thought about that for a moment, picturing what would happen. It imagined the lava hitting it, and the heat of the lava melting off its metal exterior and then, once its metal shell was gone its body would burst into flames. It knew how much it hurt to be hit by a fire type pokemon's attacks, but few, if any, could ever come close to inflicting the kind of damage to it that lava could. Skarmory seemed a bit more nervous now.

"May and I need to get up to the top of Mount Chimney so we can fight Team Magma and stop them before they can make the volcano erupt. Now...will you help us?" Skarmory still seemed a bit reluctant to help them, but it gave in and nodded in agreement.

"Thanks Skarmory, I knew I could count on you." Alex said, recalling his Numel and approaching it. May recalled her Slugma, but was a bit more reluctant to go near Skarmory.

"Now here's the plan. I know it'd be hard for you to reach the top of Mount Chimney while carrying two people, and even if we did manage to make it that high we'd be helpless as Team Magma would get to make their attack. So instead, we're going to fly as low as we can and go around to the other side of Mount Chimney. From there, we can take a lift to the top of Mount Chimney and possibly catch Team Magma off guard. Think you could handle that?"

Skarmory gave a nod and lowered its body closer to the ground so that Alex and May could get on. Alex climbed on first, and then May reluctantly got on behind him. The two of them held on tightly as Skarmory gave a shriek and took off into the air, flying towards Mount Chimney. Soon they were skimming the treetops of a nearby forest as Skarmory aimed to fly beside the volcano. Alex watched in amusement as the ground passed by below them, but May wasn't overly impressed, as she would much rather be on flat, safe ground.

"At this rate it should only take us a few minutes..." Alex said to May as the treetops zoomed by below them.

"Alright..." May replied, trying not to look at the ground below her.

_"I wonder if Maxie will be there..."_ Alex wondered. _"Its been about two years since I last saw him...but then again, I don't think anyone's really seen him around."_

It wasn't long before Skarmory came in for a landing, landing on the small plateau where Alex and May had met with the repairmen two days before. Sure enough, the repairmen weren't there now and Alex and May could go into the building that usually housed the cable car.

"Thanks for the help, Skarmory, but Team Magma tends to use fire pokemon a lot so you might want to sit this one out." Skarmory was a caught a bit off guard by Alex's words, as it wasn't expecting Alex to be willing to use it in battle at all. It made no attempt to resist as Alex returned it to its pokeball, placing it on his belt. May had gone off ahead to see if the cable car was actually in the station. Sure enough, it was still there, and it didn't look like anyone had touched it either.

May was looking over the control console as Alex entered the building, which was actually in the building itself instead of in the cable car. The car was usually run by someone operating the console while the passengers would just sit in the car. There was no one to operate the cable car today, however.

"How are we supposed to use this?" May asked.

"It looks like we'd need someone else to operate the cable car..." Alex replied. "Either that or one of us will have to stay behind, but we should both get up there if we can."

"Hey! What if we get a pokemon to operate it? Then once the cable car starts up we can recall it!"

"That might actually work..." Alex said. "But which pokemon could we get to operate it?"

"Oh come on, Alex! You're supposed to be Mr. Know-It-All yet I'm doing all the thinking here! Your Alakazam is the smartest pokemon we have!" Alex slapped his palm against his forehead.

"Why didn't I think of that? Alakazam would not only be able to operate it but to make things easier he could do it from the cable car." Alex quickly looked over the control console to figure out how it worked. He and May then climbed into it, and Alex released his Alakazam into the cable car with them.

"Alright, Alakzam, I need you to use your psychic powers to press the green button on that control panel, then flip the middle switch." Alex instructed it. Alakazam gave a nod and concentrated, a blue aura surrounding it as it focused its psychic abilities. A click could be heard as the button was pressed, and the cable car rocked slightly and the sound of a motor starting up could be heard. There was another click as Alakazam flipped the switch up, and the cable car started to move, and soon exited the building and started on its way up the volcano.

"Good work, Alakazam! Thanks!" Alakazam gave a slight nod, then Alex returned it to his pokeball.

"Now once we get to the top we make straight for whatever machine they're using to make this volcano erupt..." Alex said as the cable car slowly moved up towards the top of the volcano.

"If Team Aqua is managing to keep them busy we shouldn't have any trouble getting by them..." May stated.

"I just hope we won't be too late...although one has to wonder...did Team Magma even have a plan for their own escape? I mean...Maxie isn't the kind of guy to make that kind of error...he's definitely the smarter of the two criminal leaders..." Alex said, folding his arms and staring at the floor of the cable car.

"Do you know him, Alex?" Alex's head quickly shot up as he realized what he said.

"Yes. I mean no! I mean...just what I heard on the news...heh heh..." May didn't seem to be entirely convinced by his answer, but really didn't know what Alex would have to hide anyway so she decided not to pry. She was curious, though, as to how Alex might have met the two criminal leaders.

_"I really have to stop thinking out loud..."_ Alex thought.

After several minutes the cable car had finally reached the top of mount chimney and docked inside a building similar to the one they had taken off from. In the distance, they could hear the sounds of a battle raging on, probably between Team Aqua and Team Magma. Mostly what they could hear consisted of barks and growls.

The two of them grabbed a pokeball from their belt and ran out of the small structure. When they got outside they could see Team Aqua and Team Magma battling it out around the crater of the volcano to the north of them, and further north they could see a red haired man in a red jacket placing the meteorite into the machine. It looked like the meteor had just been delivered and now Maxie was placing it in his machine.

"Looks like we're just in time! He's just activating the machine now!" May said.

"Yeah...but now how long do we have until this thing blows? We have to get moving!" May nodded in agreement and the two of them quickly scanned the battlefield. It seemed like every other member of Team Magma was preoccupied with Team Aqua, giving them a clear path to Maxie. Archie himself had his Mightyena taking on three Poochyena's.

Alex and May took off running towards the crater, heading west around the crater towards Maxie. Archie noticed the two of them and a small smile crossed his face. He wasn't expecting anyone to show up to stop Team Magma, and he had no idea how May even managed to get there so quickly, but he was more than thankful for the help.

Alex and May continued running towards the eastern edge of the crater, where there was a large rock blocking their way. The two of them ran around the rock, but crashed right into the only two members of Team Magma that weren't fighting Team Aqua and all four of them crashed to the ground.

"Why don't you watch where the hell you're going?" One of them, Tabitha, said before getting up and looking at who had crashed into her.

"YOU!" Tabitha and the other Magma yelled in surprise upon seeing Alex and May.

"How the hell did you two get here!" She demanded as the four of them quickly jumped to their feet and stared each other down.

"That doesn't really matter..." Alex replied. "Now step aside!"

"Heh, and let you brats try to stop Maxie? Not a chance..." The other Magma said.

"You're going to have to get past us first! Go, Numel!"

"Mightyena! Go!" The two Magmas quickly grabbed the pokeballs containing the same two pokemon they had used against May back at Meteor Falls. The two pokemon appeared, looking determined although at the same time they still seemed to be suffering from the effects of Gulpin's Poison Gas attack.

"Looks like we're doing this the hard way..." May said. "Go, Corphish!

"We'll just have to make it quick...Go Azumarill!" Alex and May had their two water pokemon on hand, since they knew they might be facing a lot of fire pokemon. Alex's Azumarill and May's Corphish both appeared at the ready, and Alex was already formulating a plan in his mind.

"Azumarill! Use Bubblebeam on Numel!"

"Mightyena, block it!" Azumarill released a stream of bubbles from its mouth towards the Magma's Numel, but Tabitha's Mightyena quickly jumped in the way of the attack and the bubbles hit Mightyena instead of Numel. Alex had intended to quickly finish off the other Magma's Numel so he and May could concentrate on Tabitha's much stronger pokemon, but it seemed like that wasn't going to be the case.

"Now fight back with Bite, Mightyena!" Mightyena turned towards Azumarill and started charging toward it,running through the bubbles with its mouth open as it prepared to bite Alex's Azumarill.

"Corphish use Vice Grip and grab that Mightyena!" Corphish slowly moved into the path of the oncoming Mightyena and managed to clamp down on one of the pokemon's hind legs as it lunged towards Azumarill. It stopped just inches away from Azumarill's face and slammed hard onto the ground. Azumarill jumped back in shock as Mightyena's powerful jaws clamped shut right in front of it.

"Now hit Numel with Bubblebeam!" May's Corphish raised its other claw towards Numel and opened it, releasing its own stream of bubbles towards the fire and ground type pokemon, and Numel winced in pain as each bubble struck it.

"Numel fight back with Ember!" Numel weakly raised its head and spat a fireball towards Corphish. The Ember attack flew through the bubbles, causing many of them to pop along the way but at the same time reducing the fireball's size until only a small spark struck Corphish, which it hardly even noticed. Alex smirked as he realized Tabitha's Mightyena was wide open for an attack now.

"Azumarill jump on Mightyena's back and use Rollout!" Azumarill hopped onto Mightyena's back as it tried to get up, causing it to yelp in pain. Azumarill then quickly curled up and started to spin rapidly while still on Mightyena's back. Fur started flying from the spot Azumarill was spinning on and Mightyena howled in pain as it felt like its back was being burnt by sandpaper.

"Grr...Mightyena try to get up!" Mightyena made a quick attempt to get up, but just couldn't muster the strength with the combination of Azumarill's weight, the pain from the Rollout attack, and the poison from earlier. It soon went unconcious from the sheer amount of pain it was feeling, and Azumarill fell to the ground as Mightyena turned to energy and was recalled to its pokeball.

Its other claw now free, Corphish brought it around towards Numel and released a second stream of bubbles, and Numel quickly fell as well, unable to endure the continuous pounding from Corphish's attack. The Team Magma member recalled his pokemon and both Magmas reached for another pokeball.

"This isn't over yet...Go, Camerupt!"

"What she said! Zubat, go!" The two members of Team Magma each released their second pokemon. The grunt released a small, eyeless bat pokemon known as Zubat while Tabitha released a Camerupt. Camerupt was the evolved form of Numel, and resembled a camel with two humps on its back. Only Camerupt's humps looked more like miniature volcanos. Its body was covered in a fine, orange fur with a blue circle on each side of it.

"Camerupt! Use Flamethrower on Corphish!"

"Corphish use Protect!" Camerupt released a blast of intensely hot flames from its mouth, and a bit of smoke could be seen rising from the humps on its back. The flames shot out in a line towards Corphish, but they were met by a barrier as Corphish used Protect, setting up a blue, impenetrable shell around it.

"Azumarill, use Ice Beam on Zubat!"

"Zubat, dodge it!" Azumarill fired a beam of ice towards Zubat. The small bat tried to avoid it, but Azumarill simply followed it with its attack. The beam eventually struck Zubat, encasing it in a block of ice which shattered when Zubat hit the ground. Zubat weakly tried to get back into the air once it was free of the ice, but could no longer muster the strength to fly. The Magma grunt recalled his pokemon.

"Already! No way!" The grunt said through clenched teeth.

"Well thats what you get for having wimpy pokemon!" Tabitha shot back. Her Camerupt was now on its own against Alex's Azumarill and May's Corphish. It was a fire and ground type pokemon against two water types. Alex and May looked at each other and nodded, as if they each knew what the other was thinking.

"Corphish, use Bubblebeam on Camerupt!"

"Azumarill, get behind Corphish and use Bubblebeam too!" Corphish brought both its claws forward and opened them, releasing a stream of bubbles from each of them. Azumarill quickly got behind it and did the same, releasing a stream of bubbles from its mouth.

"Camerupt use Flamethrower!" Smoke rose from the humps on Camerupt's back as it prepared to use another Flamethrower attack, but didn't get the chance to follow through with it as it was struck by a barrage of bubbles from Corphish and Azumarill's combined attack. Each bubble was inflicting a fair bit of pain to Camerupt, and they just kept coming at it nonstop without giving Camerupt any chance to retalliate.

Tabitha gritted her teeth as she could do nothing but watch helplessly, and it wasn't long before the combined power of Corphish and Azumarill managed to bring it down. Camerupt collapsed onto the ground with a thud, no longer able to endure the attack. It soon disappeared into its pokeball as Tabitha recalled it.

"Damn it..." Tabitha muttered. She only had the two pokemon with her, and now both were defeated. She had nothing to fight Alex and May's pokemon with now, and neither did the grunt.

"May, keep an eye on these two. I'm going after Maxie..." Alex said as he recalled Azumarill. He then ran off past the Team Magma members before May had a chance to respond.

"Alex! ...Ugh. Men! Always have to act the hero!" She turned her attention back to the two Magmas.

"Either of you move and Corphish here is giving you a Bubblebeam..." Corphish clicked its claws together, keeping one pointed towards each Magma and trying to look menacing.

"Heh...doesn't matter..." Tabitha stated calmly.

"That kid will never beat Maxie..."

Alex quickly rounded the bend in the path and finally emerged from the behind the rock and kept going until finally coming to a stop right behind Maxie. Maxie, hearing footsteps behind him, turned around and was surprised to see Alex standing there.

"You...who are you? You seem familiar...and yet I don't believe I have ever met you."

"Name's Alex..." Alex stated coldly. "You might have heard of me from Tabitha...I foiled her plans on the Dewford ferry."

"So that was you then?" Maxie stated, arms folded behind his back.

"I admit you must be quite skilled to have defeated Tabitha...but if you have come here to try to stop me then you will surely fail. I must ask you, though...why do you stand in our way? Do you not realize the beauty of our goals...? If we succeed in expanding the land mass, there will be more space for people and pokemon to live. A child like you could never understand what I hope to achieve..."

"I understand the trouble it'll cause...and thats why I'm going to stop you." Alex replied.

"So be it..." Maxie pulled out a pokeball from behind his back, releasing a pokemon into the air.

"Go! Crobat!"

"Figured it'd come to this..." Alex said, reaching for Azumarill's pokeball.

"Go, Azumarill!" Alex held up Azumarill's pokeball and opened it, releasing the blue rabbit-like pokemon for another fight.

"I suppose this is the same Azumarill that beat Tabitha...well I shall not fall so easily. Crobat, use Wing Attack!" Crobat, a large purple bat-like pokemon with four wings, flew towards Azumarill at amazing speeds and struck at it with its wings. Both Alex and Azumarill were surprised by how quickly Crobat moved. Azumarill staggered backwards as it was struck by the attack.

"Azumarill use Ice Beam!" Azumarill quickly regained its balance and a blue orb of energy formed in its mouth.

"Crobat, dodge it." Azumarill fired a beam of ice from its mouth, but Crobat was able to easily dodge the attack.

"Now strike back with Air Cutter." Crobat brought its wings together, firing a yellow v-shaped blade from them towards Azumarill. The blade struke Azumarill hard in the chest, sending it flying backwards and landing at Alex's feet.

"Azumarill get up and try Ice Beam again!" Azumarill hopped back to its feet and once again prepared to fire an Ice Beam attack.

"This again, boy? Dodge it Crobat." Azumarill fired another Ice Beam attack towards Crobat, but Crobat was able to swiftly dodge to the side of the attack.

"Give it up already...my pokemon are far superior to yours. You have yet to even land a hit." Maxie sneered. "Your almost out of time anyway...only another 30 seconds until the machine has completed its job...even if you managed to beat me, you wouldn't be able to pull it off in 30 seconds."

"Damn it!" Alex cried.

_"Think Alex, think! I don't even think I could get past his Crobat in 30 seconds...and at this rate his Crobat is more likely to finish me off. ...Wait! I don't have to get past Crobat! I just need to destroy that machine!"_

"Azumarill! Jump!" Azumarill crouched down, then sprung up straight into the air, using its powerful legs and feet to propel itself several feet off the ground.

"What did that accomplish?" Maxie asked with a laugh.

"This..." Alex replied with a smirk. "Azumarill! Ice Beam!"

"Haven't we been through this? Crobat...do..."

"Aim for the machine!" Azumarill fired another Ice Beam attack, this time nowhere near Crobat. The beam flew over Maxie's head, striking the machine near the edge of the crater behind him and quickly encased it in ice."

"What! No!" Maxie cried in rage. His machine was starting to crack and break under the weight of the ice, and was no longer able to function due to the change in temperature. His plan had been foiled. Azumarill, meanwhile, landed safely in front of Alex.

"Blast it all! You ruined everything!" Maxie recalled his Crobat, as there was no point in him fighting Alex now, since the machine had been destroyed. Maxie quickly regained his composure, however.

"No matter...this was just an experiment anyway. Soon you will see Team Magma's true plan set into action...until then, farewell." Maxie dropped a small cylindrical object onto the ground, and soon the entire crater was engulfed in thick black smoke as the rest of Team Magma did the same. When the smoke cleared, Team Magma was gone, leaving only Alex, May, and Team Aqua.

"Damn it...he got away..." Alex muttered.

"Looks like we're not quite on the same level as Maxie is either...guess I shouldn't have underestimated him. Well regardless, you did well Azumarill. Return." A red beam shot out from the pokeball Alex was holding, striking Azumarill and returning it to the pokeball. He then turned around and saw May approaching him, and she didn't look too happy either.

"Alex what is the big idea leaving me behind like that!" May angrily demanded.

"Uh...heh...sorry May...I got a bit carried away..." Alex replied sheepishly. May turned her back to him with a 'Hmph!'.

"Typical men...always have to be the hero and show off in front of a pretty girl..."

"If you mean Tabitha, she's not my type..." Alex said as he walked past her.

"Hey! Whats that supposed to mean!" May yelled after him. The two of them started walking away from the volcano, continuing to argue and not giving much thought to the events that had just happened there. By this time, Team Aqua had left in their helicopter which was landed near the cable car shed. Alex and May were now alone on the volcano, or so they thought.

They had finally stopped arguing by the time they had reached the top of a sloping path down the volcano, as Alex had promised to buy May an ice cream when they reached Lavaridge to make up for leaving her behind with the two Magmas and running off to face Maxie alone.

"Maxie seems to have some fairly strong pokemon..." Alex commented as they started on their way down the volcano.

"Azumarill just couldn't land a hit on his Crobat...it was just too fast. Maxie gave up when I destroyed the machine though."

"I hope thats the last we've seen of Team Magma, then. Next time we might not be so lucky..." May replied.

"Hopefully next time they try something we'll be able to get the police involved..." May nodded in agreement, and the two of them continued walking in silence until Alex asked May which uniform she preferred between Team Aqua's uniform and Team Magma's, and the two talked about that as they walked down the volcano. Nearby in some ash covered bushes, however...

"So, it seems those two have some sort of connection to Team Aqua and Team Magma..." A man in a black overcoat holding a pair of binoculars said to himself.

"I come here looking for Team Magma and Team Aqua...and instead I find those two...yes...everything makes sense now!" The man, none other than Detective Dirk, laughed to himself as he lowered his binoculars.

"They must be Team Magma and Team Aqua agents! Why else would they be up here after those helicopters flew by? They must have been dropped off here so they can go to Lavaridge, and try to pass themselves off as regular trainers by collecting badges...and if May, daughter of Norman, is with them then perhaps the rest of her family is as well...and perhaps the rest of the Hoenn League! Yes, Team Aqua and Team Magma aren't just small nature groups but both are part of a larger criminal organization controlling Hoenn! And I bet thats why I was fired from the force...they were afraid that, with my skills, I would catch on to them! Well I've figured it all out now!" Dirk continued laughing to himself, until a thought struck him and shattered his idea.

"Wait...if Team Aqua and Team Magma control all of Hoenn...then who the hell do I report all this to! Damn it all! Looks like its just me against the entire region..."


	22. Chapter 16: Family of Fire

Really sorry about the delay, folks. Been having a few problems recently. Anyway the next chapter should be up much sooner since I decided to start working on them offline. Oh and next chapter is another history chapter too. Anyway hope this was worth the wait...

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Sixteen:**

**Family of Fire**

****'TA and TM Helicopters spotted flying over Mount Chimney!' the paper in Alex's hand read. He and May had made it down Jagged Path, the name given to the trail going down the side of Mount Chimney to Lavaridge, and had spent the night at a hotel in Lavaridge.

"Police are investigating a strange, broken machine found at Mount Chimney after the sighting. Police say it appears there may have been some sort of fight between the two organizations, but other than that have no clues as to what happened there..." Alex read to himself out loud.

"Gee wonder if this means the police are going to get involved..." Alex muttered, before flipping to the horoscopes.

"I hope so...the crater of a volcano is one place I never want to go again...I was so caught up in the moment I didn't even realize where we were!" May exclaimed, taking another bite out of her second bagel.

"Mmm! The food here is great! I think I'll get another bagel!"

"Sheesh...save some for the rest of the customers." May stuck her tongue out at him, but Alex didn't notice from behind the newspaper.

"Ever notice that horoscopes are almost always about luck or love?" Alex said, putting the paper down, which was quickly snatched by May.

"Well what else are they going to put in them?" May asked. Alex shrugged.

"So which one of us battles first?" Alex asked May, who was seeing if her horoscope said anything interesting today.

"Huh? ...Oh! You can. I want to relax in the hot springs first." May replied. "Where are the hot springs anyway?"

"Behind the pokecenter. They have change rooms there too." Alex replied, staring at his empty cup of tea. He almost always started his day with a cup of tea when he was home, but he also tended to go overboard with the sugar. In fact, he actually tasted the sugar more than the tea.

"I'm going to head to the springs then. See you later!" May took her empty tray and placed it into a rack where it would be picked up later, then left the cafe heading for the pokecenter.

"Guess I should get going too..." Alex said to himself, picking up the tray and cup, placing them both on separate racks near the cashier. He left a tip near the cash register before leaving the cafe as well and heading for the gym.

"This is great..." May said with a sigh, lying back in the hot spring. She had changed into a pink bikini in the pokecenter's change room and now fully intended to relax in the springs for a while. There was a wooden wall all around the springs except for the wooden steps leading out, which gave the occupants some privacy.

"Yeah, I'm glad I took the day off for this...its been wayyyy too long since I had a chance to relax!" The only other occupant, a girl looking to be in her mid-to-late teens said. She had long pink hair that was usually tied in the back, matching pink eyes, and an athletic looking build. She was wearing a pink bikini that looked almost the same as May's, other than the pattern of flames around the edges, and was lying back with her eyes closed.

"Hey, aren't you May Maple?" The girl said, finally opening her eyes and looking at May.

"Thats me." May replied with a smile.

"I saw you on the news the other day! Is it true your the daughter of Norman? The Petalburg gymleader?" The other girl asked excitedly.

"Yep! I think your the first that ever mentioned it though..."

"I don't think many people watch that segment of the news...I just happened to catch it while flipping through the channels one day and when I heard the name Norman I decided to check it out."

"So then...you're interested in my dad...?" May asked curiously.

"Huh? Oh! No! I just happen to know him as a fellow gymleader." The girl replied, giggling.

"Gymleader? Wait! Are you Flannery, the gymleader of Lavaridge?" May asked.

"Thats me! I just took over the gym recently and let me tell you its exhausting! Waiting around to battle people from 9 to 5 every day, even on weekends. I like battling every now and then but I just can't take this!" Flannery yelled in frustration.

"Wow, you sound like my dad did when he first started..." May said. "I was still young when he first got his gym leader's license and moved here to Hoenn. He never had time to come home and was almost always too tired to call. He's used to it now, though, and we've moved to Hoenn. I'm not sure if he goes home everyday though since I kinda left on my pokemon journey shortly after arriving in Littleroot."

"Wow...sounds like you don't get to see your dad much."

"I don't...but I'm used to it now. Besides, I'll have plenty of chances to see him once my quest is over!" May said excitedly.

"By the way...how did you manage to take a day off from running your gym anyway, Flannery?"

"Well, I'm not the only one licensed to run the Lavaridge Gym even though I'm the official gymleader. My brother is too, and since he happened to be in town I 'convinced' him to run it for the day!" Flannery said with a wink.

"Oh! So who's your brother?" May asked.

"Dante."

"Well, here we are..." Alex said, standing outside the Lavaridge gym. He opened the door and stepped inside, but there were no lights on and Alex couldn't really see a thing either.

"This is odd...wonder if its closed...maybe I'll try again later..." Alex turned to leave, but as he did the door slammed shut in front of him.

"What the!" Alex was startled by the door suddenly shutting and stumbled backwards, falling onto his butt on the floor.

"Welcome, challenger..." A familiar voice called out from the darkness. Alex could tell it definitely wasn't the gym leader's voice, but he recognized it from somewhere. Suddenly flames three pillars of flames shot up on each side of the gym, giving the room an eerie feeling. Alex got up and turned around, and could make out a red haired boy on the other side of the gym.

"I am the gym leader for today...you may call me Dante..." Dante was crouched on a platform at the back of the gym and wasn't actually looking at Alex.

"...Dante?" Alex asked. Dante was a boy he had battled back at the Verdanturf battle tent, and this was probably the last place he would have expected to see him.

"You!" Dante exclaimed, finally looking up at Alex.

"How dare you show your face here after insulting my fire pokemon in Verdanturf!"

"Its a free gym..." Alex replied, folding his arms over his chest.

"One I wasn't expecting to see you at...last I checked Flannery ran this gym. So what the heck are you doing here?"

"Flannery took the day off...so now you have to deal with ME instead! And I will get my revenge for the humiliation in Verdanturf!" Dante stood up, grabbing a pokeball from his belt.

"My fiery pokemon will incinerate all challengers!" Dante declared, as if he had been rehearsing those lines all night.

"Right...I still don't get why I'm fighting you...but as long as I'm getting a badge out of this then fine." Alex said, reaching for the pokeball containing his Numel.

"We will battle under the gym rules, using only four pokemon each! You won't be getting a badge, however...as I don't intend to lose!" Dante clicked the button on the pokeball he was holding and threw it out onto the gym's battlefield, which was basically a sand floor.

"Lets go! Fire Fox!" The ball rolled to a stop on the sandy floor and split open, releasing the nine tailed fire kitsune aptly named Ninetales.

"We'll see! Numel, Go!" Alex released his own leading pokemon onto the battlefield, the fire and ground type pokemon known as Numel. Numel lazily scanned the battlefield and set its sights on Dante's Fire Fox.

"Fire Fox, lets start off with Confuse Ray!" The Ninetales's eyes started glowing red as it activated its attack. Numel didn't seem to understand what the kitsune pokemon was doing, but then suddenly it didn't seem to understand anything at all as it succumbed to the effects of the Confuse Ray attack. Numel didn't show any outward signs of confusion, however, as it was still mostly just standing there.

"Numel use Magnitude!" Numel raised its front legs into the air and struck the ground hard, but nothing seemed to happen. Numel seemed unfazed by its apparent failure, however, and plopped down onto the ground and rolled over onto its side.

"Hahahaha! Your Numel doesn't have a clue as to what its even doing anymore!" Dante taunted.

"Now use Flamethrower, Fire Fox!" Dante's Fire Fox breathed out intensely hot flames from its mouth towards Numel. Numel quickly vanished from sight as the flames surrounded it.

"Numel! Get out of there!" Alex couldn't tell if Numel heard him over the roar of the flames or not, or even understood him given the circumstances, and Fire Fox just kept up the attack, sitting on its side of the battlefield until suddenly Numel emerged from the flames in front of it and rammed it with a Tackle attack, then started hopping in circles around it.

"Grr...Fire Fox stop that hoppy little thing! Use Flamethrower again!" The Ninetales released another stream of flames from its mouth and started going around in circles trying to hit the Numel, but always seemed to be just one step behind it. When it finally connected with Numel, the confused pokemon ran towards Ninetales and hit it with another Tackle attack, knocking it onto its side. Numel shook its head as it stood back from the Ninetales, finally shaking off its confusion.

"Looks like Numel's been cured of his confusion...alright Numel use Magnitude!" Numel slammed its feet into the sandy floor again, causing the ground to start shaking slightly, but it obviously wasn't a very high Magnitude attack. The sand shook and the two pokemon sank into it slightly, but not much else seemed to happen. The two pokemon quickly pulled themselves out of the ground.

"Heh, you call that an attack? Fire Fox use Double Edge!" Ninetales ran towards Numel, seeming to radiate energy as it hit Numel with a full body tackle, sending it sailing backwards and landing on its back. Numel rolled over onto its side and weakly struggled to get back onto its feet. Ninetales also seemed to be weakening a bit as it started panting in exhaustion, but it didn't appear to be nearly as weakened as Numel.

"Numel, Tackle attack!"

"Fire Fox use Quick Attack!" Numel slowly charged towards the Ninetales, while Ninetales moved towards Numel in a blur of motion. The two pokemon collided and were knocked back, landing on their sides. Numel struggled to get back to its feet, but just didn't have the strength to get up. Ninetales, meanwhile, was able to slowly and weakly get back up on four legs although it didn't seem to be in much shape to continue fighting either.

"You did great, Numel! Return!" Alex pointed the pokeball towards Numel and it opened up, firing a red beam towards it and returning it to its pokeball.

"Hahaha! Seems your off to a rough start, Alex! My fire pokemon aren't to be taken lightly! Your Numel only lasted as long as it did because it got lucky!" Dante taunted.

"I'm just getting started..." Alex said, clipping Numel's pokeball to his belt and reaching for another one.

"Your Ninetales may have powerful mental abilities for a fire pokemon...but lets see how it stands up against this! Go, Alakazam!" Alex pressed the button on the pokeball he was holding, releasing the psychic type pokemon Alakazam onto the battlefield.

"I think Alex mentioned battling Dante before..." May said as she tied her green bandana around her head. She and Flannery had spent the past while getting to know each other in the hot springs and the two of them had decided to get out and go shopping together.

"Dante doesn't tell me about his battles very often. Not that I want to hear about them anyway, and I'm the better trainer anyway. Thats why my grandfather gave me the gym and not him." Flannery said as she strapped a belt around her waist containing four pokeballs. She now had on a black t-shirt with a flame on the front of it and a pair of blue jeans.

"So why did your brother take the gymleader test if your grandfather wanted to give you the gym?" May asked, picking up her fanny pack and strapping it around her waist.

"My grandfather kinda 'convinced' him to..." Flannery replied, smiling sweetly.

"Oh...guess you have a very uh...convincing family! So anyway know any good stores around here?" May asked.

"Well duh! What girl DOESN'T know the best stores in her home town, not to mention all the sales!"

"Well lets get going then!" May cried excitedly. The two of them left the pokecenter and Flannery took May to a nearby clothing store that was currently having a sale. The two of them spent quite a while looking over the selection, talking about what they liked and what they didn't. In the end May didn't buy anything, mainly because she couldn't really afford to buy anything. She still needed to have money for any supplies she might need and any nights spent at a hotel.

Normally May would have her mother e-mail her some money, but since she knew her father would be the next gym leader after Flannery she decided she was going to stop by home for a bit anyway on her way through Oldale Town. She didn't mind staying in hotels much, and could tolerate sleeping on the ground, but she really wanted to spend a night in her own bed for a change.

Flannery, on the other hand, bought quite a few things and May ended up helping Flannery carry a few bags out of the store.

"So I guess once Alex is done I'll be battling your brother as well...who do you think would win anyway?" May asked Flannery as they walked along towards the gym.

"Actually...I'd like to battle you myself if you don't mind, and if he's beat him before then I'd be more than willing to place my money on him over my brother any day..."

"You want to battle me? Isn't it supposed to be your day off though?" May asked.

"It is, but I'm not going to miss the opportunity to battle the daughter of Norman!" Flannery said excitedly.

"Well really I'm not that special..." May replied timidly. "I mean, I just started out not too long ago..."

"Well if you've made it this far already your obviously pretty good, and I want to battle you! I'll even give you the usual badge and TM for beating me."

"Alright then, but don't think I'm going to be taking it easy on you!"

"Of course not! I'd be disappointed if you did!" The two of them laughed as they continued walking down the street. Many passerbys took a second look as they walked by, as they were a bit surprised to see May and Flannery walking together. In fact people were a bit surprised to even see Flannery outside the gym.

"So are we going to wait for Alex and Dante to finish and battle in the gym?" May asked her.

"Well actually..." Flannery looked around. They were on a sidewalk walking down a relatively empty street, and there was little to no traffic. Many people preferred walking everywhere anyway.

"Why don't we just battle right here? We can give the whole town a show!" Flannery said, excitedly raising her fist into the air and shaking the bag she was holding.

"Wow...your obviously excited about this." May said with a giggle. "Alright then! Lets battle!"

The two of them went out to the middle of the street, leaving Flannery's bags nearby on the sidewalk. They took up positions quite a distance away from each other, using the road as a makeshift battlefield.

"We will battle using my gym's rules! Four pokemon each!" Flannery called out.

"Fine by me!" May called back. They each reached for a pokeball and tossed it out onto the pavement, sending out their first pokemon.

"Go, Slugma!" They each called out in unison. Their pokeballs landed on their pavement and out came their respective Slugmas. Both trainers stared in shock.

"What are the odds...we'd start with the same pokemon..." Flannery stuttered.

"Really..." May replied. "No point worrying about it though...Slugma use Smog!"

"Slugma, use Sunny Day!" Flannery commanded. The two pokemon seemed confused at first, since both trainers were calling out the same names, but it didn't take them long to figure it out. May's Slugma released a large cloud of poisonous gas towards the other Slugma, while Flannery's Slugma seemed to glow a bright orange. The glow seemed to lift off of its body forming a glowing orange orb, which shot into the sky and burst in a bright flash, and suddenly it seemed to get much hotter. Meanwhile, the Smog attack had reached Flannery's Slugma and it started coughing as it inhaled the poisonous gas.

"Now use Overheat, Slugma!" Flannery called out. Her Slugma closed its eyes and seemed to be concentrating. May could remember Alex telling her that Overheat was Flannery's signature attack, but he failed to tell her what it'd do, so now she just had to wait and see.

Flannery's Slugma continued to concentrate, and then suddenly a huge burst of flames erupted out around Flannery's Slugma, seeming to engulf both Slugma's completely. The explosion startled May completely, and when the flames cleared May's Slugma was left looking like it was in pretty bad shape. It was a fire type pokemon, but it was still completely devastated by the attack. By this time, a small crowd of spectators had gathered on the sidewalk.

"No way!" May cried out. "Can that attack really be that powerful...?"

"Its not only powerful, but because of Slugma's Sunny Day attack the power of fire type attacks has been increased. Even a fire type pokemon like Slugma would barely be able to take it under these conditions! Of course, there is a downside. The pokemon that uses the attack becomes weakened greatly by it and further attacks are less effective than normal."

_"Well at least I know she can't use that attack very often..."_ May thought to herself.

"Slugma, are you still able to fight?" May asked her pokemon. Slugma nodded weakly.

"Alright then...Slugma, use Rock Throw!" Slugma raised its head weakly, then brought it down towards the ground, and a small shower of rocks fell onto Flannery's Slugma. It seemed to shake off the attack relatively easy, however.

"Slugma, you use Rock Throw too!" Flannery called out, and her Slugma went through a similar motion as May's Slugma did, and it immediately collapsed onto the concrete out cold as it was hit by a few small rocks. It didn't have much energy left after trying to endure the Overheat attack, but now it was completely drained and could no longer fight. May picked up its pokeball and recalled it.

"You're pretty good, Flannery!" May said as she clipped Slugma's pokeball onto the strap of her fanny pack.

"I'm just getting...warmed up May!" Flannery said, giggling.

"Oh very funny! Well I'm just getting started myself!" May grabbed another pokeball from her belt and threw it out onto the road.

"Go, Swablu!" May shouted as the pokeball hit the pavement. It popped open, and the blue bird pokemon appeared standing on the ground, with its cloud-like wings folded behind its back.

"A Swablu? No offense, but I expected more from you May!"

"You better not underestimate it, or you'll be sorry!" May called back.

Alex had come to Lavaridge expecting to be facing Flannery in a gym battle, but instead he now found himself facing Flannery's brother Dante. He used fire type pokemon, as Alex already knew, and he could also assume from his previous encounter as well as Numel's battle with Ninetales that he preferred using Flamethrower. Alex only knew three of Dante's pokemon, however, and wasn't even sure if those were the three he'd use. He had no idea whatsoever as to what his fourth pokemon would be either, but he figured he knew enough from experience, and that his pokemon were capable of handling themselves against Dante's pokemon.

"Fire Fox, try Flamethrower again!" Especially if Dante continually insisted on using the same attacks.

"Alakazam, use Teleport..." Alakazam disappeared just before it would have been hit by a blast of flames from Dante's Ninetales, and once again appeared behind it.

"Grr...hold still damn it!" Dante cried in frustration.

"Not a chance..." Alex replied. "Alakazam finish it with Psychic!" While still behind Fire Fox, Alakazam unleashed a Psychic attack at the pokemon. The pokemon was flung forward as it was struck by Alakazam's mental attack, and fell to the ground unconcious, no longer able to battle.

"You just got lucky! Thats all!" Dante yelled to Alex as he recalled his Ninetales amd reached for another pokemon.

"My next pokemon will take care of you though! Volcano, let go!" Dante shouted as he released his Numel, nicknamed Volcano, onto the battlefield. His Numel gave a yawn as it lazily scanned the battlefield.

"Volcano! Use Flamethrower!" Dante's Numel slowly turned towards Alakazam and released a blast of intensely hot flames from its mouth.

"Alakazam use Psybeam!" Alakazam concentrated and released a beam of psychic energy towards the incoming flames, which were dispersed as the beam broke through the attack and struck Dante's Volcano. The pokemon was knocked over onto its back and seemed to be struggling to get back up.

"Now, use Disable!" Alakazam focused its mind, a blue aura surrounding it and Volcano as it tried to connect with Volcano's mind and temporarily lock away its Flamethrower attack.

"Volcano get up, damn it! Roll sideways or something!" Dante's Numel, who was flailing its legs to try to get up, stopped for a moment to contemplate what its trainer had said, then rolled sideways and got back up on its feet.

"Great! Now use Body Slam!" Volcano turned to face Alakazam. It then ran towards it and jumped, preparing to land on it with a full out Body Slam. By the time it had landed, however, Alakazam was nowhere near it. It was then struck by a beam of psychic energy from behind while it was still flat on the ground.

"Stop teleporting already!" Dante yelled in frustration.

"You know, you really need to chill out...Alakazam, use Future Sight!" Alakazam paused and concentrated momentarily, but nothing seemed to happen.

"Now use Psychic!" Alakazam concentrated again, focusing its mental powers into a powerful Psychic attack. Dante's Numel was trying to get back up at this point, but just as it did a powerful force slammed it back into the sandy floor and this time it didn't try to get up. Dante recalled it.

"Grr...damn you and your teleporting pokemon!" Dante quickly grabbed another pokeball and released his third pokemon onto the battlefield.

"Inferno! Go!" Dante yelled as a familiar fire and fighting type chicken pokemon appeared on the battlefield. Alakazam quickly teleported to the opposite end of the field and fired a beam of psychic energy towards the unsuspecting pokemon, knocking it back onto its butt. The Combusken quicky got back up, and looked pretty mad.

"Tell your dumb pokemon to stop attacking without being given any orders!" Dante yelled to Alex.

"I AM giving it orders by allowing it to read my mind. And don't call my pokemon dumb either...for your information Alakazam has an IQ rating of around five thousand."

"Whatever! Inferno, use Rock Slide!" Dante's Inferno raised one of its clawed hands into the air, then smashed it into the ground. Alakazam was then struck repeatedly by a shower of rocks, but teleported out from underneath the pile.

"Alakazam use Psybeam!" Alakazam fired a beam of psychic energy towards Inferno, while at the same time a second white beam of energy seemed to come from out of nowhere from behind Combusken. Both beams struck the pokemon at the same time, causing a small explosion that sent sand and dust flying everywhere. When the dust cleared, Dante's Inferno was already lying in the sand completely unconcious.

"What the heck was that! You're cheating aren't you!" Dante demanded.

"That was Alakazam's Future Sight attack...as you may recall it used that attack not too long ago. Alakazam saw a short time into the future and launched an attack, and your Combusken was struck by both Future Sigh and Psybeam at the same time." Alex explained. Dante was starting to look furious.

"You think your so smart don't you!"

"I think I'm entitled to think that..." Alex said coyly.

"We'll see if you still think that when I'm done! I may only have one pokemon left but I'll still find a way to beat you!" Dante said as he recalled his fallen Inferno and reached for the pokeball containing his final pokemon.

"Go, Furnace!" Dante called out as he released his final pokemon, the coal burning pokemon known as Torkoal, onto the battlefield.

"Alakazam, you deserve a rest now! Return!" Alex held up Alakazam's pokeball, and a red beam shot towards the psychic pokemon, turning it into energy and returning it to its pokeball. Alex placed the pokeball on his belt and reached for another one.

"Go, Azumarill!" The pokeball opened in Alex's hand and a red beam shot out towards the battlefield, and his Azumarill materialized on the sand.

"Using Azumarill huh? Well in that case I think Furnace will be getting revenge for my humiliating defeat to it in the Verdanturf Battle Tent! Furnace, use Sunny Day!" Furnace's body seemed to glow orange and smoke billowed from the hole on its back as its body generated heat. The heat energy then seemed to lift off its body and form an orange globe, which then shot up and burst on contact with the ceiling, and suddenly it seemed as it the sun was shining indoors. Only it was really hot.

"Azumarill, Defense Curl!" Azumarill curled up into a ball, covering its weak spots and trying to protect itself.

"Now use Fire Spin, Furnace!"

"Azumarill, get ready with a Rollout!" Dante's Torkoal released a vortex of flames from its mouth as Azumarill started spinning rapidly in one spot. The flames struck Azumarill and seemed to wrap around it. Azumarill had no problem resisting the flames, however, even with the intense heat from the fake sun powering up the attack.

"Now! Attack!" Alex called out to Azumarill. Azumarill shot forward towards Dante's Torkoal, still wrapped up in the flames from Furnace's attack, and slammed into the pokemon rolling at top speed, and burning it with the flames around it at the same time. The force of the impact knocked the Torkoal onto its back, but a quick burst of smoke shot it back up onto four legs. Azumarill had rolled past it and was coming back for another attack.

"Hit it with a Flamethrower attack now, Furnace!" Torkoal turned towards Azumarill as quickly as it could, and released a blast of intensely hot flames from its mouth. The attack was almost completely negated, however, as some of the flames simply went around Azumarill. The flames that struck it added to the Fire Spin that was already enveloping it, and Azumarill now resembled a rolling inferno. Furnace was struck again by Azumarill's Rollout attack, which actually seemed to hit harder this time and knocked Furnace onto its back once again.

"Azumarill, now! Jump up and land on its stomach!" Azumarill took a small hop into the air and landed on the Torkoal's stomach, slamming it down again as it tried to get up, and started spinning in one spot on its stomach, repeatedly burning it with the flames that were surrounding it and preventing it from gathering the strength to get back on its feet. Eventually a low groan was heard as Torkoal fell unconcious, quite literally unable to take the heat despite being a fire type pokemon. Azumarill rolled off the pokemon and came to a stop in front of Alex, the flames dispersing as it did.

"No way! No way could I be beaten again by that pokemon! This can't be happening!" Dante said to himself, angrily recalling his Torkoal.

"Great job Azumarill...return!" Alex said as he returned Azumarill to its pokeball.

"Now I believe you owe me a badge, Dante?" Alex taunted. Dante reached into his pocket, taking out a small red object.

"Here's your stinking badge! Now get out of here!" Dante yelled, throwing the badge towards Alex and aiming for his head, but Alex swiftly caught it and quietly left the gym, not bothering to ask for the TM that was usually given out as well. He decided he'd just leave Dante to contemplate his loss.

Down the road, outside the gym, Alex could see a small crowd gathered and in the air he could just barely make out the form of a small blue bird with white wings. He also noticed that it was much warmer outside than her remembered it being before he went in the gym. Warmer than he thought it was even supposed to get around Lavaridge this time of year.

"Whats going on here now...?" Alex wondered before heading off down the road. As Alex got closer, he could see the bird dodge a fireball shot at it by something down on the ground, and by this point Alex realized the bird was a Swablu and that a crowd of people had gathered to watch a pokemon battle. Alex made his way through the crowd, until finally he could see what was going on.

"Swablu, use Safeguard!" May called out. Her Swablu shimmered briefly as a protective aura surrounded it.

"Slugma, use Ember again!" Flannery commanded. Her Slugma shot another fireball towards the airborn Swablu, and this time connected with one of Swablu's wings. Swablu dipped towards the ground momentarily, but quickly caught itself.

_"Figures..."_ Alex thought. _"May manages to get a battle with Flannery and I'm stuck battling Dante..."_

"Swablu, attack with Fury Attack!" Swablu dove in towards Slugma and started pecking at it and scratching it with its tiny claws. It was able to attack Slugma without fear of being burned thanks to Safeguard. Each attack was relatively weak, but Swablu wasn't letting up on the assault either.

"Slugma, try using Smog!" Flannery's Slugma complied, and started releasing a thick purple smog from its body into the air around it. Swablu, however, seemed to be relatively unaffected by the Smog attack, as Safeguard prevented it from succumbing to the affects of poison, and it kept on relentlessly attacking Slugma until Slugma was no longer able to endure it and collapsed. Swablu landed next to it, looking pretty exhausted as well. Flannery recalled her Slugma.

"I guess I underestimated your Swablu, May, but I won't make the same mistake twice!" Flannery said as she reached for another pokeball. She threw the pokeball out onto the road.

"Numel, go!" Flannery called out as the pokeball split open, releasing the Numel that was trapped inside. Swablu, seeing its opponent appear, was startled and flew up off the ground.

"Swablu, great job! Return!" May said, returning her Swablu to its pokeball. She placed it on her fanny pack's strap then grabbed another one.

"Corphish, go!" May tossed the pokeball out, landing on the road. It then popped open, releasing the crayfish pokemon out onto the hot pavement.

"Switching pokemon, huh?" Flannery commented. "Well don't think thats going to help much! My Slugma's Sunny Day is still in effect! Numel, use Overheat!" Flannery's Numel closed its eyes and started to concentrate on its attack, building up heat and energy to explosive proportions.

"I figured you'd try starting with that...Corphish use Protect!" Corphish crossed its claws in front of it, and a blue protective barrier formed around the pokemon just as Flannery's Numel released its stored energy in a fiery burst around it, and both pokemon were engulfed in the flames. When the fire cleared, Corphish remained unharmed but Flannery's Numel was weakened greatly from using such a powerful attack, and by this time the intense sunlight was starting to weaken as well. The battle seemed like it was shifting in May's favor once again.

"Now, Corphish! Strike back with Bubblebeam!" Corphish brought its claws forward from its protective stance, pointing them at the weakened Numel. It opened each of its claws, releasing a steady stream of bubbles towards Flannery's Numel. Numel winced in pain from each bubble hitting it, staggering backwards as it tried to avoid the attack.

"Numel, use Flamethrower!" Numel raised its head weakly towards Corphish and released a blast of flames from its mouth. The attack seemed relatively weak and small, however, as compared to a usual Flamethrower attack. The flames were able to break up Corphish's attack, but the flames just barely reached Corphish and Corphish easily backed out of the way of the attack. Flannery's Numel was still weakened from expending so much energy to use Overheat that trying to use another fire attack already was too demanding for it, and the attack was weakened because of it. It worked to block Corphish's attack, however.

"Now use Tackle attack, Numel!"

"Corphish, use Protect!" Flannery's Numel ran towards May's Corphish, while Corphish held its two huge pincers in a defensive stance and a blue transparent orb formed around it. Numel ran straight into Corphish's barrier and bounced off it, landing about a foot back on all four legs.

"Now hit it with another Bubblebeam!" Corphish dropped its barrier and pointed its pincers towards Numel, then opened them releasing two steady streams of bubbles towards the pokemon at almost point blank range. Numel found itself staggering backwards as the bubbles continually pelted it, until eventually it fell backwards and lost conciousness. Corphish, seeing its opponent was defeated, stopped its attack. Flannery recalled her Numel.

"I have to admit, May, you have some great tactics...I never would have expected you to try blocking my Overheat attack." Flannery commented. "But now I know better. Lets see how you deal with this!" Flannery reached for another pokeball and drew her arm back as she prepared to release her next pokemon.

"Torkoal, go!" Flannery threw the pokeball forward, which popped open as it hit the ground and released Flannery's Torkoal onto the makeshift battlefield. Torkoal let out a blast of steam from its back as it prepared for battle.

"Torkoal, use Sunny Day!"

"Corphish, use Bubblebeam!" Flannery's Torkoal started to glow as it built up heat for its Sunny Day attack, while Corphish opened its claws and released a stream of bubbles towards Torkoal. Flannery's Torkoal concentrated hard on finishing its attack as it was pelted by bubble after bubble, trying desperately to hold its position. The energy surrounding its body started to rise up, forming into an orb which then shot into the air and burst in a bright light. The temperature began to rise as the sunlight intensified, and only about half of Corphish's Bubblebeam attack was actually reaching Torkoal now, making it much more bearable for the fire turtle pokemon.

"May's definitely been getting better since I last saw her..." A familiar voice beside Alex said. Alex turned and saw Brendan Birch of Littleroot was now standing beside him.

"Brendan? What are you doing here?" Alex asked him.

"Well what do you think? I'm here researching the pokemon in the area for my father and decided to stop by in Lavaridge. Then I saw May here battling Flannery and decided to watch...and well...here I am now." Brendan replied.

"Wow...you really get around a lot helping your father out."

"Well Hoenn is a big region with a lot of pokemon." Brendan then got a big grin on his face. "And I'm going to research them all!" Alex raised an eyebrow at the notion, but didn't say anything.

"Use Vice Grip, Corphish!" Corphish scuttled towards Torkoal as quickly as it could, one of its pincers held open. Torkoal tried to move out of the way, but Corphish clamped down very tightly on the base of its tough neck. Torkoal let out a gasp as Corphish squeezed on its neck.

"Torkoal shake that thing off! Use Overheat!" Torkoal started concentrating hard, Corphish squeezing on its neck making it especially difficult to concentrate. Because of its thick neck and hide its air supply wasn't entirely cut off, but it was quite hard for it to concentrate on attacking.

May realized that with Sunny Day in effect, Torkoal's Overheat attack would still hurt Corphish a lot while Corphish wouldn't be able to do as much with a water type attack as it usually would. Looking at Torkoal, though, she noticed the hole on its back where smoke was coming from and reasoned that it might be a weak point, considering that Torkoal burns coal in its shell for energy.

"Corphish, jump on its back and aim a Bubblebeam attack for the hole!" Corphish looked up then used pivoted itself with its claw up onto Torkoal's back, then let go and crawled up, Torkoal's shell glowing below it as it crawled to the hole on its back. It pointed both its claws towards the hole and released a Bubblebeam attack towards it. Flannery's Torkoal let out a cry of pain as the attack struck it, too busy preparing its Overheat attack to try to shake it off.

Corphish kept up its attack, and Torkoal had to fight hard to concentrate on its attack. This didn't continue on for long, however, before both pokemon disappeared under a shroud of flames as Torkoal finally released its built up energy in the form of an Overheat attack. Both trainers watched in determination to see if either pokemon would still be standing after the attack.

After several tense moments the flames started to vanish, and Torkoal was lying on the ground, down for the count. Corphish, on the other hand, was still standing on top of Torkoal. It seemed to be a fair bit larger, however, and was glowing a bright white. When it finally stopped glowing, it seemed like it had changed quite a bit. It was now larger, over three feet tall, and its shell was a deeper shade of orange. It had a star on the top of its head, and had a pattern resembling a large open mouth on the front of it with a blue stripe going across. May's Corphish had evolved into Crawdaunt.

May, confused as to what just happened, took out her pokedex to scan the newly evolved pokemon.

"Crawdaunt, the Rogue Pokemon. A brutish pokemon that loves to battle. A veteran Crawdaunt that has prevailed in hundreds of battles has giant pincers marked with countless scars." The pokedex read out.

_"Thats kinda cool that my Corphish evolved..."_ May thought. _"But Crawdaunt sounds kinda scary...wonder if this means he's going to turn into a bully...?"_

"Wow...so your Corphish evolved..." Flannery commented as she recalled her Torkoal. "Thats quite the lucky break for you...but I'm not giving up yet! Afterall, I AM a gymleader!" Flannery clipped Torkoal's pokeball to her belt, reaching for her last pokemon. At this point she was down to her last pokemon while May still had three. She realized at this point she didn't have much of a chance of winning, but she wasn't ready to give up either.

"Go, Camerupt!" Flannery called out. She tossed her final pokeball out onto the street as May's Crawdaunt turned to face her, looking eager to test out its new body. The pokeball landed on the road and popped open, revealing a Camerupt, the evolved form of Numel. Flannery's Camerupt didn't seem to be intimidated at all by May's newly evolved Crawdaunt.

"Crawdaunt...?" May asked her pokemon a bit nervously. After hearing its pokedex reading, she was a bit concerned it might not listen to her in battle. That fear was put to rest, however, as her pokemon turned to her and looked at her as if awaiting its next command.

"Thats the first time I've seen a Crawdaunt..." Brendan commented. "Of course you don't see those in the wild very often."

"Crawdaunt is a pretty strong pokemon too..." Alex added. "Though I can't tell how much Torkoal's Overheat attack affected it..."

"Alright, use Bubblebeam Crawdaunt!" Crawdaunt turned back towards Camerupt and pointed its two giant pincers towards it. It opened its claws, releasing a steady stream of bubbles towards Camerupt from each pincer, only there seemed to be many more bubbles than when Corphish used the attack and because of that more bubbles wear able to survive the intense heat to reach Camerupt. Camerupt braced itself for the attack, but still felt the pain as each bubble burst on its skin.

"Camerupt, fight back with Flamethrower!" Camerupt slowly turned its head towards May's Crawdaunt, and released a blast of flames towards the giant crayfish pokemon. The flames quickly swallowed up Crawdaunt's Bubblebeam attack and soon Crawdaunt itself was completely engulfed in the flames.

"Cawdaunt use Vice Grip!" May commanded. At first, nothing could be seen past the flames. But soon Crawdaunt emerged in front of Camerupt and quite literally clamped its mouth shut with its Vice Grip attack. The Camerupt could be heard growling through its closed mouth as it tried to break free of Crawdaunt's grasp.With its mouth closed it could no longer use its Flamethrower attack.

"Camerupt, try Take Down!" Camerupt tried to run forward to attack Crawdaunt, but Crawdaunt had a good grip on it and was able to hold Camerupt back with its sheer power, and Camerupt wasn't able to get much force behind its attack either.

"Thats not going to work, Flannery! Crawdaunt, use Bubblebeam but keep holding on!" Crawdaunt put its other large pincer right in Camerupt's face then let loose a stream of bubbles into its face at point blank range. Although Crawdaunt's pincer seemed to be blocking a fair bit of the attack.

"Guess I only have one option left then...Camerupt use Overheat!" Camerupt's body began to glow red as it built up energy for its attack. Its body grew hot, but Crawdaunt was able to take the heat fairly well as it continued pelting Camerupt's face with bubbles.

"Crawdaunt let go and give it a full blast of Bubblebeam!" Crawdaunt released Camerupt's snout from its pincer and held both in its face now. It opened its other one releasing another stream of bubbles directly into Camerupt's face. Camerupt lowered its head, trying to avoid the attack as much as possible, but it didn't seem to work. It struggled against the Bubblebeam attack, trying to focus enough to use its Overheat attack, but it collapsed to the ground just as it had built up enough energy for the attack. Flannery recalled her fallen Camerupt, and the battle was officially over. May had won almost flawlessly.

"Alright! We did it Crawdaunt!" May said excitedly, running up and hugging her recently evolved pokemon, and Crawdaunt put its pincers around May, hugging its trainer back.

"Well congratulations, May! You won!" Flannery said as she approached the two of them.

"Thanks, Flannery! That was a great battle!" May released Crawdaunt from her grip and recalled it, then shook hands with Flannery. The crowd that had gathered to watch them gave a round of applause, which startled both of them. Both Flannery and May were too caught up in their battle to realize that they had attracted an audience. The applause eventually died down and the crowd dispersed, leaving only Alex and Brendan.

"Wow...I didn't realize anyone stopped to watch us..." May said to Flannery, rubbing the back of her head.

"Me neither..." Flannery replied.

"Well you were battling in the middle of the street..." Alex stated. "Of course people are going to watch. Especially when the town's gymleader is involved."

May didn't notice Alex or Brendan in the crowd, and was a bit surprised to see Alex was finished his battle and showed up to watch her. She was even more surprised to see Brendan there.

"Brendan? What are you doing here?" May asked him.

"The usual...helping my dad with his research. Stopped by when I saw you battling Flannery." Brendan replied. "You're obviously getting better, too. You might be almost as good as me now!" He said with a grin.

"Excuse me! As I recall I beat you last time!" May said, folding her arms over her chest.

"Details, details...well anyway I should get back to what I was doing, but before I leave you can have these..." Brendan reached into his backpack and took out a pair of high-tech looking goggles with the Devon logo printed on the strap, and handed them to May.

"What are these?" May asked, looking them over.

"They're Go-Goggles. Devon made them so that trainers could search for pokemon in the desert to the east of here. I finished my research there already. By the way, since your going to be in the neighbourhood anyway, you should go see my dad when you go to face your father. I'm sure he'd like to see how far your pokedex has come. Anyway I'll, see you around I guess."

"Thanks Brendan! And I'll keep that in mind too. Bye!" May waved to Brendan as he walked away, leaving Lavaridge for Jagged Pass, the name given to the trail going down Mount Chimney.

"Well May, as promised I'll give you a TM and a badge for beating me. You'll just have to come back to the gym with me for a bit." May nodded in response to Flannery.

"Wow, you even get a badge...guess you won't have to battle Dante then." Alex commented.

"Nope, but Flannery tells me he's not very good anyway so I'd say I definitely got the better battle out of this!"

Flannery and May picked up their bags from before then continued on their way to Flannery's gym, leaving Alex behind. Alex decided to wait where he was while May got her badge. He watched as the two of them walked down the street and disappeared inside the gym. He didn't go with them because he knew Dante wouldn't be overly happy to see him again so soon.

"Excuse me young man..." An old lady said as she approached Alex.

"Are you friends with that young girl who beat Flannery?"

"Err...you mean May?" Alex asked. "Yeah, I'm friends with her..."

"Could you give this to her for me? I believe this will be better off in her hands..." The old woman reached behind her and plucked a fairly large blue egg from a carrier on her back, then handed it to Alex.

"...Sure, but why would you be giving away a pokemon egg...?" Alex looked the egg over and noticed there were about three large black dots on it. Two on either side near the top, and another on the bottom.

"Thank you, and I have been trying for some time to hatch it but with no success. I am hoping she may have more luck with it...please be sure she gets it." The woman then turned and walked away in the direction of the pokemon center, leaving Alex alone to examine egg in silence.

"DANTE!" Or at least, it was quiet.

_"Something tells me the pillars of fire weren't originally part of the gym..."_ Alex thought, thinking back on the events from when he entered the gym. May didn't spend much time in the gym and soon met up with Alex again, looking a bit intimidated by whatever had happened in there.

"Her brother is just a bit nuts..." She said to him, then she noticed the egg he was carrying.

"Where'd you get that, Alex?"

"Some old woman gave it to me and told me to give it to you..." Alex said, handing the egg over to her. May looked over the egg, then looked around as if looking for whoever had given it to Alex to give to her.

"Thanks...I guess I should get something to carry this in then..." She said, mostly to herself.

"Probably should, yeah." Alex replied. "Anyway, guess now we have to figure out how we're getting back to Petalburg. Although we should probably wait until tomorrow to leave now anyway."

"Well if you don't mind, I'd like to check out that desert since I have Go-Goggles now. Might be some pokemon that only appear there!"

"...Couldn't hurt to check it out I suppose. Well actually, I guess it would hurt a bit considering we'd be walking into a sandstorm, but sure, why not?"

"Alright! Lets go then!"

"...Tomorrow."


	23. History: Revelations and Rivalry

Author's Notes: Sorry I haven't updated in a while, chapter I was working on kinda deleted itself somehow and I kinda lost interest for a while as a result. Didn't help that I was just about finished either... Trying to get myself back to writing now.

Oh, and there's a short violent scene in this chapter that might actually warrant the fic's mature rating. Just thought I'd warn you since its been relatively tame up to this point other than a few comments I thought warranted a mature rating.

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**History Chapter:**

**Revelations and Rivalry**

"The tribes must never be separated!" One of the Hoenn tribe elders, Shami, furiously yelled at Odari. Shortly after Odari's victory over the Kanto and Johto tribe leaders, the two tribes moved away. Their current whereabouts are unknown to anyone in Hoenn now.

"A terrible disaster will befall us all if the tribes do not stay together!" He continued.

"Your the ones that pressured me into doing something to regain Hoenn's freedom, and I did!" Odari shot back.

"We did not ask you to send the other tribes away..." One of the other elders, Odari's father, stated.

"You must find them and make peace with them before it is too late..."

"I did nothing to make them go away! If your so worried about your damn apocalyptic prophecies then why don't YOU find them!" Odari shouted angrily at her father before storming out of the elder's hut. Shami got up to go after her, but her father grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Let her go, Shami. Her mind is far too clouded, and she is not thinking straight. She will come to her senses soon enough..." Shami looked at him and angrily shook the other elder's hand off his shoulder, then returned to his spot on the floor of the hut. The Hoenn tribe was watched over by five elders, and Shami was the most recently appointed elder. Shami had the right ideas as far as the rest of the elders were concerned, but he was very rash in comparison to the others.

What really bothered the elders about Odari's actions was that she did not inform them of her intentions beforehand. She acted on her own, with the help from a few villagers. The villagers had gathered materials to create the steel golem known as Rejisteel, which Odari had calculated every last detail of to be as effective as possible against the other tribe's golems. While the villagers were gathering materials, Odari kept the other tribe leaders distracted so they wouldn't get in the way. In the end, Odari had chosen to take an offensive stance on the issue, whereas the elders wanted to negotiate with the other two tribes and come to a peaceful solution.

The elders were now worried that an ancient prophecy would come true now, a prophecy stating that the three legendary titans will awaken when the three tribes have separated.

"Stupid old men...what do they know anyway? They cling so tightly to those ancient prophecies...they're just a bunch of dumb fairy tales anyway!" Odari said to herself rather loudly as she walked through the center of the village, away from the elder's hut. Many of the villagers watched her curiously, wondering why their tribe leader would have stormed out of the elder's hut as she did.

"They're right, you know." Came a voice from behind her, causing Odari to stop in her tracks.

"You act far too rashly, sister. The entire world may be doomed because you were too quick to take offensive action against the other two tribes."

"Don't you start too, Daigo..." Odari said, not even turning to look at him. Daigo was Odari's older brother by 8 years. He had somewhat long, silver colored hair and was dressed a bit more casually than Odari, who was wearing her leather armor as usual. He was wearing a brown tunic with a sword at his side. His sword had a gem in it just like Odari's, as they were required in order to use capture jars and command pokemon. His was just an ordinary gem, however. The Emerald was for the Hoenn tribe leader only, which was currently Odari. It was said to contain the spirit of past Hoenn leaders, and now supposedly contained Odari's as well after the leadership ritual.

"The tribe elders have existed far longer than you have, Odari. They have passed down their wisdom to each other for generations, so that it may be passed down to us in times of need. You should respect their wisdom and willingly listen to them, as they know far more than you would." Daigo said to Odari.

"Those old fools are useless! They insist on living in the past and telling fairy tales!" Odari said, turning sharply to face her brother.

"I have yet to see anything to suggest that these titans or whatever even exist! No green dragons flying around, no huge whales in the sea, nothing! They're nothing but stories!"

"Perhaps..." Daigo replied calmly. "Or perhaps we simply have not seen the legendary creatures because the tribes have been united until now. Should the tribes remain separated, we may soon find more proof of their existance than we might be willing to deal with."

"They're just myths as far as I'm concerned..." Odari said flatly.

"Even if they are just myths, Odari, wouldn't it be better to be safe than sorry? Don't you think it'd be worthwhile, regardless, just to go and make peace with the two tribes? Or is there some reason you don't want to speak with your old friends?" Daigo smirked slightly as he said this. He was quite sure that Odari was hiding something, because she seemed quite reluctant to speak with the other tribes.

"I don't even know where they went in the first place! I can't speak with them if I don't know where they are!"

"You seem a bit touchy on this subject..."

"I AM NOT BEING TOUCHY!" At this point, everyone in the village was staring at the two.

"If you say so..." Daigo said with a shrug. "However I think you should at least make an attempt to find them. The rest of the village might lose their respect for you if you continue to defy the elders."

"I don't have to listen to the elders, and I don't have to listen to you either!" Odari turned and started walking away from him.

"So where are you off to then?"

"I'm going for a walk!" She said, not slowing down her pace or even looking back at him. Daigo shook his head as he watched her disappear into the forest outside the village.

"Odari, Odari, Odari...when will you start taking things more seriously? Just because your the leader doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself..."

The Hoenn tribe village was situated in the middle of a forest, and going south through the forest lead to a beach where Odari usually went when she needed some time to herself. It also happened to be where she was off to today, as she had grown tired of putting up with the elders, and now her brother as well.

"This just figures..." Odari muttered, lying back in the sand on the beach.

"Those two are still trying to compete with each other, get me caught up in the middle of it, and in the end I'm the one who gets in trouble for it."

Haruka and Aisha had been competing over just about everything they could since as long as Odari could remember. On more than one occassion Odari had been an unwilling judge for their little games and competitions. They were often trying to race each other, see who could gather the most rocks, or even fighting each other with wooden swords. Aisha almost always beat Haruka because she was four full years older than her.

When she was about 12, Odari had finally grown tired of dealing with Aisha and Haruka's competing and stopped hanging out with them period. By that point Haruka was actually manaing to beat Aisha every now and then, which usually lead to them arguing. So instead of being with her friends, Odari started spending her time with her mom, who happened to be the leader of the Hoenn Tribe at that point.

Odari often helped her mother with various tasks, which were usually just ordinary chores like fetching water. She wanted to learn from her mother though, because she knew someday she'd be taking her place. It ended up being a lot sooner than Odari had expected, though, and she had learned very little from her mother in that two year time period. Odari became leader of the Hoenn tribe at the age of 14 and, as it turned out, Haruka and Aisha became leaders of their respective tribes within the same time period.

Once Aisha became leader of the Kanto tribe, she declared war on the Hoenn tribe for reasons still unknown to Odari. The Hoenn tribe had very few tribe members capable of handling pokemon in combat and were no match for Kanto. Odari had managed to hold her own against them for a while, but she was also quickly defeated once Aisha had called forth her Rejice. After just one battle, the Kanto tribe had defeated the Hoenn tribe. Haruka and the Johto tribe had showed up after that, and for a while Haruka and Aisha were once again competing with each other constantly.

"I wish those two had never met..." Odari muttered to herself.

"Just what is their problem with each other anyway? And why couldn't they just leave me out of it? ...Well I don't care what the elders say, I never want to see either of them again, and I'm sure these 'legendary creatures' really don't care one way or another, assuming they even exist."

Odari gave a sigh and stared up at the mostly cloudless sky. She laid there in silence for some time, reflecting on what had been happening lately, until she heard some kind of commotion coming from the woods. Odari got up and brushed the sand off her, then turned towards the forest behind her.

"I swear if anyone followed me they're going to get it..."

Odari pulled the capture jar containing Rejisteel from around her neck and drew her sword before entering the forest. She wanted to be ready just incase it was a wild pokemon she could hear. As quietly as she could, she slowly made her way through the thick bushes and trees. As she got closer, she could make out several voices, at least one of which sounded like a woman's voice.

Odari eventually reached the edge of a clearing where she could see three men, one of which was pointing a large sword at a red-headed woman leaning against a tree. The men were all wearing leather clothing that looked like it had seen better days, which Odari thought was kinda odd considering they were in the middle of the forest, and had swords. She figured they would at least be wearing armor.

The woman wasn't wearing any armor either. She was wearing a light pink, knee-length skirt and a matching top. Though her clothes seemed to match her hair, Odari was completely baffled as to where she might have found pink clothing, and she had never seen anyone with red hair before. Or at least no one in the Hoenn tribe. Most people she knew had either black or brown hair, with the exception of her brother who had silverish colored hair. In addition to her lack of armor, the woman didn't seem to be carrying any kind of weapon. Normally she'd assume the men were protecting her, but that obviously wasn't the case. Odari decided to hide behind a nearby tree and watch the group to see what was going on.

"What tribe are you from!" The man with the large sword angrily asked the woman.

"I-I'm not from a tribe..." The woman stuttered in response.

_"Not from a tribe? That doesn't make any sense..."_ Odari thought to herself. _"Then again, nothing about this woman seems to make sense..."_

"Then your an exile like us, and no one's gonna be missing you, so you better do what we say!" The man replied. The other two, standing behind him, snickered.

_"Exiles? That explains the lack of armor then I guess...but where would they get weapons?"_

"I-I'm not an exile! And you better not hurt me! Or you'll be sorry!" The men burst into laughter at the woman's remark.

"Right! And what are you going to do to us?" The man with the sword, and obviously the 'leader' of the group, asked her, still snickering. The woman offered no response, but instead seemed to be looking in Odari's direction, as if she knew she was there.

_"She can't see me...can she? Well it doesn't matter...she obviously needs my help, and if those men are exiles then no one will be missing them, just like they said..." _Odari placed Rejisteel's capture jar on the ground in front of her and slowly backed up, then pointed her sword at the pyramid-shaped 'jar'.

"Rejisteel, release!" She whispered. The emerald on her sword glowed softly and the capture jar split open, revealing a small green orb of energy. The orb floated up and started quickly expanding and changing shape until the steel golem pokemon Rejisteel stood fully formed before her, knocking over the tree that Odari was hiding behind, which quickly got the group's attention. The three men turned towards her, but only saw Rejisteel with its back to them.

"What the heck IS that thing?" One of them cried out. All three of them quickly forgot about the woman and pointed their swords towards Rejisteel. Rejisteel turned towards them, and Odari moved through the trees and bushes to get behind them while they were distracted. Rejisteel moved towards the first two men, who immediately attacked the pokemon with their swords. There was a 'ding' as their swords connected with Rejisteel's body, but their weapons didn't even leave a scratch.

"What the!"

"What is this thing made of!"

The two men turned to run, but Rejisteel grabbed each of them in one of its metallic claws while the other man with the large sword just looked on in shock and started slowly backing away. The men tried in vain ti free themselves from Rejisteel's grip, kicking and punching at his metallic body as they hung in the air. Rejisteel then threw each of them into nearby trees, cracking the trees in half. The men cried out in pain as just about every bone in their bodies were shattered.

"That does it! I'm getting out of here!" The third man cried. Before he could even move, though, a sword pierced through his stomach from behind, then cut up through his chest. Looking over his shoulder he saw Odari, just before collapsing to the ground, dead. Odari withdrew her sword from the man's chest and held it in front of her. The emerald in her sword glowed briefly, and the blood on it seemed to evaporate. Rejisteel stood idly by as if awaiting further instructions while Odari turned to the red-haired woman.

"Are you ok?" She asked her.

"I'm fine thanks to you, Odari." The woman said with a smile.

"You...know my name?" Odari repled, puzzled by the fact that this strange woman that she's never met before knew her name.

"I know many things about you, Odari. In fact, I was looking for you when those thugs attacked me."

"...Who are you, and what do you want from me?" Odari kept her sword at hand, ready to send Rejisteel after the strange woman if she tried anything. She was starting to wonder if saving her was such a good idea afterall.

"I merely want to show you something. As for who I am...thats a bit more complicated." A smirk crossed the woman's face before she was suddenly enveloped in a white light. Her body began to shift and reshape itself. Her arms became shorter and her hands began to look like claws, and a pair of wings seemed to sprout from her back. Her ears seemed to get longer, and her legs seemed to disappear completely, leaving only a pair of large but flat feat. Odari held her sword in front of her during the entire process, not sure what to expect.

When the light faded, the woman Odari had rescued was no longer standing before her. Instead, there was a strange red and white creature floating in front of her. Odari immediately realized she had just rescued some kind of pokemon, but she had never heard of pokemon that could take on a human appearance.

_"You see, I am what you humans call a pokemon."_ Odari heard in her mind. _"You may call me Latias." _Odari was at a loss for words. This pokemon was unlike any she had ever encountered. More pokemon were just feral beasts until they were captured by humans, but this one not only wasn't just some feral beast, she could apparently become a human and somehow communicate with her without speaking. It seemed almost as if this Latias was _thinking_ to her!

_"I doubt you have ever heard of me, as I am a unique species of pokemon, unless you count my brother Latios of course. My brother and I are guardians of a gem called the Soul Dew. We also observe you humans at times, though my brother hates your species and thinks you all to be evil. However, I don't, and I also believe that your crystal may have some connection to our Soul Dew and would like to test that theory." _Odari looked at the emerald in her sword, then back at Latias.

"There is NO way your getting my tribe's emerald, unique pokemon or not!"

_"Of course, I didn't expect you would hand it over."_ Latias said in Odari's mind, and Odari could hear her giggling a bit as well.

_"The emerald is of no use to me or my brother. Your leadership rituals have bonded the emerald to you. However, with your permission I'd like to take you to see the Soul Dew."_

"And if I refuse?" Odari replied, lowering her sword. She still wasn't overly trusting of this creature, but it didn't seem like it planned to attack her either.

_"Well in that case...I'm sure Haruka or Aisha might be willing to...afterall, their crystals are just like yours." _The very mention of Haruka and Aisha reminded Odari of what had happened with them recently, and how much she still resented them for attacking her tribe. She didn't know what the Soul Dew was, or why Latias wanted to see if there was some kind of connection between it and their crystals, but if there was anything to be gained from this then one of the tribes might return and the war between all of them might start over again.

"...Fine. I'll go with you." Odari turned to Rejisteel and raised her sword.

"Rejisteel, return." The gem on Odari's sword glowed briefly,and the steel golem turned back into its pure energy form then disappeared into the capture jar Odari left behind the fallen tree. Odari picked up the capture jar and put it around her neck like a necklace, then turned back to Latias.

"Alright, lets go to where ever this Soul Dew thing is then..." Latias seemed to smile and floated over to where Odari was, then lowered herself parallel with the ground.

_"Get on my back, and hold on." _She said to her telepathically.

"This is turning out to be one of those days..." Odari muttered as she sat down on Latias's back and held on tightly to her shoulders. Latias then began to slowly lift into the air until the two of them were hovering over the treetops. Odari took one last look around the clearing, which now had two fallen trees and three bodies, before Latias took off towards the ocean. It didn't take long for Latias to completely clear the forest and was flying out over the water. Odari felt a bit nervous flying over the ocean.

"Where are we going?"

_"We're going to my island, where the Soul Dew rests." _Odari stared off into the distance as if trying to see the island Latias was referring to, but all she could see was water. Odari tried to keep her mind off the water below her, but to no avail.

The flight to Latias's island only took about fifteen minutes, but to Odari it seemed like ages and they had passed several islands before Latias finally began to descend towards an island covered in vegetation. Latias landed near the base of a large mountain that was in the middle of the island, which Odari figured to be where the Soul Dew was.

_"We're here!"_ Latias said enthusiastically as she lowered herself towards the ground. Odari quickly jumped off her back and stood a little wobbly from sitting for so long.

"About time..." Odari muttered. "So where's this Soul Dew thing?"

_"In there..."_ Latias replied, gesturing towards a cave at the base of the mountain while positioning herself so she was hovering in an upright position. Latias started hovering towards the mouth of the cave while Odari followed behind her. Odari was somewhat surprised to find she could see relatively clearly into the cave once she reached it. The inside of the cave seemed to be bathed in a strange purple light.

The cave was relatively small, and straight. Odari could see all the way to the end of it, probably about 100 feet in. At the end of the cave was a half-purple and half-blue orb. The purple half of it almost looked like coral stretching up into a blue sea. Floating next to it, with its back to her, was a pokemon that looked a lot like Latias. Only the pokemon was somewhat larger than Latias and was blue where Latias was red. Odari realized that the pokemon must have been Latias's brother, and reached for her sword and capture jar. Sensing someone else was in the cave, the pokemon turned towards them, and didn't seem happy.

_"Latias! How dare you bring a human here!" _Odari heard from a male voice in her head. Odari could tell that this pokemon was going to cause them a bit of trouble.

_"I didn't think YOU would be here, Latios, nor do I remember anyone appointing you king of the island, so I will take whoever I want here!" _Latias replied, and both Odari and Latios could hear her.

_"Then I will destroy her myself!" _Latios shifted his position so he was parallel with the ground then flew straight towards Odari. Odari, acting quickly, tossed out Rejisteel's capture jar in front of her and brought her sword forward.

"Rejisteel come forth!" The capture jar split open while it was still falling and released the small green orb of energy within. The energy started to quickly expand until Rejisteel was standing in front of Odari and Latias, the steel golem's frame almost completely blocking the narrow cave. Latios was moving towards them very quickly the entire time, and was moving too fast to stop when Rejisteel suddenly appeared in front of him, and the pokemon slammed headfirst into Rejisteel. Rejisteel staggered backwards a few feet and Latios fell to the ground, unconcious. Odari quickly returned Rejisteel to its capture jar before it could respond to what it would consider to be an attack.

"Will he be ok?" Odari asked Latias. She could hear Latias snort.

_"With his thick head I'm sure he'll be just fine..." _Odari couldn't help but smile from that comment. Latias floated off in front of her towards the orb and Odari followed, briefly glancing down at the unconcious Latios. She picked up Rejisteel's capture jar in passing, once again placing it around her neck.

As Odari approached the Soul Dew, the emerald in her sword began to glow. She didn't notice it at first, but the closer she got to the Soul Dew the more brightly the gem glowed. Latias noticed the gem glowing as Odari approached the Soul Dew.

_"Just as I thought...your emerald is no ordinary crystal...and not just because its bonded to you...your crystal definitely has some connection to the Soul Dew."_ Latias said to Odari telepathically. Odari looked down at the gem in her sword, then looked up at the Soul Dew. The orb seemed to be glowing brighter as well, as if it was responding to the emerald.

"Well thats interesting...but now what?" Odari asked, turning towards Latias.

_"I don't know, to be honest...try touching your emerald to the Soul Dew maybe?"_ Odari shrugged and moved closer to the Soul Dew. She held out her sword towards it and slowly moved the emerald closer to the orb until the two were touching. There was a bright flash, and both the Soul Dew and the emerald started glowing white instead of their respective colors, but not much else seemed to be happening. Odari tried to pull her sword back, but when she did she found it wouldn't move. It was as if her emerald was stuck to the Soul Dew...

_"Well we seem to be getting somewhere..."_ Latias said to her. _"But I don't think anything overly important has happened. You can remove your sword now." _Odari pulled hard at her sword, but it wouldn't budge.

"...I can't. I think its stuck or something."

_"Stuck? You mean your sword is stuck to the Soul Dew?"_ Latias said telepathically, a surprised tone in her voice.

"I think so. It won't budge at all." Odari let go of her sword, which stayed exactly where it was. Both the emerald and the Soul Dew were still giving off a white glow.

_"Try pulling the emerald itself off?"_ Latias suggested.

"Worth a try I guess..." Odari reached forward to grab the emerald, but as she touched it she felt a shock throughout her body and suddenly she couldn't move. She tried to pull away but couldn't. She couldn't even seem to move her head. She tried to speak, but as she did another shock went through her body and she lost all connection to reality and the white of her eyes suddenly turned green.

_"Odari, are you ok?"_ Latias tried to say to her, but she could sense her telepathy wasn't reaching her for some reason.

"I don't know whether to be excited or scared now..." Latias thought to herself. She examined the Soul Dew, hovering around it. She was debating whether she should touch it as well, when she heard a telepathic groan from the other side of the cave. Looking behind her, she could see Latios was recovering from his recent head injury.

_"Great! Odari's out of it and Latios is back up! He'll definitely try to stop whatever's happening, but I can't let him..." _Latias thought to herself as she watched Latios float up off the floor of the cave.

_"Stupid human...you'll pay for that..."_ Latios muttered telepathically. He quickly turned towards Latias and saw Odari touching the Soul Dew and her sword stuck to it. He didn't understand what was going on, except that a human was touching the Soul Dew, and he had never seen it glowing white before. He immediately assumed that whatever was happening, couldn't be good.

_"Latias! You've not only brought a human here, but you've allowed her to touch the Soul Dew! Our precious Soul Dew will be tainted now!"_

_"Oh shut up, Latios! You don't know whats going on anymore than I do!" _

_"You dare to side with the humans, sister? Then I will have to show you the error of your ways!"_ Latios started to glow white as he gathered psychic energy within him. Latias, realizing what her brother was doing, responded by forming a white ball of energy in front of her.

_"Luster Purge!"_ Latios cried out as he fired a white beam of energy from his mouth towards Latias.

_"Mist Ball!"_ Latias fired the ball of energy she created towards her brother, and the two attacks collided creating an explosion. A blast of smoke and debris filled the cave and billowed out the entrance, while small rocks fell from the ceiling. Latias shot through the debris and collided with her brother, who was unprepared for the attack and unable to see her through the dust and debris. The two pokemon flew out of the cave and separated.

_"You don't honestly think you can fight me, Latias?"_ Latios mocked her.

_"I can and I will!" _Latias replied, thinking she had to keep Latios busy long enough for whatever was happening to Odari to wear off. Or at least, she hoped it would wear off...

Odari, meanwhile, couldn't tell what was going on. She felt disconnected from reality all of a sudden, and now...it felt like she was flying. She didn't seem to have any control over where she was going, she couldn't even look around. All she could see was blue sky and clouds ahead of her.

_"What the? Whats...happening to me?" _Odari felt helpless, as if whatever was happening she was watching through someone elses eyes. Her view soon shifted downwards, and she could see land below her. Way below her. She then felt herself descending rapidly towards the ground, almost as if in a dive. Below her a mountain was growing closer. For a moment she thought she was going to crash into it, but then suddenly she stopped just above the peak of the mountain.

_"This is weird...how am I seeing all this? Is this the Soul Dew's doing?" _Suddenly she was moving again, this time towards a large cave set high in the mountain. She seemed to fly into the cave and she could hear something roar, then everything went black again.

When Odari could see again, she was looking at herself from behind. She seemed to be standing in a large stone chamber, and Rejisteel was standing in front of her as well. At the back of the cave, a very large green dragon was staring down at her. It had a long and slender body, kinda like a serpent, and had a yellow stripe going down the back of its body. The upper half of its body, near its head, had a pair of small arms ending in hands with three clawed fingers on each.

While the dragon appeared docile, it looked like it could almost swallow Odari whole. Odari also looked like she was ready to fight it, but she couldn't imagine why. Thats when it hit her.

_"Wasn't one of those creatures the elders mentioned...a green dragon? Could this be that dragon?"_ Odari wondered. She was starting to think maybe the elder's prophecies had some merit afterall. Suddenly, everything went black again.

"Who are you...?" Odari could hear someone saying.

_"I'm Odari, leader of the Hoenn tribe, and who are you?" _Odari thought, as she seemed unable to speak.

"I am...Rayquaza." That was the last thing Odari heard...

Odari was snapped out of her dream-like state by the sound of something metal hitting the ground. Her sword had dislodged from the Soul Dew, and her emerald was still in it and wasn't glowing anymore. The Soul Dew had returned to normal as well, and she could finally move.

"That was...weird." Odari said picking up her sword and putting it in its sheath.

"Hey Latias, any idea what just..." Odari looked around the quiet cave, realizing she was alone. Latios wasn't there either.

"Damn it! Latios must have gotten back up while I was out of it!" Odari started to run towards the cave exit, but stopped herself and turned back towards the Soul Dew. She thought for a moment, before grabbing the orb and dashing out of the cave with it in hand.

"Maybe I can use this somehow..." She muttered as she ran towards the exit. She could hear the sounds of a fight outside. Once she reached the exit, she could see Latios and Latias fighting overhead. They were firing various attacks and slamming into each other.

"Latias!" Both pokemon stopped fighting when they heard Odari.

_"Odari! Your back!"_ Latias said excitedly as she flew down to her, instantly forgetting about her fight with her brother. Latios wasn't nearly as thrilled to see her though, especially not when he noticed what she was carrying.

"What! How dare you take the Soul Dew!" Latios dove towards Odari, flying past Latias going even faster than she was. Odari realized she was in trouble, but didn't have time to pull out Rejisteel again. She tried to run out of the way, but Latios was easily able to manuever towards her.

_"Odari, look out!" _Latias called out to her. Latios looked like he was just about to ram Odari, when suddenly he seemed to bounce off an invisible barrier.

_"Latios, that is enough."_ A voice said to them. Odari stopped in her tracks and looked around, but saw no one but Latios and Latias. They both seemed to be staring at the Soul Dew she was carrying.

_"The Soul Dew...is it speaking to me?"_ Latios said in confusion.

_"Humans are not your enemy, Latios. Stand down."_ The voice continued. Latios was both surprised and confused by the Soul Dew's words. Latias floated over to Odari, and seemed equally surprised to be hearing the Soul Dew speaking to them.

_"Humans are not evil. They are misguided, and you should be the ones to guide them if they are to learn to respect the creatures of this planet. Without your help, they will surely fail against the trials that await them."_

_"You...are telling us...to help humans?" _Latios was shocked by such a request. He had assumed, from watching how people treated other pokemon, that humans were evil. He never understood why Latias seemed so interested in them and felt if they had the chance they would capture and enslave him and his sister as well.

_"You two will personally assist Odari in her future endeavours, for the sake of the world may depend on her and the other humans."_

_"I don't see what they could do..."_ Latios muttered disrespectfully. The Soul Dew offered no response and went quiet.

_"The Soul Dew never spoke to us before..."_ Latias said, finally speaking up. _"I wonder if this has anything to do with what just happened..."_

"The Soul Dew...it let me speak with someone named Rayquaza...I wonder if Rayquaza was speaking through the Soul Dew...?" Odari said, looking at the orb in her hands. Latios suddenly pulled the orb out of her hands.

_"I'll be taking that! I don't care if I'm supposed to help you or not, your not touching the Soul Dew!"_ Latios said before flying off and disappearing into the cave.

_"Its not like its yours!"_ Latias called out after her brother. She then shook her head and turned to Odari.

_"So you really talked to the dragon lord of the skies, Rayquaza?"_ Latias asked her.

"Yeah...thats the last thing I heard anyway." Odari replied. "I was talking to something...and when I asked its name, it said it was Rayquaza. I've never heard of it before though."

_"Perhaps you are connected to Rayquaza somehow, and the Soul Dew completed that connection? Though I'm curious now about Haruka's sapphire and Aisha's ruby..." _Odari glared at Latias as she mentioned those names. Latias quickly realized her mistake.

_"Anyway! I should probably get you back to your tribe before your people start looking for you..."_ Odari nodded in agreement, then looked out at the ocean. A shiver went down her spine as she recalled her earlier flight with Latias.

"I don't suppose we could fly a bit higher this time?" She asked Latias.

_"I don't know...I don't think you humans can withstand high altitudes very well." _Odari sighed.

"Nevermind then...lets go..."


	24. Chapter 17: Mirage Tower

Author's Notes: And now the first actual chapter in a while! I wanted to do a chapter on Mirage Tower because it seemed like it had potential for some character development. I'll let the readers judge that though.

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Seventeen:**

**Mirage Tower**

"You know, common sense really should have told me we would have needed a bit more than just goggles to handle a sandstorm!" Alex shouted to May over the blasts of wind and sand. The two of them were exploring the desert north of Mauville, searching for pokemon, when a sandstorm kicked up. They quickly realized that their regular clothing provided little protection against the pounding sand, but at least their eyes were well protected.

"You REALLY picked a bad time NOT to be mister know-it-all, Alex!" May shouted back, keeping her head down so the sand wasn't hitting her in the face.

"Well its not like you remembered to grab any protective clothing either, and I didn't think the sandstorm would be this bad. We need to find shelter and get out of this storm...or maybe find a way out of this desert!"

"Which way is out though? I can't even remember which way we came now and I can't see anything but sand!" May looked up, putting her arm over her mouth so she didn't end up swallowing any sand. Looking off into the distance through her go-goggles, May could have sworn she could see some kind of tower or something.

"Alex! I think I see something up ahead!" Alex looked up as well, putting his hand over his mouth. Sure enough, he could just barely see a tower or something through the sand as well.

"I think I see it too...I don't remember seeing anything before the sandstorm hit though..." Alex said.

"Who cares? It'll get us out of this sandstorm!" May lowered her head again and ran off towards the mysterious structure. Alex paused for a moment, trying to figure out what it could possibly be. Unable to think of anything, Alex ran off to catch up with May. The two of them managed to find an entrance into the mysterious tower and went in to get out of the sandstorm. What they discovered once inside the structure, however, surprised both of them.

"This...this place is made entirely of sand!" May said in surprise, she then turned to Alex.

"Didn't you say something before about a tower of sand in the desert?"

"Yeah...and I also said there is no way something like this could even exist." Alex shot back. "I mean, how the heck is this tower even standing with that sandstorm raging outside? In fact, how does it even stay up at all? And a tower of sand doesn't just appear out of nowhere! There's just no way something like this could even possibly exist!"

"Well obviously, it can, since your standing in it!" May said with a giggle.

"Still doesn't seem any more believable...we didn't see any towers or anything around before that sandstorm hit us...and then we stumble into this tower that looks like its made of sand..." Alex muttered, scanning the area they were standing in.

The inside of the tower was indeed made entirely of sand. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made out of sand. From where Alex and May stood, a path branched out to the right and left, and then both paths seemed to continue on north in relation to where they were standing. There were also a few broken rocks scattered around on the floor, though there didn't seem to be many rocks in the desert at all except near the large rocky outcroppings at the edge of the desert, but the tower was in the middle. None of it seemed to make sense to Alex.

"Well at least we're out of the sandstorm, right?" May said as she sat down on the floor and took her backpack off. She opened the backpack and took out the blue egg that was inside it. She bought the backpack in Lavaridge to carry the egg in, since there wasn't any room for a pokemon egg in her fanny pack. She put her ear up to the egg, as if listening for something inside it, but heard nothing.

"True I guess...but I want to know just whats keeping this tower up, especially with that sandstorm outside." Alex gave a light kick to a nearby wall, knocking a few grains of sand loose but not seeming to cause any significant damage to it. May gently put the pokemon egg she was holding back in her backpack, then carefully put the backpack back on.

"Well then...lets explore!" May said enthusiastically as she got back on her feet.

"Explore? How do we even know this place is safe?" Alex replied.

"I don't know, you tell me. Afterall, you're the one who said this place doesn't exist!" May said with a smirk. Alex sighed.

"Fine. Whatever. Guess I wouldn't mind trying to find out just what the deal with this tower is anyway..."

"Then its agreed! We're exploring the mysterious tower!" May said before starting down the right corridor. Alex followed behind her.

"Just for the record, I believe people call this tower Mirage Tower...cause they thought it was just a mirage. Up until about five minutes ago, I would have agreed...I don't know what to believe now. Anyway, we should probably bring out one of our pokemon just incase there's..." Alex was interrupted before he could finish by the sound of something growling up ahead. Looking past May, he could see a small orange creature that stood on four legs and had a head that seemed larger than its body. It also had a mouth that seemed to go almost all the way around its head. May had stopped in her tracks and was reaching for a pokeball.

"...Guess there are pokemon here. Go figure." Alex said as he caught up to May.

"It doesn't look very happy to see us either." May said a bit nervously. She held up one of her pokeballs and clicked the button to release the pokemon inside.

"Well I'm going to catch it anyway! Lets go, Pelipper!" The pokeball May was holding opened up, releasing a red beam of energy which formed into a green and white feathered pelican pokemon that was May's Pelipper. The pokemon appeared flying in front of May.

"Good choice." Alex commented. "That pokemon is Trapinch, a ground type pokemon that lives in the desert. It'll be weak to water attacks."

"Well that makes things easier! Pelipper, use Water Gun!" Pelipper opened its mouth and fired a small, steady stream of water towards the Trapinch, pinning the pokemon against the far wall of the tower. The Trapinch didn't stay pinned for long, however, as it started pushing back against the stream of water, and was actually gaining some ground and slowly making its way towards Pelipper.

"Wow, thats a pretty strong pokemon..." May commented as she watched Trapinch pushing back against Pelipper's attack

"Alright then, Pelipper hit it with a Steel Wing!" Pelipper stopped spraying water and flew towards Trapinch, its wings seeming to take on a chrome-like appearance. Just as Pelipper was getting in range to attack, however, Trapinch made a short jump forward and latched onto Pelipper's right wing with its powerful jaws and clamped down tightly, causing Pelipper to turn to the right and crash into the ground with the Trapinch still clamped down on its wing.

"Pelipper use Water Gun again and try to shake it off!" Pelipper turned its head to face the Trapinch latched onto its wing and sprayed a burst of water at it while trying to shake the pokemon off.

"You should have kept up with the Water Gun attack in the first place. Then it might not have had any strength left when it finally reached Pelipper." Alex said, folding his hands behind his head as he watched May's Pelipper and the wild Trapinch fight.

"I don't need your advice to fight a wild pokemon, Alex!" May snapped back.

"Just saying..." Alex said with a shrug.

Pelipper, meanwhile, had finally managed to shake the Trapinch off its wing and had it pinned against the left side of the corridor by using its Water Gun attack. Trapinch was once again trying to push back against the stream of water, but by now the constant assault had weakened it and it wasn't putting up much of a fight.

"I think its weakening...now's as good a time as any!" May commented as she reached into her fannypack for a pokeball. She threw the ball at the wild Trapinch, and Pelipper stopped its attack just before the ball hit. The pokeball bounced off the side of the pokemon and landed on the floor. A red beam fired out of the pokeball, striking the Trapinch and pulling it inside the pokeball. The pokeball began to shake as Trapinch tried to break free, and shattered before it got the chance to lock shut, releasing the Trapinch.

"Guess it still has some fight in it afterall. Alright then, use another Water Gun Pelipper! I think we've almost got it!" Pelipper flapped its wings, finally lifting itself up off the sandy floor, and fired another stream of water at the Trapinch. The pokemon seemed ready for it this time, however, and rolled forward and out of the way of Pelipper's attack. It lunged towards Pelipper again and tried to bite it, but Pelipper swiftly moved out of the way. Trapinch kept lunging and trying to bite it, but Pelipper just kept moving out of the way.

"Pelipper, try hitting it with a Wing Attack when it tries to bite you!" Pelipper gave a nod, and as Trapinch leapt to try to bite Pelipper again it was quickly met by a hard strike from the side from one of Pelipper's wings. Trapinch slammed into the wall and fell to the floor, landing on its back. It struggled to flip itself back onto its feet.

"Alright, lets try this again!" May pulled another pokeball out of her fanny pack and tossed it at the helpless Trapinch. The pokeball bounced off the pokemon's stomach, and it was once again pulled inside. The pokeball landed on the floor and started shaking as the Trapinch tried to break free. May, Alex, and Pelipper watched as the pokeball struggled to keep the pokemon inside. After several tense moments, a click was heard as the pokeball closed tightly, sealing the Trapinch inside. The pokeball then glowed white and vanished.

"Alright! We caught Trapinch, Pelipper!" May exclaimed, raising her hand in the air triumphantly. Pelipper tried to mimic May, raising its wing up, but fell to the ground as it was no longer flapping its wings to stay up. May giggled and returned her pokemon to its pokeball.

"So how many does that make now?" Alex asked her. May folded her arms over her chest and thought about it.

_"Uhh...lets see...there's the six I have with me now...seven if I count the egg...and counting that Trapinch I just caught I have eight in storage...so thats..." _May unfolded her arms and turned to Alex.

"Fourteen, fifteen counting my egg, why?"

"Well lets see, counting your pokemon that evolved, that would be 22 total pokemon owned on your pokedex. You've been trying to catch pokemon to impress Professor Birch and Brendan, right?" Alex asked her.

"Well...uh...yeah...thats part of it I guess..." May said, twiddling her fingers as she thought about her previous encounter with them several days ago. Brendan bragged about how many more pokemon he had than she did, and Professor Birch wasn't really impressed with her pokedex either. She had been trying harder since then, but she still only had 22 pokemon recorded in her pokedex.

"Nothing...was just wondering, thats all. Anyway, now that thats over with lets keep going. I want to see if there's anything at all in this tower that could explain how it stays up and manages to go unnoticed on most days." Alex said as he walked past her. May paused for a moment, then followed behind him.

_"I wonder why he brought that up all of a sudden..." _May wondered.

Alex stopped near the end of the corridor and peeked around the corner. He peeked around the corned while May waited behind him.

"Don't see anymore pokemon in the next corridor..." Alex took a step forward, but then he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. Near the wall where Pelipper had Trapinch pinned by a Water Gun attack, there was what seemed like a dent in the wall and a pile of mud on the floor.

_"Looks like water can turn the sand this place is made out of into mud...I'll keep that in mind..."_ He thought to himself.

The two of them continued into the next corridor, and could see another corridor leading back in the direction they came from at the end of the one they just entered.

"Looks like this tower just goes around in circles..." Alex said, remembering the second corridor near the entrance.

"Well this is kinda...pointless. Oh well, at least I got a new pokemon..." May commented, taking a few steps forward. She then noticed a set of stairs going up on the left

side of the corridor.

"Hey, there's some stairs over there!" May said before running over to the bottom of the stairs. There was a bit of an indent in the wall where the stairs were hidden, which was why they didn't notice the stairs at first. May looked up the flight of stairs, and could see that they leveled out about fifteen feet up and could see a ceiling. Alex walked over to where May was to see for himself.

"So there is...I wonder how many floors there are? We didn't exactly get a good look at the place before we came inside."

"Well there's only one way to find out!" May said before running up the stairs, taking each step two at a time.

"May! Didn't your mother ever tell you NOT to run up the stairs!" Alex called after her, then ran up the stairs as well, clearly ignoring his own advice.

"No! We never had stairs at my old house!" May called back, also ignoring his advice. It didn't take them long to reach the top and found themselves in another sandy corridor. Alex was out of breath by the time he reached the top of the stairs.

"You shouldn't...run up stairs..." Alex said between breaths.

"This floor seems the same as the last floor...I wonder if that means there's another flight of stairs around the other side?" May said to herself, completely ignoring Alex. May took a few steps down the corridor then turned to Alex.

"Are you coming or are you just going to stand there?" She asked him. Alex sighed.

"Yeah I'm coming..." Alex replied. The two of them continued on their way through the tower corridor, with Alex trailing behind May.

_"Why am I travelling with her in the first place, again?"_ Alex thought to himself.

_"Right, cause I couldn't bring myself to say no and it seemed better than travelling alone. Well, I guess thats true actually. I mean, if I was travelling alone I probably wouldn't even be in Mirage Tower right now and I wouldn't have the opportunity to find out just what the deal with this place is. Given the choice again, I guess my answer would still be the same."_

The two of them reached the end of the corridor, which of course connected to another corridor. Just like the previous floor, the second floor of Mirage Tower was just a series of sandy corridors that were connected like a square. This corridor was no different than any other corridor they passed by, except the floor seemed to be cracked. Neither Alex nor May thought much of it though.

As May took another step down the corridor, however, her foot punched through the floor! May let out a cry in surprise as her foot fell through the floor, but Alex grabbed her and pulled her back before she could fall through.

"You ok, May?"

"Yeah, thanks..." May said, giving a sigh of relief.

"Floor must be weaker here..." Alex commented. "Lets try going the other way." May gave a nod in response, and the two of them backtracked, going down the opposite corridor. They noticed the same thing in that corridor, however. The floor was cracked, and they didn't dare take another step forward.

"Guess we can't go any further." May said with a sigh.

"Darn...I really wanted to see what was at the top too..."

"I wonder if this is supposed to be some kind of a test or obstacle..." Alex wondered out loud.

"Huh? Whats that supposed to mean?" May asked, looking at Alex with a puzzled expression.

"Well, whatever this place is supposed to be, its obviously manmade, cause last I checked pokemon didn't build structures like this. Whoever built this place might have meant this to be some kind of an obstacle to keep people away from whatever's at the top, or as a test."

"Wow...thats kind of a farfetched theory...and coming from you no less!" Alex smirked.

"Well, doesn't the rest of this tower seem to be in pretty good shape compared to the floor here? Though I admit the existance of this place doesn't make any sense to me...it'd make even less sense for the floor here to be weaker than anywhere else on this level of the tower. Which means there's probably something fairly worthwhile at the top. Or maybe some kind of an ancient secret that someone wanted to protect. In any case, I think we can get past here. We just need to make our own way across."

"So...what your saying is, we need to make ourselves a bridge or something?" May asked. Alex gave a nod.

"And I think I might be able to use Azumarill's Ice Beam to give us an ice bridge of sorts."

"But how big would it have to be?"

"No idea, but I'd say we should at least go from here to the end of this corridor." Alex grabbed the pokeball from his belt containing Azumarill, then turned around with his back to the weakened floor and released Azumarill from its pokeball. Azumarill stretched, then peered around its unfamiliar surroundings.

"Azumarill, the floor up ahead isn't safe. I need you to make us a bridge with your Ice Beam attack." Azumarill turned towards its trainer, then looked at the floor ahead of it. It gave a nod, then moved forward and stood next to Alex. It fired a light blue ray from its mouth, aiming at the floor in front of it. The floor quickly became covered in ice about a foot in diameter. Azumarill moved its Ice Beam across the room, creating a foot wide bridge going all the way across. It then made several more passes, widening and thickening the bridge each time.

"Alright, that should be good, thanks Azumarill." Alex said after the third pass. Azumarill stopped its attack, then saluted Alex.

"So now how do we get across without breaking our necks?" May asked.

"Very carefully. Might be best if we crawled across one at a time." Alex replied. He returned Azumarill to its pokeball, then got down on his hands and knees and started to crawl across the ice bridge. Because the ice was helping to support his weight, the floor wasn't collapsing under him. After a few minutes of crawling, Alex had finally reached the other side and May started crawling across the ice as well, which felt cold on her bare knees.

Alex examined the next corridor, and found another stairs leading up. He also noted that the floor didn't have any signs of cracking like the one he just crossed. He took a few steps into the corridor, testing the floor to see if it showed any signs of breaking, which it didn't.

"Phew, made it!" May said as she reached the end of the ice bridge and got back up on her feet.

"There's another stairs ahead, and the floor looks safe." Alex said.

"Great! Lets go see whats on the next floor then!" May ran off ahead of Alex, once again running up the stairs.

"May! Don't..." Alex started, then sighed. "Nevermind..." Alex started up the stairs as well, taking his time and walking up the stairs instead of running to catch up with May.

"Hey! We're at the top!" Alex heard May shouting above. Hearing that, Alex decided to run up the stairs to catch up to her. The room at the top of the stairs where May wasn't very big, and the only way out of the room was by going back down the stairs. There were a few holes in the wall that resembled windows, but they were too small to fit through. In the center of the room was a large block of sand which had what appeared to May to be two fossils of some sort.

"Fossils? Thats it?" May said in disappointment. Alex took a closer look at the fossils when he finally reached the top. He took out his pokenav and clicked a few buttons on it, then held it over each fossil until it beeped.

"They're pokemon fossils...ones a fossil of an Anorith...and ones a Lileep..." Alex said, putting his pokenav back on his belt.

"What good are pokemon fossils? Besides selling them to a museum..."

"Devon has some scientists working on ways to revive pokemon from fossils. If we take these fossils to them we can probably get them revived, and then we'd have two ancient pokemon. Not many people would have ever heard of these pokemon, let alone know how to fight them."

"Really? So I'd have a pokemon that Brendan is unlikely to ever get his hands on?" Alex gave a nod.

"Exactly, and since there's two that means one for each of us." May stepped forward next to Alex to look over the fossils. She reached out to pick up the one Alex's pokenav identified as being Lileep. The tower began to shake violently as May touched the fossil, knocking both trainers off balance. They steadied themselves against the block the fossils were on to keep from falling over, and the tower stopped shaking as May let go of the fossil.

"What was that!"

"Must be some kinda defence mechanism...or something." Alex looked around the tower, then back at the fossils.

"Now it makes sense...whoever...or whatever built this place wanted to keep anyone from getting to these fossils for some reason. Probably some ancient culture or something that saw the fossils and thought they were bones from monsters or something, since they likely wouldn't have seen any pokemon like these. Though that still doesn't answer how they built this place. I'm willing to bet, though, that if we try to take these fossils the entire tower is going to collapse."

"So then...we can't take them then?" May asked him.

"Not easily...not unless we can get out of here before the tower collapses." Alex replied.

"Any ideas?" Alex took a quick look around the room, then focused on a small window on the wall in front of them.

"I think we can use our pokemon's water attacks to widen that hole. Then we could easily grab the fossils and escape out there."

"Worth a shot I guess...but what makes you think it'll work?" May said as she grabbed Pelipper's pokeball from her belt.

"Earlier when you were battling that Trapinch, I noticed Pelipper's Water Gun attacked turned part of the wall into mud, so we should be able to blast away around the window with Water Gun." Alex replied, reaching for Azumarill's pokeball.

"Well in that case...Pelipper, go!"

"Azumarill, go!" The two trainers called out their pokemon, and both pokemon appeared standing next to each other on the other side of the fossils.

"Pelipper, use your Water Gun attack to widen that hole!" May commanded, pointing to the hole in front of them.

"You too Azumarill!" Alex called out. Both pokemon nodded and simultaneously fired off their Water Gun attacks at the hole. Their attacks seemed to blast parts of the wall out the hole, slowly widening it. As the hole got wider, Alex and May could see the sandstorm was still raging just as furiously as before outside.

"Great, we're going to be jumping straight into that sandstorm again..." Alex muttered.

"Maybe we should wait then?"

"Forget it. We'll get out on Skarmory and fly over the sandstorm. We can get out of the desert easily that way too."

It only took a couple of minutes of blasting the wall with their Water Gun attacks for the two pokemon to make a hole wide enough for Skarmory to fly through. They could also see now that the tower seemed to be just about as high as the sandstorm was.

"Great job, Azumarill. Return!"

"You too, Pelipper!" Alex and May returned their two pokemon to their pokeballs. They placed the pokeballs on their belt, and Alex grabbed Skarmory's pokeball.

"Skarmory, go!" Alex shouted as he brought the pokeball forward and released Skarmory. Skarmory appeared and didn't look overly happy to see them, but it didn't immediately attack them either.

"Skarmory, when we grab these fossils this entire place is going to come down, so you're going to have to fly us out of here so we can make a quick getaway." Alex said to the pokemon. Skarmory just seemed to glare at them.

"...Please?" Skarmory seemed to shrug and turned its back to them, then lowered itself to the ground to let them on.

"Thanks, Skarmory." Alex said, then turned to May.

"Alright, we'll get on Skarmory and then grab the fossils from its back at the same time. We should then be able to get out of here before the entire place comes down." May gave a nod, and the two of them climbed onto Skarmory's back. Skarmory then turned so both Alex and May could reach the fossils. The two trainers each placed their hands on one, Alex reaching for the Anorith fossil and May reaching for the Lileep fossil. They hesitated for a moment, then both grabbed a fossil. As predicted, the tower began shaking uncontrolably and the walls and ceiling started to crack.

"Skarmory, lets get out of here!" Skarmory spread its wings and ran towards the large hole, diving straight down into the sandstorm as the tower collapsed behind them. As Skarmory neared the ground it started to pull up out of its dive, skimming the ground before rising up above the sandstorm. Alex and May watched the tower collapse into the sand, creating a giant cloud of dust, and the sandstorm below them actually died down a bit to what would be about normal.

"Guess there was also some connection between the tower and the sandstorm..." Alex said.

"Seems there's some things science can't explain, huh Alex?" May said, smirking slightly.

"I still refuse to believe that..." Alex replied, turning his back to her.

"Hey Skarmory, feel like taking us to Mauville?" Skarmory squawked in response to Alex's question, and started to set down near the desert exit closest to Mauville.

"Heh...guess not..."


	25. Chapter 18: Back to the Beginning

Author's Notes: I doubt anyone noticed, but I went back and changed Vince to Vito. Turns out there's a Cooltrainer Vito on Victory Road that I forgot about and its hinted that he's a Winstrate . 

Chapter probably seems to jump around a bit. I actually didn't intend to show much of their trip, mainly just wanted to focus on the scenes in the towns.

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Eighteen:**

**Back to the Beginning**

"We could head west through Verdanturf, a fairly long route. We could also head south towards Slateport, then go west through the route just north of there. We'd just have to cross the strait, and we'd north of Oldale. Easily the quickest route. Or we can go back the way we came, going to Slateport and taking the ferry to Dewford, and then taking another ferry from Dewford to near Petalburg. That'd take us a few days though. I'd rather take the quickest route myself, how about you May?" Alex looked up from his pokenav to the girl sitting across the table from him.

"Sounds fine to me." May replied, though she didn't seem to be paying much attention to Alex. She was busy browsing through her pokedex.

"I need to catch more pokemon..." May said, closing her pokedex and placing it on the table. She picked up her glass of milk and took a sip of it, idly gazing around the restaurant they had stopped at for breakfast. It was the same place they ate the last time they were in Mauville.

"Considering how close we'll be to Littleroot, there's a chance we might run into Brendan or Professor Birch on our way to Petalburg."

"I know...I want to go to Littleroot anyway. I haven't even talked to my mom since I left. I bet she's worried sick about me, and I'm likely to run into Birch in Littleroot..." May sighed. With only 22 pokemon recorded in her pokedex, she didn't have nearly as many as Brendan had the last time she saw him, and he likely caught more since then.

"Mind if I take a look?" Alex asked her. May absent mindedly shoved her pokedex towards him. Alex picked it up and turned it on, holding it below the edge of the table so May wouldn't see what he was doing with it.

"Its not that bad really..." Alex said as he pretended to be scrolling through it. He took a cable out of his pocket and hooked it up to May's pokedex, the other end was already connected to his pokenav. He reached for his pokenav and pressed a few buttons. The screen on May's pokedex went black and the word 'Loading' appeared in the middle of the screen. After a while, the screen returned to the top of the list in May's pokedex, which now showed Treecko and Grovyle in addition to May's Torchic and Combusken. Alex pulled out the cable and closed the pokenav, then handed it back to May.

"Give it some more time and I'm sure you'll have a pretty good pokedex, though I guess time isn't really on your side at the moment, huh?" May took her pokedex back and placed it on her belt.

"No...but I guess I'll just have to accept I won't have a good pokedex this time either. But just you wait!" May quickly stood up, raising her hand in the air.

"I'm going to catch more pokemon than Birch could ever hope to catch! I'll fill out my entire pokedex if I have to! I'll..." By this point, May realized everyone else in the cafe was staring at her like she was crazy. May quietly sat back down in her seat.

"Next time we're in Mauville...we're going to a different cafe..." Alex said with a light chuckle, shaking his head.

"Sorry...I guess I get a bit carried away sometimes...so I guess we're leaving now?" Alex nodded in response to May's question, and she quickly finished the rest of her milk abd placed the empty glass on her tray. They both picked up their respective backpacks and left the restaurant without another word.

"So we're going straight to Oldale then?" May asked. The two of them had left Mauville shortly after leaving the restaurant, and were heading south on Route 110.

"Pretty much. We head south until we reach Route 103, then head west down that route. Then its just a matter of getting across the strait and we'll be north of Oldale."

"So that means...two routes to pass through, both probably having the same pokemon..."

"Well you don't have a Minun, May, and I'm pretty sure there's Poochyena around here." Alex could tell May was at least a little upset about having what she thought to be a small pokedex, but he didn't want her to find out about what he did to her pokedex. Not yet anyway.

"You already have a Minun!" May shot back. "I don't want to catch the same pokemon you already have."

"Why's that?"

"It'd seem like I was copying you since we've been travelling together the past while." Alex rolled his eyes.

"First you say you'd be willing to 'complete' the pokedex to beat Brendan, but now you won't catch a pokemon you don't have just because I have it? You know, we won't always be travelling together."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" May asked, stopping and looking over at Alex. Alex stopped as well.

"We're trainers. Someday, our journeys are going to come to an end, and we'll probably go our separate ways."

"Oh come on, Alex! Its not like we'll stop being friends, right?" May replied with a smile. Alex stared at her for a moment, as if lost in thought.

"...Heh, yeah, sorry. Don't know what I was thinking." Alex replied with a laugh. May folded her arms over her chest and glared at him.

"You had to think about that...is there something you're not telling me? Besides just about everything about you."

"Uh...no! I just...didn't realize how my question sounded!" May seemed to consider Alex's answer for a moment.

"...If you say so. Why don't you ever tell me anything about yourself though? We've been travelling together for a while now and I still only really know your name! Can I at LEAST know your last name?"

"My last name?" Alex turned his back to May as he thought about that.

_"This is really something I should have thought of a long time ago..."_ Alex thought to himself, his eyes darting around for some kind of inspiration for a name. He spotted a man riding a bike with a griffin tattooed on his arm, but ignored it.

"Yeah, you know, that second name everyone has..." May said, rolling her eyes.

"I know what a last name is..." Alex replied. He briefly glanced up at the sky.

_"...That'll work."_

"My last name...is kinda embarassing. I'll only tell you if you promise not to laugh."

"Ok then...I promise I won't laugh..." May said, tilting her head to the side. She wasn't sure if Alex actually intended to tell her, or if he was just pulling her leg.

"...Sky. My last name is Sky."

"Sky? I don't see whats so embarassing about that..."

"Yeah, Alex Sky." Alex said, turning to face her. "I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. Anyway, lets get going already! We've been stopped here long enough." Alex started off down the route, but May paused for a minute, desperately trying to figure out what was so embarassing about the name 'Alex Sky'. She eventually gave up and ran to catch up with Alex.

It took the two of them most of the day to reach the lake. They had stopped for a short break near the beginning of Route 103 under the cycling road to eat and feed their pokemon, and May was still trying to figure out why Alex thought his last name was embarassing. Alex refused to tell her because he thought it was funny watching her try to figure it out. May wasn't sure if there was some kind of meaning behind the words, or if Alex was just embarassed by his last name being Sky. By the time they got to the lake, it was the middle of the afternoon.

"Its not really that long..." May said as looked across the strait.

"Lets swim across!" She suggested.

"Sw-swim? As in...in the water?" Alex asked nervously.

"Well where else do you swim?" May replied, rolling her eyes.

"You're acting really strange today Alex..."

"Well its just...uh...you see...the water is filled with Carvanah!" Alex said with a nervous laugh.

"And besides, how do you expect to swim over carrying all your stuff anyway? Especially your egg. And I don't think either of us have a pokemon that could help us cross like that."

"Oh...right..." May looked over her shoulder at the large pokemon egg that was still nestled safely in the backpack she bought to carry it in.

"So how are we going to get across then?" She said looking back to Alex.

"Well...I'm kinda hoping I could convince Skarmory to take us across. Though he seems to have gotten over his hatred towards us, I don't think he's overly willing to help us yet."

"Well he helped us get out of Mirage Tower, didn't he?"

"Yeah, and then he dropped us outside the desert when I asked him to take us to Mauville." Alex took Skarmory's pokeball from his belt, and held it in his hand for a moment. He then turned around, facing away from the river, and clicked the button to open the pokeball, releasing Skarmory. The steel bird pokemon appeared standing before them and stretched its wings. It turned to Alex, looking at him with its usual hateful stare.

"I know your probably not happy to see us again so soon..." Alex said to Skarmory. There was a loud clank as Skarmory opened and closed its mouth in response.

"...but we kinda need your help again to get across the water." Alex gestured towards the expanse of water before him.

"Please?" Skarmory looked out at the water, then at Alex and May, but didn't seem to give a response.

"Pretty please?" May asked, giving her best puppy-dog eyes expression. Skarmory just glared back at her. Alex leaned closer to her and whispered.

"I don't think thats helping..."

"I want to go home and see my mom though..." May replied, not bothering to whisper. Skarmory, upon hearing that, moved closer to the two and knelt down like it usually did to let them on its back.

"Well that worked!" Alex said with a laugh. May shot him a look before climbing onto Skarmory's back. Alex rubbed the back of his head in embarassment before hopping on in front of May.

"Alright, lets go!" Alex shouted, pointing towards the other side of the strait. Skarmory flapped its wings, lifting itself off the ground then flying out over the water. Alex could feel himself growing nervous as they flew out over the water, but he tried not to show any signs of it. Skarmory was flying only a few feet above the water. He tried to keep focused on the other side of the strait far ahead of them.

May, however, wasn't very nervous at all. She actually felt a bit more secure knowing that if she fell off Skarmory somehow, at least she wouldn't fall far and would only fall in the water anyway. May looked down at the water and could see groups of various fish pokemon and Tentacool swimming around as they sped by, but she didn't see any of the Carvannah that Alex said were in there. May wished she could catch some of the pokemon she saw swimming around.

It didn't take Skarmory long at all to fly across the strait, and soon Skarmory came to a stop, hovering over the sandy shore on the other side of the strait, before finally setting down with a thud. Alex and May jumped off Skarmory's back, though Alex seemed a bit wobbly on his feet.

"Thanks Skarmory. I'll try not to bother you for a while..." Alex said as he recalled the pokemon and placed the pokeball back on his belt. May looked back at the water they just crossed over.

"I bet there's a bunch of pokemon swimming around in there that I haven't caught yet..." May said with a sigh, still thinking about her pokedex.

"If you had a rod you could try to catch them." Alex said to her. "Anyway, lets get going, we're almost to Oldale." Alex started off towards Oldale, leaving the sandy beach and moving onto the grassy field. May stared out at the water for a moment longer, thinking about the fish-like pokemon she saw swimming around before slowly following behind Alex. She pushed away thoughts of her pokedex, instead thinking about how surprised her mom and dad would be to see her home again.

"I think I'm going to stay home at least for a day..." May said as she finally caught up with Alex.

"It'll be great to finally sleep in my own bed instead of a hotel! I've actually been in Mauville more than my own home in Littleroot!" May said with a giggle.

"I take it you're exaggerating..." Alex replied.

"Nope! I left home the day after arriving in Hoenn and got Torchic my first day here. In fact, my first day in Hoenn was the same day I met you..."

"We also went our separate ways that day. Or rather, you fell behind."

"I still managed to catch up with you in Slateport though!" May stuck her tongue out at him.

"And then I beat you in a pokemon battle." Alex replied with a smug look on his face.

"Don't get cocky! I'm going to beat you next time! I'll make sure I have a Heracross next time I battle you too." Alex's grimmaced when May mentioned Heracross.

"Still can't believe I lost to someone like Vito...but he did have powerful pokemon." Alex said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Whats the Safari Zone like anyway?" May asked him.

"Safari Zone?" Alex thought for a moment. "Oh, the place where I said you can find Heracross. Its basically a pokemon reserve of sorts. You can go in there for a small fee to try to catch pokemon, but you're not allowed to fight them with your own pokemon."

"What! Then how are you supposed to catch them?"

"Any way possible. I heard you can even throw rocks at them if you want to. Safari Zone pokemon won't attack you, but they won't stick around if they feel threatened either. There's a lot of pokemon in the Safari Zone that you won't find anywhere else in Hoenn. Many pokemon were brought to the Safari Zone because there were so few of them in the wild and people were worried they might disappear from Hoenn altogether. Pokemon in the Safari Zone are safe from any outside influences but can still be caught by trainers."

"So I can find pokemon in the Safari zone that I can't find anywhere else...I can't wait to go there!" May shouted excitedly.

"Well we'll kinda be heading in that direction anyway."

The two of them had arrived in the small town of Oldale while they were talking. The town hadn't changed a bit since the last time they were there. Just a small town with only a few shops and, of course, the ever so necessary pokecenter. The two of them finally came to a stop next to the pokecenter.

"You know, it just occurred to me...you're going to continue on to Petalburg to face my father aren't you Alex?" May asked him.

"Yeah, and you're going back to Littleroot...guess this is where we split up, just like when we first met."

"Kinda funny, isn't it? We're back where we started and going our separate ways..."

"We'll probably meet up again eventually." Alex said. "Fate seems to have decided to torture me like that."

"HEY! Just whats that supposed to mean!" May shouted back, clenching her fist.

"Relax! I'm just kidding!" Alex replied nervously, holding his hands in front of him.

"You better be! Besides, you're lucky you get the privelege of travelling with someone like me." May said, brushing one side of her hair back.

"Right...lucky. Anyway, I should be going now...I want to try to get to Petalburg and challenge your dad today."

"Alright...guess I'm just holding you up, huh?" May said with a slight laugh.

"Guess you are. Anyway, I'll see you around, May." Alex turned and started to walk west from the pokecenter towards Route 102.

"Hey, wait!" May called out to him. Alex stopped and turned toward her.

"Huh? What is it, May?"

"Alex, I want you to wait for me in Petalburg!"

"Err...you want me to what?" Alex asked in bewilderment.

"I want you to promise me you won't leave Petalburg until I get my badge too!" Alex thought over May's request for a moment.

"So you want me to wait for you in Petalburg so we can travel together again..." May nodded.

"...Alright. I promise I'll wait for you in Petalburg. You better not keep me waiting long though."

"I'll try not to." May replied, sticking her tongue out. "Anyway, bye Alex!" Alex waved before heading off towards Route 102. May watched him walking away for a while, before finally starting on her way south towards Littleroot.

_"Alex better keep his promise..." _She thought to herself.

_"Travelling alone was so...quiet and boring. Besides, I still have to beat him in a battle!"_

Oldale wasn't very far from Littleroot, so it was a relatively short walk for May and before long she was standing outside her house. Her house actually seemed a bit unfamiliar to her. She had only spent one night in her new home before leaving on her journey. As she opened the door, she could smell something cooking.

"Hello? Mom?" May called out into the house. She slipped her shoes off, leaving them on the carpet by the front door.

"May? Is that you?" May heard her mother from the kitchen. May walked down the hall and went into the kitchen. Her mother was standing in front of the stove near a large pot of boiling water.

"Oh! It is you May! I wasn't expecting you'd be home!" Her mother said as May walked into the kitchen. Her mother immediately dropped what she was doing and hugged her.

"I was in the area so I thought I'd drop by for a while!" May said, hugging her mother back.

"You should really call home once in a while, May! Your father and I worry about you!" Her mother said, placing her hands on her daughter's shoulders.

"Sorry mom, I just never really thought about it...I've been fine though! Besides, I had Torchic with me and I've caught a bunch of other pokemon too!"

"I'm glad to hear that..." Her mother stood up and went back over to the stove.

"Your just in time for dinner too, May. Though I guess I should put more spaghetti on now that you're here!" Her mother said, reaching for a package of dry spaghetti and emptying it into the pot of boiling water.

"Spaghetti! I love spaghetti!" May cried excitedly.

"Oh I know...you always used to love pasta. I usually have to make a lot of it because you tend to go back for seconds, and thirds, and fourths..." May blushed slightly in embarasment. She usually overate when it came to pasta.

"By the way...whats in your backpack May?" Her mother asked her. "I don't remember you having that when you left home."

"Huh? Oh! Its a pokemon egg!" May took the backpack off and set it gently on the floor. She opened it up and took the blue pokemon egg out and held it up for her mother to see.

"Thats a pokemon egg?" Her mother asked, looking at the egg. "You could make a pretty big omlette with that..."

"MOM! You're not making an omlette with my egg!" May shouted, clutching the egg close to her.

"I would never do that, sweetie!" Her mother replied, smiling sweetly. She went back to attending the food, lifting the lid on a second pot filled with tomato sauce and meatballs and adding a bit of seasoning to it. May put the pokemon egg in her backpack and picked it up, carrying it instead of putting it back on her back.

"I'm heading up to my room. Call me down when its ready!" May said to her mother before leaving the kitchen. She went upstairs and into her room, then set the backpack down on the floor. She took one of her pillows off her bed and placed it on the floor at the foot of her bed. She then took her egg out of the backpack and placed it on the pillow.

"There, you should be fine there!" She said to it. She then grabbed her tv remote off the desk her computer was on and turned on her tv.

"Its great to be home, for at least a little while." May said to herself, lying down on her bed and watching tv. She decided to take a quick look over her pokedex, though, as she planned to see Professor Birch at some point during her stay in Littleroot, and she was still a bit upset about only having 22 pokemon caught. What she saw on her pokedex, however, surprised her.

"Huh? 37 pokemon?" May scrolled through the list to try to figure out where the other 15 came from.

"Treecko? Grovyle? These aren't my pokemon..." May scrolled further through the list, and soon realized all of Alex's pokemon were registered in her pokedex, even though they weren't earlier that day.

"That jerk..." May muttered, a slight smile crossing her face.

"He must have loaded his pokedex onto mine when I wasn't looking somehow...he could have at least said something...I wonder why he did that though?" May turned her pokedex off and placed it back on her belt, then turned her attention back to the tv. A pokemon contest in Lilycove was being aired.

"Wonder if Alex managed to beat dad..."

"What...the...heck?" Alex looked around from the entrance to Petalburg, confused by what he saw. Local police officers seemed to be out in force, and were questioning local citizens. Alex quietly snuck closer to one officer, who was questioning an old lady, and hid in a nearby alleyway. The poice officer was holding a yellow notebook and was writing things down.

"And you didn't see where he went?" The officer asked her.

"No sir...he just ran around the corner with his Mightyena and disappeared. I haven't seen him since..." The officer wrote this down.

"Alright, thanks for your time mam..." The officer tipped his hat and walked off. Alex stepped out of the alley.

"A man with a Mightyena huh? I wonder why the police are looking for this guy, whoever he is." Alex shrugged.

"Well whatever, not my concern. Guess I should be careful though." Alex continued through Petalburg, intent on going to the gym, but decided to take a detour through the back of town away from where all the police were. He figured whoever it was they were looking for would be in the general area they were searching. He ducked through an alley, taking a route around the edge of town towards the gym.

"Wonder if I should have a pokemon out...just to be safe..." Alex said to himself as he walked.

"Yes...that would have been a good idea...wouldn't it?" Alex heard a familiar voice behind him. Alex quickly grabbed a pokeball and turned around, coming face to face...with Detective Dirk.

"...Detective Dork. I was starting to think I finally managed to lose you too."

"I haven't been following you for a while now...because I've finally realized the truth..." Dirk said, snickering. He then realized what Alex called him.

"And its DIRK damn it! D-I-R-K! DIRK!"

"Whatever you say..." Alex smirked. "So whats this 'truth' you claim to have realized?"

"I've realized...that all trainers are criminals...the gym leaders and the Elite 4 are criminals...all are just one big criminal organization...hiding behind two smaller criminal organizations...everyone is a suspect...and only I, the great Detective Dirk, can bring them all to JUSTICE!" Dirk then started cackling like a madman.

_"...Guess I figured out who the police are after then."_ Alex thought to himself.

_"Sheesh. Dork always was a few cards short, but now he's lost the entire deck."_

"And you...Alex..." Dirk said as he finally calmed down. "You and your girlfriend...are the ones orchestrating it all! I will put an end to you right now, and then she's next, wherever she is! I will make sure all you trainers are brought to justice!" Dirk reached into his trenchcoat and grabbed a pokeball.

"Well that settles it...you're nuts, I'm NOT a criminal, May's NOT my girlfriend, and you don't stand a ghost of a chance of beating me or even May, so you can forget about challenging gym leaders or the Elite 4. Not that it matters what I say to you because you've completely lost it and won't listen to reason." Alex brought up the pokeball he was holding.

"Lets teach this guy a lesson once and for all, Grovyle!" Alex pressed the button to release his pokemon, and Grovyle appeared kneeling on the ground with its arms crossed.

"Heh heh heh...everything is going according to plan..." Dirk pressed the button on the pokeball he was holding and threw it to the ground.

"Pelipper, lets take this guy down!" The ball split open as it hit the ground, releasing a blue and white feathered pelican pokemon.

_"Pelipper? Funny, he usually sends out his Poochyena first...and his Poochyena has likely evolved too. Doesn't matter I guess, I'll beat him anyway..."_

"Pelipper, use Water Pulse!"

"Grovyle, use Quick Attack and jump!" Dirk's Pelipper fired blue rings of water towards Grovyle, but Grovyle shot straight up into the air to avoid the attack.

"Now come down on it hard with Leaf Blade!" A green blade formed on Grovyle's forearm and it started to plummet back towards the ground. Grovyle came down towards Pelipper and gave it a good hard slash with its blade, knocking Pelipper straight into the ground from the force of the attack, while Grovyle landed gracefully behind it. Pelipper struggled to get up off the ground, but to no avail. The pokemon slumped over, unconcious. Defeated in a single attack. Dirk didn't look even remotely concerned, however.

"Oh darn...my Pelipper was defeated...whatever shall I do now?" Dirk snickered as he picked up Pelipper's pokeball and recalled his pokemon. He put the pokeball back in his trenchcoat, and pulled out another.

"Now its your turn, Loudred!" Dirk released his Loudred behind Grovyle, and a purple pokemon with a large mouth and what looked like speakers for ears appeared with its back to Grovyle.

"You should quit while you're ahead and just give yourself up." Alex said to Detective Dirk. Dirk just snickered.

"Why would I quit now...when I have you right where I want you?"

"What are you talking about?" Dirk grinned, and seemed to have a wild look in his eyes.

"Mightyena! Now!" He shouted.

"What?" Alex looked behind him and saw Dirk's Mightyena rushing towards him. Grovyle turned and saw it too and tried to get to Alex, but was caught off guard by Loudred's fist hitting it in the side of the head. Grovyle fell over, and Loudred pinned it to the ground, preventing it from getting anywhere near Alex. Alex reached for a pokeball to call out another pokemon, but he was moving too slow.

Mightyena bared its fangs, preparing to bite Alex. Just as it was getting close enough to bite him, however, a blast of mud struck Mightyena from behind, sending it sliding past Alex and into Loudred. Loudred was knocked off Grovyle, who immediately jumped back up on its feet. A Marshtomp ran up alongside Alex, followed by none other than Brendan Birch.

"Alex! You ok?" Brendan asked him.

"Yeah, I sure wouldn't be if you didn't show up though!" Alex replied.

"Damn you!" Dirk yelled. "I would have had him if you hadn't shown up!"

"Dirk, face it. You're just a washed up detective." Brendan said back to him. He then turned to Alex.

"What do you say we finish this guy off?"

"Couldn't agree more..." Alex replied. By this point, both Dirk's pokemon had gotten back on their feet, and Mightyena shook the mud off its fur.

"Grovyle, hit Loudred this way with a Leaf Blade!" Grovyle was more than happy to comply as it charged into the pokemon that had pinned it earlier, slashing the unprepared Loudred with its Leaf Blade and sending it staggering backwards towards Brendan's Marshtomp.

"Marshtomp, Tackle it back!" Marshtomp charged forward, slamming into Loudred and knocking it back towards Grovyle. Mightyena had stopped shaking the mud off by now.

"Mightyena, attack that kid's Grovyle! Loudred, don't let yourself get knocked around like that!" Dirk called out. He was actually starting to get worried now that his plan had failed.

"Grovyle, knock Loudred into Mightyena with a Pound attack!" Grovyle glanced towards Mightyena with a look of hatred in its eyes, and smashed Loudred into the hyena-like pokemon sending them both sprawling to the ground on top of each other.

"Finish them with Ice Beam, Marshstomp!" Marshtomp stood up on its hind legs and fired a blue beam from its mouth. The beam struck Dirk's pokemon and froze both of them in a giant block of ice. Dirk grumbled and recalled his frozen pokemon. He placed the pokeballs back in his trenchcoat and pulled out the remaining three.

"I will not be defeated!" Dirk cried out as he released his three remaining pokemon. The mushroom pokemon Shroomish had evolved into Breloom, which stood on two legs and had a more humanoid appearance. It also had a long tail with several green spores on the end and still had a mushroom on its head. It also had two arms with which it could deliver powerful punches. Numel, the small volcano-like pokemon, and Dustox, the purple moth-like poke were also among Dirk's remaining pokemon.

"Dirk really doesn't play by the rules..." Brendan muttered.

"I've noticed..." Alex said, reaching for another pokeball. He held it up and pressed the button to release the pokemon inside it.

"I bet I know someone who'd be eager for a fight...Skarmory, go!" A red beam shot out from the pokeball Alex was holding, and Skarmory appeared standing before them. The pokemon was more than pleased to see it had an opponent to face instead of just ferrying Alex around.

"Breloom, spray them all with a Stun Spore!" Dirk's Breloom turned around and seemed to wag its tail, releasing a yellow cloud of spores into the air. Without any command from Alex, Skarmory flew through the Stun Spore cloud completely unaffected and grabbed Breloom's tail in its claws, then flew straight up. Dirk, Alex, and Brendan all watched as Skarmory flew straight up, carrying the helpless Breloom up with it.

"Thats one aggressive pokemon." Brendan commented.

"Well its already tried to kill me and May twice. Once before I caught it and once after." Alex replied. The two of them then turned their attention to Dirk's remaining pokemon.

"Alright, Marshtomp! Attack his Numel with Water Gun!"

"Grovyle, hit that Dustox with a Quick Attack!" Brendan's Marshtomp sprayed a stream of water from its mouth towards the unsuspecting Numel, while Alex's Grovyle charged towards Dirk's Dustox then shot towards it with a Quick Attack. Dirk turned his attention back to the battle too late to issue a command, and Numel was knocked back several feet by Marshstomp's Water Gun attack and Dustox was knocked to the ground as Grovyle slammed into it. Dustox immediately got back up, but Numel was pinned back by Water Gun. The pain it was feeling from the attack was too great for it to gain any ground.

"Dustox, hit that water pokemon with your Psybeam attack!"

"Marshtomp aim your Water gun at Dustox!" Marshtomp changed the target of its Water Gun attack to Dustox, but Dustox managed to fire off its Psybeam attack and pushed back against the Water Gun with a beam of psychic energy. Numel ran forward as it was no longer pinned down, stopping to rest near Dustox. Alex was about to command Grovyle to attack Numel when suddenly Breloom came plummeting down, striking both Dustox and Numel as it smashed into the ground. Skarmory rushed by over Alex and Brendan's heads as it pulled out of its dive, and neither of Dirk's pokemon were even remotely capable of battling. All three of them laid in a heap looking in pretty bad shape.

"Damn it! Useless pokemon!" Dirk shouted, recalling his three fallen pokemon. Skarmory finally came back around and landed in front of Alex and Brendan.

"Just you wait, Alex...I'll get stronger pokemon than you could ever imagine...and then I'll put an end to the criminal activities of all trainers! Just you wa-" Dirk was cut off as he was suddenly tackled from behind by two police officers. They both forced Dirk's hands behind and slapped a pair of handcuffs on him.

"Dirk Dawson, by order of the Petalburg Police Department you are under arrest!" One of the officers said.

"What! Get off me! You're one of them aren't you! I'll stop all you evil trainers! You hear me!"

"Save it for the judge!" The officers forced Dirk to his feet and started dragging him towards the police station. Alex, Brendan, Grovyle, and Marshtomp all stared in shock at the sudden turn of events. Skarmory wasn't at all interested, though.

"Dirk's finally lost it." Brendan finally said as the police were out of sight.

"No kidding..." Alex replied, then turned to face Brendan.

"Thanks for the save back there."

"No problem. I was watching you battle Dirk and it seemed like you needed some help. Even I never would have expected him to order his pokemon to attack you..."

"Yeah, seems like he's been causing a bit of a commotion around here, though I never did figure out just what he was up to. What brings you to Petalburg anyway?" Alex asked him.

"I came here to challenge Norman, just to see if I actually stood a chance against him. I haven't been collecting badges, just researching pokemon." Brendan replied.

"So how'd it go then?"

"Heh...I lost." Brendan rubbed the back of his head in embarassment, and Marshtomp looked a bit ashamed as it overheard its trainer talking.

"Norman's tough...way stronger than May. Speaking of May, where is she? Wasn't she travelling with you?"

"She's staying in Littleroot for a while to visit her family."

"I'll have to stop by Littleroot then I guess, see if she's gotten any better. Her dad is probably already on his way there actually."

"He is?" Alex looked at his watch. It was already past 5 pm, when all league-owned pokemon gyms closed.

"Well so much for challenging Norman today..." Alex muttered.

"Well there's always tomorrow. Anyway, I'm going to head to Littleroot." Brendan took out Marshtomp's pokeball and turned to his pokemon, who seemed like it had been having a conversation with Grovyle. Skarmory didn't seem interested in associating with either of them.

"We're going now, Marshtomp. Return!" Marshtomp gave a nod to its trainer, before it disappeared inside its pokeball. Brendan then turned back to Alex.

"It was interesting battling alongside you, Alex. Maybe I'll see you around sometime." Brendan said, extending his hand to Alex.

"I don't doubt we'll run into each other again, and it was great battling alongside you too." The two of them shook hands, then Brendan departed.

"Well, guess I'll just find something to eat then and check into a hotel for the night." Alex then looked at Grovyle at Skarmory, both of whom were looking back at him.

"Of course, I might as well feed you guys and the rest of my pokemon while I'm out here." Both of his pokemon responded with their respective cries, and Alex took the rest of his pokeballs off his belt.

A young girl with brown hair tied back into a ponytail was standing on a podium next to a small humanoid grass pokemon that seemed to have green and yellow leaves for a skirt and a pair of flowers on its head. It was apparently a pokemon called Bellossom, and the girl was its trainer. She was wearing a green t-shirt and striped green and yellow skirt to match her pokemon.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this contest's winner is none other than Lilycove's very own Suzy and her Bellossom!" A man announced. The contest May was watching on tv had just ended, and Suzy and her Bellossom had won.

"Suzy's Bellossom receives the Master Rank beauty ribbon for its victory, the highest rank a pokemon can receive! Congratulations, Suzy and Bellossom!" A red haired woman walked up to the podium and handed the ribbon to Suzy, who then carefully stuck it on her Bellossom's torso. The crowd gave a loud cheer, and the broadcast ended.

"Wow! That girl's Bellossom was soooo cute! I'll have to get one of my own someday!" May picked up her remote and started flipping through the channels, looking for something else to watch, stopping when she suddenly heard the front door open then close.

"Wonder who that is..." May turned off her tv and hopped off her bed, then went downstairs to see who just came in. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw her father standing in the doorway untying his shoes.

"Dad? What are you doing home?" She asked him. Her father looked up, surprised to see her.

"Well I live here, of course. Whats your excuse, stranger?" Her father said with a laugh, taking his shoes off and placing them on the carpet next to May's.

"Oh, very funny dad! I decided to stop home for a while since I was in the area!"

"And what brings you to this neck of the woods? You haven't four badges already have you?" May took her trainers card out of her pocket and showed it to him.

"Well I guess you have...then I guess you'll be looking to challenge me then next, huh?" Norman said to her, folding his arms over his chest.

"Yep, and I'm going to beat you too!"

"Well don't think I'll be taking it easy on you just because you're my daughter. You'll have to earn your badge just like every other trainer."

"Hey you two, dinners ready!" May's mother called out from the kitchen. May immediately rushed in and sat down at the table. Norman walked in behind her. May's mother met him at the entrance and the two of them kissed.

"How was your day, honey?" She asked him.

"The usual. Had a few challenges from trainers. Didn't hand out any badges today though. How was yours Caroline?"

"Oh nothing special..." She replied with a sigh. "Its just so quiet around here with May travelling around Hoenn, and you're at the gym all day..."

"Mom...I'm right here!" May interrupted.

"Oh sorry, dear!" Caroline replied sheepishly. "I'm just so used to you not being here..."

"Its alright, mom." May said, then went back to piling spaghetti onto her plate.

"We should sit down and eat before she takes it all." Her mother said. Norman and Caroline then sat across from each other at the table and put took their food from the two pots on the table. One was filled with tomato sauce and meatballs, the other with spaghetti. After filling their plates, everyone started eatting. Norman found himself distracted by May's eatting however. Before he could even take a bite of one of his meatballs, May was gobbling down her spaghetti like it would vanish.

"Does she...always...eat like that?" Norman asked his wife.

"Only when I make pasta." Caroline replied, who wasn't paying attention to May.

"I've been gone too long..." Norman said, still too preoccupied watching his daughter eat. She quickly finished her plate of spaghetti, then grabbed another heaping plate full of spaghetti and shoveled it into her mouth. She quickly finished that plateful of spaghetti, and grabbed yet another, emptying the pot. By the time May had finished her third helping, her mother had finally finished as well, and Norman had yet to start.

"That was good, mom..." May said, sighing happily as she lied back in her seat.

"I'm glad you liked it, dear." Her mother replied.

"Norman, aren't you going to eat?" Norman snapped out of his daze.

"Oh, sorry, yeah. Kinda got distracted...I've never seen anyone eat like that..." Norman then finally started to slowly eat his meal, enjoying every bite.

"I guess I'm just gifted!" May said. Norman nearly choked on a mouthful of spaghetti.

"By the way dad...did you happen to battle a boy named Alex today?" May then asked him. Norman swallowed his food.

"No, don't recall battling anyone by that name anyway, why?" Norman took another mouthful of spaghetti.

"Really? He was in a hurry to get to Petalburg to challenge you...oh well." May stood up and took her plate over to the sink.

"I think I'm going to take a shower and head to bed." May said as she left the kitchen.

"Night mom, night dad!" Norman waited until he heard May reach the top of the stairs, then turned to his wife.

"That IS our daughter, right?" He asked her.

"Thats her all right." She replied.

_"Alex didn't challenge my dad yet? I hope nothing happened to him..."_ May thought as she lied in bed, the lights already turned out.

_"Though I guess he probably just got delayed a bit...I mean, he didn't have much time to get there as it was, it wouldn't have taken much to make him miss his chance I guess..."_ May yawned.

_"He's probably fine...wouldn't be like Mr. Know-it-all to be caught off guard..."_ May closed her eyes, and started to drift off to sleep. Shortly after she fell asleep, the egg at the foot of her bed shook slightly, then fell over on its side on the pillow.


	26. Chapter 19A: Big Battle, Big Upset

Author's Notes: Been a bit distracted by D/P news lately. Anyway, I don't think anyone will be expecting what happens in this chapter. Also, was going to make this chapter include both Alex and May but I realized how long that'd be considering what I had planned for May was actually even longer than what I had planned for Alex, so this will be the first split chapter in a while.

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Nineteen (A):**

**Big Battle, Big Upset**

_"Norman uses normal type pokemon..."_ Alex thought as he picked his hat up off the bed in his hotel room. It was the next day, and Alex was mentally preparing himself for his upcoming battle with a gym leader as usual.

_"Facade is his signature attack...but that doesn't help me much...his pokemon could still throw just about anything at me." _Alex grabbed his belt off the bed, which had six pokeballs clipped to it containing his pokemon as well as his pokenav. He strapped the belt around his waist.

_"Normal types...they seem to be able to do just about everything. The only reason you'd want to use another type of pokemon is because they do it better. Doesn't help any that Norman is a skilled battler and has a Slaking. If it wasn't so lazy, Slaking could probably be the most powerful pokemon known." _Alex smirked slightly at that last thought as he sat down on his bed and pulled on his shoes.

_"Or at least...that most people would know of...I can think of at least two that make Slaking look like a wimp...but they won't see the light of day if I have anything to say about it." _Alex tied his shoes, then slung his backpack on his back.

_"Wonder who's better? May or her father?"_ Alex wondered. _"Its obvious where her battling skills come from...but I wonder if its possible she's gotten better than her father? Guess I'd find out if she was battling him first. Thats a battle I wouldn't mind seeing though." _

Alex got up off his bed and left the hotel room, closing the door behind him. He went down a hallway and then down a flight of stairs into the hotel lobby. He checked out at the front desk and paid for his room, then left the hotel. Once outside, Alex squinted against the morning sun.

_"Guess I should get something to eat first. No point battling on an empty stomach..."_ Alex looked up and down the relatively empty streets of Petalburg, then headed down the street to to a small coffee shop. Despite the streets being empty, the coffee shop was quite packed and Alex had to wait in line for a while.

When Alex finally made it to the front of the line, he ordered a toasted bagel and a large tea. The cashier gave Alex an odd look when he asked for tea, finding it odd that someone his age would drink tea, but didn't say a thing. Alex paid for his food, then sat down at a table near the windows. As he ate his bagel and drank his tea, he further contemplated his battle strategy.

_"Golem and Skarmory are practically a given...just as long as Skarmory actually waits for me to tell it what to do this time. Azumarill should be able to hold its own as well." _Alex looked out the window as he sipped his tea. Wasn't really much to see though, aside from people opening up their various businesses for the day. The Petalburg Gym would just be opening as well.

_"Alakazam is easily my strongest pokemon right now, and her psychic attacks should be able to inflict some serious pain to Norman's pokemon. His Slaking still worries me though...one good hit from that thing will send just about any of my pokemon reeling. I'll really have to be careful around it."_

As Alex stared out the window, he noticed a newspaper rack nearby. The first newspaper visible had a picture of some kind of body of water, with what seemed like a blurred image of a pokemon standing on the water. Underneath the picture was the heading 'Unknown Pokemon Seen Running Across Water Near Mauville!'.

Alex picked up the paper and took a closer look at the picture. Whatever the mystery pokemon was, was almost completely blurred, and looked as though it was running across the water. Alex couldn't make out too many details. It seemed to be yellow in color, with purple, black, and gray blurred in. It had a tail and seemed to be running on four legs. Alex couldn't think of any pokemon that would match it. He looked below the picture to read the article.

"An unknown pokemon was seen running across the water near the cycling road on Route 110, south of Mauville. The photograph, featured above, was taken by a pokemon photographer who was taking pictures of pokemon in the area when he saw the mysterious pokemon. The pokemon he saw was described as being a four legged beast with yellow fur, black markings, and what seemed like a purple mane on its back. The man said the pokemon seemed to be at least six feet tall." Alex looked back at the photo, then at the paper's date. It was yesterday's paper, which meant the pokemon sighting was the day before he and May passed through the area.

"What a load..." Alex muttered. "That picture could easily be a fake, and I wouldn't put it past the media to fake an unknown pokemon sighting to sell newspapers or get ratings." Alex folded up the newspaper and put it back in the rack.

"I don't doubt that there's still unknown pokemon in this world, maybe even in Hoenn, but that picture isn't overly convincing." Alex finished the rest of his tea, then looked at his watch.

"Well, time to get this over with...and then I can figure out what to do while I'm waiting for May. Maybe train my pokemon a bit or something. I should probably make a list of what to stock up on before heading towards Fortree." Alex left his plate at the table and threw his empty cup into the trash on his way out of the coffee shop, then headed for the gym once he got outside.

It wasn't long before Alex was standing outside the large building that was the Petalburg Gym, where May's dad was the gym leader. Alex looked up at the large sign above the gym door, then looked straight ahead at the door itself.

"Well...this is it." Alex said to himself.

"Feels kinda odd...first time I meet a friend's dad...and I have to battle him for a badge. Not turning back now though." Alex pushed the door open and entered the pokemon gym. Immediately upon entering the gym, he found a dojo-like battlefield stretched out before him. What seemed to be a wooden floor, with white markings to signify the battlefield. At the other side of the battlefield stood May's father, Norman Maple.

"Welcome, challenger, to the Petalburg Gym." Norman stated from the other side of the room.

"I am Norman, leader of this gym. I believe in balance being the key to victory, which is why I chose normal type pokemon."

"I'm Alex, from Rustboro." Alex said back to him.

"Alex? My daughter asked me if I battled someone named Alex yesterday..." Norman said thoughtfully.

"Heh...yeah...I kinda know her..." Alex replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

_"And I would have battled him yesterday if it wasn't for Dirk..."_ He then thought. _"Though come to think about it, it probably wouldn't have been fair to Norman to show up just before closing time anyway."_

"Then she'll no doubt want to know how this battle goes..." Norman said, a smirk forming on his lips as he reached for a pokeball attached to his belt.

"Wouldn't doubt it..." Alex replied, reaching for a pokeball as well. The two trainers simultaneously held up a pokeball and released their respective pokemon.

"Go, Spinda!"

"Golem, lets go!" A red beam fired out from each of their pokeballs and their pokemon appeared on their respective sides of the field. Alex's fully evolved rock pokemon Golem appeared in front of him, while a small brown and white teddy bear appeared on Norman's side of the field.

"Golem, start off with Rock Throw!" Alex's Golem thrust one of its arms forward, sending a shower of rocks towards Norman's Spinda.

"Spinda, deflect those rocks with Psybeam!" Spinda fired twin beams of psychic energy from its eyes, which formed into one beam in front of its face. Spinda struck each of the rocks with its Psybeam before they could reach it, turning them into dust.

"Now, use Hypnosis!" The psychic beams disappeared as Spinda stopped its attack. Its swirly eyes then seemed to be spinning as it looked Alex's Golem directly in the eyes, preparing to use its Hypnosis attack.

"Use Rollout, Golem!" Golem curled up into a ball, averting its gaze from Spinda in the process, then rolled towards Spinda who was still using its Hypnosis attack. The pokemon was knocked to the side as Golem rolled into it, then turned to come around and hit Spinda again.

"Spinda, get back up and get ready with an Ice Punch!" Norman's Spinda hopped back up on its feet, and ice began to gather around Spinda's hand as Golem rolled towards it again. Spinda brought its fist forward, striking Golem with its Ice Punch attack as Golem collided with it. Both pokemon were knocked backwards, with Spinda hitting the wall of the gym while Golem rolled back several feet and uncurled from its Rollout attack. Spinda was still concious, but barely. Golem looked like Spinda's attack hurt it pretty badly, but it was still ready for more.

"Hit it with a Rock Throw, Golem!" Golem thrusted one of its arms towards Spinda, releasing a shower of rocks towards the pokemon. Spinda was still reeling from being slammed into the wall and was unable to avoid the attack. It was struck hard by the rocks Golem had flung at it, and was knocked out. Norman recalled his pokemon and placed its pokeball on his belt, grabbing another.

"Not bad...but we're just getting started." Norman commented, then brought up his pokeball and pressed the white button on the front of the pokeball, releasing the pokemon inside. A red beam shot out towards the battlefield, and a white furred pokemon with brown stripes and a long furry tail appeared. It was Norman's Linoone, evolved form of Zigzagoon. Linoone let out a growl as it appeared on the battlefield.

_"Linoone...he'll probably be using Vigoroth next and save Slaking for last."_ Alex thought.

"Probably safe to assume that Linoone has some kind of attack that could hurt Golem...alright then. Golem, use Rollout!" Golem curled up into a ball, retracting its head, arms, and legs into its rock shell, then started rolling towards Linoone.

"If you thought that, then you should have switched pokemon." Norman replied.

"Linoone, knock it back with Iron Tail!" Linoone's tail seemed to take on a chrome-like appearance as it prepared to use its attack. It waited until Golem was in range before turning sharply, slamming its tail into the rock pokemon, hitting it back like a baseball. Golem was knocked out of its Rollout attack and popped out of its shell to try to get back up.

"Now hit it with Water Pulse!' Norman commanded. Linoone's tail went back to normal, and Linoone fired three blue rings from its mouth, which expanded as they closed in on the struggling Golem, who had managed to get back on its feet. There was a splash of water as each ring struck it, staggering backwards and wincing in pain. Golem fell over on its back as the last ring of water struck it, and was no longer able to fight. Alex recalled his pokemon.

"Golem really didn't stand a chance against that thing..." Alex said as he put Golem's pokeball back on his belt.

"You wouldn't be the first to try to challenge my gym with rock type pokemon, Alex." Norman said to him. "I made sure my pokemon would be ready to face whatever comes their way. There's more to being a good trainer than just type alignments and strong pokemon. Strategy and preparation are the key."

"And yet a good strategy is wasted without the right pokemon to carry it out." Alex replied, taking another pokeball off his belt.

"Alakazam, go!" Alex held up his pokeball and released his Alakazam. Alakazam appeared on Alex's side of the battlefield, holding its two silver spoons as usual.

"You seem to have quite the strong pokemon, Alex." Norman commented. "Alright, Linoone, use Headbutt!" Norman's Linoone lowered its head and charged straight towards Alakazam. Alakazam didn't move, and Alex didn't seem to issue it a command either. Then, just before Linoone hit Alakazam, Alakazam vanished and reappeared behind it. Norman smirked.

"You and your pokemon must have quite the bond for you to allow Alakazam to read your mind like that." Norman said to him.

"Yeah, you could say that." Alex replied. "Alakazam knows all my secrets, but we're both in this together all the way."

"Then your Alakazam must know what you think of my daughter." Norman replied.

"Yeah I...guess it would..." Alex said.

_"Wait, what does he think I think of her?"_ Alex wondered. _"I mean...we're friends...and I don't even think he knows I was travelling around Hoenn with her...what could he be thinking?"_

"Linoone, use Headbutt again!" Linoone flipped in the air to turn around and face Alakazam and was soon charging towards the psychic pokemon headfirst. Alakazam stood, waiting for Alex's command.

_"Or does he know I was travelling with her? Maybe she...err...Alakazam! Use Teleport!" _Alex thought about what he wanted Alakazam to do, expecting Alakazam to read his mind as usual. Alakazam didn't move, however, and was knocked onto its back and sent sliding several feet as Linoone slammed headfirst into it with its Headbutt attack.

_"What the...? What gives?" _Alex wondered._ "Wait a second! Thats why Norman brought that up...he was trying to throw me off so Alakazam couldn't read my mind!"_

"Now, use Water Pulse!" Linoone shook its head, a little dizzy after its last attack, then turned to Alakazam who was now lying only a few feet from Norman and fired three blue rings towards it.

"Alakazam, Teleport!" Alakazam vanished, causing Linoone's attack to hit the floor instead, leaving a puddle of water. Alakazam then reappeared on the other side of the battlefield.

"Now, use Future Sight!" Alakazam held its spoons up in front of it and concentrated, its eyes glowing white briefly as it sent an attack a short distance into the future.

"Linoone, use Water Pulse again!" Linoone turned around to face Alakazam and fired another Water Pulse attack towards it.

"Counter it with Psybeam, Alakazam!" Alakazam crossed its two spoons in front of it and concentrated, releasing a beam of psychic energy just before Water Pulse could hit it. The blue rings from the attack each burst as the beam struck it, and the Psybeam attack continued on to strike Linoone. Linoone was knocked back by the attack, but got up and shook it off.

"Linoone, get in there and attack it with a Fury Swipes!" Linoone charged towards Alakazam again, this time intent on striking the psychic pokemon with its claws.

"Alakazam, use Teleport!" Alakazam vanished before Linoone even got close to it, and Linoone came to a stop.

"Linoone turn and use Water Pulse!" Linoone turned around and fired a Water Pulse attack into the empty battlefield, but then suddenly Alakazam appeared right in the path of Linoone's Water Pulse attack. Alakazam winced as each ring of water from the attack struck it, catching it completely off guard.

"Now use Iron Tail!" Linoone ran towards Alakazam, its tail taking on a chrome like appearance as it prepared to use its Iron Tail attack. It didn't get a chance to attack, though, as a white beam suddenly struck Linoone from above Alakazam, slamming the pokemon into the ground and causing its tail to revert to normal. Linoone had been struck by Alakazam's Future Sight attack.

"Perfect timing...now use Psybeam, Alakazam!" Alakazam shook off the effects of Linoone's Water Pulse attack, then held up its spoons again and fired an almost point-blank Psybeam attack towards Linoone, sending the fallen pokemon rolling and tumbling across the floor almost all the way to the edge of the battlefield. Norman's Linoone laid on the floor, unmoving and unconcious. Norman recalled his pokemon.

"Not bad, Alex. I have to admit I'm impressed with the skill and strength of your pokemon so far. You're easily one of the better trainers I've faced lately." Norman said as he placed his Linoone's pokeball on his belt.

"I like to think I'm a a cut above the average trainer." Alex replied.

"I'll give you that much." Norman took another pokeball off his belt.

"Vigoroth, go!" Norman released his pokemon from its pokeball, and Norman's Vigoroth, evolved form of Slakoth, appeared on the battlefield. Unlike Slakoth, its evolved form was far more energetic before it evolved again into the lazy Slaking. Alakazam was standing about in the middle of the battlefield, and turned to face its next challenger.

"Alakazam, start off with Future Sight!" Alakazam held its two spoons up and concentrated, its eyes glowing white as it sent a psychic attack into the near future.

"Vigoroth, use Encore!" Norman's Vigoroth started clapping its clawed hands together, causing a burst of applause to echo throughout the gym. The mind-affecting attack forced Alakazam to use the same attack over and over as if it was trying to please a non-existant audience that just gave it an encore. Unfortunately for Alakazam, it could only send one Future Sight attack off at a time, meaning continuous use of the attack was pointless.

"Encore? Not often I see anyone besides me use that attack..." Alex commented.

"It certainly has its uses..." Norman replied. "Now, attack it with Fury Swipes!" Vigoroth charged towards the helpless Alakazam and slashed it across the chest with one of its claws, knocking the psychic pokemon back while it was pointlessly trying to use its Future Sight again. Vigoroth kept slashing at Alakazam with its claws, pushing it back, until finally Alakazam collapsed from the continuous assault. Alex recalled Alakazam and placed its pokeball back on his belt.

"Well at least now I know to watch out for it, and Alakazam got off a Future Sight attack so that should help a bit. Azumarill, go!" Alex held up the pokeball and pressed the button to release Azumarill. A red beam shot out, and the aqua-rabbit pokemon appeared on the battlefield in front of Vigoroth.

"Azumarill, use Rollout!" Azumarill curled up into a ball and rolled towards Vigoroth, knocking it to the side as it rolled towards the other side of the battlefield, then started to turn around to come back for another attack.

"Vigoroth, get ready with a Dynamic Punch!" Vigoroth turned to face the approaching Azumarill and drew its fist back, building up power for its attack. Azumarill continued to roll towards Vigoroth, picking up speed, unaware of Vigoroth's attack. As Azumarill got closer, Vigoroth quickly brought its fist forward, slamming it into the rolling pokemon with an explosive impact and sending it crashing into the far wall of the gym. Azumarill was pretty dazed when it got back up and staggered back into the battlefield.

"Now hit it with another!" Vigoroth charged towards the dazed Azumarill, its fist raised back for another Dynamic Punch.

"Azumarill...spin and use Bubblebeam!" Azumarill started to spin around, not really having a clue as to what it was doing at the moment, and started spewing a steady stream of bubbles in all directions. Vigoroth staggered a few times when the bubbles hit it, but the attack didn't prevent it from getting past Azumarill and hitting it with another Dynamic Punch from behind, the force of the punch sending Azumarill flying to the other side of the battlefield and landing on the floor. It struggled to get back on its feet, and was still dazed from the attacks.

At that moment, Norman's Vigoroth was suddenly struck by Alakazam's Future Sight attack and was sent sprawling to the floor, completely unprepared for the attack. Vigoroth was able to get back up, but was in pretty bad shape after taking the Future Sight attack. Both pokemon were looking pretty bad, but Azumarill was the worse of the two.

"Azumarill, Ice Beam!"

"Vigoroth, Endure it and use Fury Swipes!" Azumarill turned around, looking a bit out of it as it tried to focus on where Vigoroth was, meanwhile Vigoroth used Endure and braced itself for the attack. Azumarill managed to snap out of its daze, and fired an Ice Beam towards Vigoroth. The beam struck it, encasing it in ice which then shattered around it. Vigoroth was able to hang in there courtesy of Endure, but just barely. It then charged towards Azumarill, ready to slash at it with its claws.

"Azumarill try to hit it with a Bubblebeam before it gets you!" Azumarill released a stream of bubbles towards Vigoroth, but Vigoroth managed to maintain its focus as it ran through the bubbles and slashed Azumarill across the chest, knocking the water pokemon out. Vigoroth then collapsed as well, having used up the last of its strength to deliver that final attack. Alex and Norman both recalled their fallen pokemon, then stared at each other from across the gym.

"Both our pokemon went down...guess that means it comes down to each of our final pokemon." Alex said.

"Not many trainers actually get this far." Norman replied. "Of course, I always save the best for last anyway. I congratulate you for making it this far, though."

_"This is it..."_ Alex thought. _"Whatever pokemon I send out has to go one on one with Norman's Slaking. No easy task. Numel definitely doesn't stand a chance. Grovyle could probably put up a good fight, but one good hit from Slaking will probably put him down for the count. Skarmory can take a beating and is a pretty fierce fighter, but...will he listen to me? Guess I'll just have to hope for the best."_

Both trainers reached for another pokeball, each feeling the tension of the moment. After the fierce fighting their pokemon had gone through, it was all coming down to a one on one matchup. Neither trainer had another pokemon in reserve, as they were only allowed four each and three had fallen on both sides. Alex had already used Alakazam, Golem, and Azumarill and Norman had used Spinda, Linoone, and Vigoroth. It was all coming down to Alex's Skarmory against Norman's Slaking.

"Skarmory, GO!"

"Go, Slaking!" Alex and Norman simultaneously released their pokemon. On Norman's side of the field, his Slaking appeared lying on its side. It was a very large ape-like pokemon with brown fur and what looked like a white beard and hair. It was also a very lazy pokemon. On Alex's side of the field, the ever fearsome steel-bird pokemon Skarmory appeared, and it looked like it was more than ready for a fight.

"Skarmory, use Fury Attack!" Alex's Skarmory began flapping its wings to lift itself up off the ground, then flew towards Slaking to attack it. Alex couldn't tell if Skarmory was actually listening to him though or if it was just going to attack on its own again.

"Slaking, use Hyper Beam!" Norman's Slaking stood up and reared its head back. It then came forward and released a powerful energy beam attack towards Skarmory, pouring much of its energy into that single attack. The beam struck Skarmory and sent it flying backwards and slammed into the floor of the gym. Skarmory slid across the floor until it was resting near Alex. It didn't stay down for long, however, as it quickly hopped back up on its

feet, seemingly unphased by such a powerful attack.

Alex's Skarmory once again charged towards Norman's Slaking, this time running on foot. Slaking, meanwhile, sat back down on the floor of the gym with a thud, resting to regain the energy it spent using its attack. Skarmory was quickly on it and started pecking at it and scratching it with its clawed feet, causing minimal damage at best but Slaking was too exhausted to try to resist Skarmory's attacks. Alex let Skarmory continue its attacks, trying to gauge how long Skarmory had until Slaking was ready to attack again.

"Back off and use Swift now, Skarmory!" Alex commanded when he figured Slaking was just about ready to attack again. Skarmory didn't budge, however, and continued to furiously attack Slaking.

"You seem to be having some trouble controlling this one." Norman said. "Slaking, now! Use Thunder Punch!" Slaking's fist began to crackle with electricity as it prepared to attack again, and Skarmory was still too busy attacking it to notice. Slaking had no trouble concentrating through Skarmory's attacks, and brought its fist up to slam into Skarmory's underside, knocking it straight up into the ceiling and landing crumpled on the floor in front of Slaking. Skarmory seemed to be down for the count at first, but eventually it managed to get back up on its feet.

_"That really looked painful..."_ Alex thought. _"Another hit like that and Skarmory will be out for good...and Slaking is still ready for more, despite the beating Skarmory gave it. If Skarmory doesn't listen to me and get out of there..."_ Slaking gave a big yawn while Alex was thinking over the battle at hand, and Skarmory seemed to take this as an insult. It had a furious look in its eyes as it opened its mouth with a squawk and fired a barrage of stars at the resting pokemon, which Slaking pretty much shook off. Skarmory then went back to attacking it with a flurry if scratches and pecks, doing everything it can to take it down without any thought to its own safety.

_"Skarmory fought better when it was trying to kill me and May than it is now!"_ Alex thought.

"Skarmory, you need to back off! Even you can't take another Thunder Punch from that thing! You have to fight it from a distance!" Skarmory actually paused its attack, as if it was considering what Alex had just said. It then actually jumped back away from Slaking a few feet and flapped its wings, lifting itself up off the floor of the gym. It opened its mouth and released another Swift attack towards Slaking, not wanting to let up on its attack any. The stars struck Slaking, causing minimal damage. Skarmory's attacks weren't doing much to it, but slowly and surely it was wearing it down.

_"Good..."_ Alex thought. _"It at least listened to me that much. I can't afford to lose to Norman...I'd never hear the end of it from May."_

"Slaking, use Yawn!" Norman's Slaking let out another yawn, this time a white gas seemed to escape its mouth and floated towards Skarmory. Skarmory breathed in this gas, but nothing really seemed to happen. Slaking then went back to being lazy until it felt like attacking again, and Skarmory fired off another Swift attack. Slaking gave a grunt as the attack hit it, as Skarmory's attacks were actually starting to hurt it. Skarmory was preparing to release another attack when suddenly it fell asleep in midair and collapsed onto the gym floor.

"This isn't good..." Alex muttered. Skarmory was now lying on the floor asleep, unable to defend itself from Slaking's attacks, while Slaking was simply waiting until it actually felt like getting up and attacking. Alex was starting to feel like the odds were heavily stacked against him this time.

"Now finish it with another Thunder Punch, Slaking!" Norman commanded. Slaking finally got up off the floor. It gave a yawn and stretched before slowly walking towards Skarmory. It raised its fist back, crackling with electricty, then smashed Skarmory hard in the head with its Thunder Punch attack. Skarmory immediately woke from the shock of the impact, crying out loudly in pain before falling unconcious again, knocked out by Slaking's attack. Alex stared in shock for a moment, before hesitantly recalling his Skarmory. Norman recalled his Slaking as well. The battle was over, and Norman had won.

"Well you put up a good fight, Alex, and you've come closer to beating me than anyone has recently." Norman said to him.

"If your Skarmory was more willing to listen to you in battle you might have actually won."

"Can't win them all I guess..." Alex replied. "I'll just have to try harder next time."

"Thats the spirit." Norman said, smiling slightly.

"Well, guess I'll be seeing you again then..." Norman gave a nod, then Alex left the gym. Once Alex had left, Norman let out a sigh.

"That was pretty close..." He said to himself. "If he had properly trained his Skarmory, he would have likely won. Yet I can't help but wonder what was going through his mind when I mentioned May..."

"Looks like I won't have to worry about keeping myself preoccupied while I'm waiting for May." Alex said to himself, lying back in the sofa he was on. He immediately went to the Petalburg pokemon center after losing to Norman to heal his pokemon, and had already exchanged his Alakazam and Golem for Minun and Swellow using the center's PC. He had decided to give those two a break, and figured he should at least bring Swellow with him.

"Guess I'll spend the rest of the day training just outside Petalburg near the woods. I'm sure Azumarill and Swellow wouldn't mind being back home for a while." Alex looked over at the tv in the corner of the room while he waited. The tv was tuned in to a documentary about Wurmple. Something that Alex wasn't the least bit interested in. In fact, the only one that was interested in it was an all too familiar boy with a net. Alex was doing his best not to be noticed by him, but the boy seemed more interested in the documentary anyway.

Alex only had to wait a few more minutes for his pokemon to be healed, since only two of them actually had any injuries. He thanked the nurse that was operating the pokecenter, then left the center and headed west out of town. He continued west until he reached the beach, and decided to set up there, but far from the water. He dropped his backpack in the sand, then took all six of his pokeballs from his belt.

"Alright guys, training session! Lets go!" Alex released each of his pokemon one by one, clipping the empty pokeballs back to his belt as he went along. By the time he was finished he had Grovyle, Minun, Skarmory, Swellow, Azumarill, and Numel all standing before him.

"We lost in a gym match today." Alex said to his pokemon. "Although that doesn't matter overall, we need to make sure we'll be ready when its time for the real battle." All of his pokemon gave a nod, though none of them really knew what Alex meant by the 'real battle'.

"I want you guys to do a bit of sparring, so I'll pair you off. Minun and Skarmory, you two will be sparring together. Grovyle, you're with Swellow. Numel and Azumarill, you two are together as well. I won't be giving any commands, so fight however you want. Just try not to seriously injure each other." Alex gave a knowing look to Skarmory at that comment.

"Alright, fan out." Each pokemon gave another nod, then ran off in different directions with their sparring partners. They all went far enough away so that they wouldn't interfere with each other's matches, but Alex could still watch them. Alex then sat down in the sand and emptied his backpack in front of him. He took his notepad from the pile of items and started taking inventory, then made another list of what he thought he'd need when he goes to Fortree. He wanted to make sure he'd have everything he needed, or could at least buy it beforehand.

Alex's pokemon immediately began their training once they had spread out. Alex's Swellow attacked Grovyle from above with various physical attacks, while Grovyle was trying to dodge with Quick Attack and respond with Pound and Leaf Blade. It eventually came down to the two of them having a Quick Attack war, each becoming a blur as they moved to dodge each other's attacks then try to strike back with a Quick Attack of their own.

Alex's Numel wasn't putting much effort into its training at all, and instead was trying to fight back against Azumarill using minimal effort and was actually succeeding. Azumarill was a blue ball rolling around the beach trying to hit Numel, while Numel just continued to move to the side each time Azumarill came towards it. Eventually this resulted in Azumarill rolling straight into a rock, smashing it, and landing flat on its face to end its Rollout attack. Numel was about to take the opportunity to attack when a group of wild Marill surrounded the fallen Azumarill.

When Azumarill got back up, it looked around at the Marill surrounding it. Each of them were staring back at it with surprised and puzzled expressions on their faces. Azumarill immediately recognized all of them as being old friends and relatives from before Alex had captured him. He recognized them, but they didn't entirely recognize him at first. After seeming to exchange a few words, Azumarill ran off with its friends, and Numel wasn't at all interested in stopping him. Instead, it just walked over to the bottom of the hill that lead down to the beach and took a nap.

Skarmory was actually fighting a losing battle against Minun. It was trying everything it could to hit the small electric pokemon, but Minun simply kept dodging out of the way. The longer Skarmory fought with Minun the more frustrated it got, and everytime it tried to physically attack Minun it would usually move it of the way and counter attack with Spark. While Minun's attacks weren't nearly as painful as Slaking's Thunder Punch, Skarmory was getting very annoyed. Minun seemed to be enjoying itself though, and almost seemed to be giggling as it fought Skarmory.

Alex stopped his work for a moment to look at his watch, then looked around the beach. He could see Azumarill was no longer training but instead ran off with a bunch of Marill and were splashing in the waves, and a group of Tailow were actually gathering near Grovyle and Swellow. Alex couldn't help but smile.

"I can see where this is going." He said to himself. He tucked his notebook and pencil into his backpack and stood up.

"Hey, Grovyle, come here for a sec!" Grovyle and Swellow stopped their fighting upon hearing Alex's voice, and both turned to face him. Grovyle then quickly cleared the stretch of beach between him and Alex. Swellow, meanwhile, turned its attention to the group of Tailow before it.

"Grovyle, I'm going to head back into town to grab a bite to eat. I'm going to leave you guys to do whatever, but I want you to keep an eye on things. Oh, and I'll be leaving my stuff here. If you get hungry the foods in my backpack, so you can just help yourselves." Grovyle gave a nod.

"I'll be back in a bit." Alex said, before staring up the hill. He paused at the top of the hill and took one last look around the beach at his pokemon before going into town.

_"Think I'll grab my tent too..."_ He thought. _"Azumarill and Swellow would probably enjoy being back home for a day."_

Grovyle took a look around as well. It actually felt a bit envious of Azumarill and Swellow. They grew up in the wild among friends and family. Grovyle more or less grew up in a lab. He could remember the day he hatched from his egg, shattering it with a few good punches and kicks, just to find himself in a larger egg. He was on a table of some sort, with a clear plastic bubble over it. There were airholes so he could breathe, but it was too strong for him to break through. Especially after just hatching.

Grovyle could also remember there were several more tables around him. Most had unhatched eggs on them, but the two closest to him were starting to hatch as well. There was something pecking its way out of one of them, and another had a fin slicing holes in it. Eventually a Mudkip and a Torchic hatched out of the eggs next to him, and both then tried unsucessfully to get out of their little domes as well. The Torchic that hatched alongside Grovyle was now May's Combusken. The Mudkip, as far as Grovyle knew, was still unclaimed.

Eventually, people in white lab coats came and wheeled the tables they were on out of the room. Next thing Grovyle knewhe was in another,smaller room, and was put in a pokeball. Grovyle spent most of its time after that being trained on how to properly fight by various lab assistants, until it was transfered to Birch's lab along with the Torchic and Mudkip that hatched that day. He spent most of his time in his pokeball after arriving at Birch's, but he got much better treatment from Birch than at the lab where he was born.

From there, Grovyle went to Alex as his first pokemon, and both have come a long way since then. The Treecko had now evolved into a Grovyle, and Alex had many other pokemon with him as well. Alex and the pokemon he's caught have been the closest thing to a family Grovyle's ever had. As Grovyle sat down in the sand, though, he couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like if he had been raised as a wild pokemon instead...


	27. Chapter 19M: May's EggCiting Day

Author's Notes: I might be a bit late starting the next chapter, won't have computer access for the next few days. And yeah, I used an egg joke, sorry .

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Nineteen (M):**

**May'sEgg-citing Day**

Combusken was sitting down on the floor next to May's egg, staring at it with its arms folded. May was in the bathroom brushing her teeth, and had put on a pair of pink shorts and a white shirt. She had put her clothes in the wash, since she had the chance to use a washing machine for free. In the meantime she had asked Combusken to watch the egg while she was getting washed and brushing her teeth. She swore she saw it wiggling when she woke up, but it had yet to even move an inch since Combusken started watching it.

Combusken turned to look at the bed beside the egg. It could remember the day it met May, and remembered jumping on her bed. It was something Combusken really wanted to do, but May had asked it to watch the egg, and it didn't want to let May down.

_"Then again..."_ Combusken thought. _"She could have imagined it moved..and its not like I'd be very far from it..."_

Combusken quietly walked over to the doorway and peeked out towards the bathroom at the end of the hall. The door was closed, but it could hear water running inside and figured May was still busy. It quickly ducked back into May's room and jumped onto her bed. It happily jumped up and down on her bed, doing several small hops until it did one big hop, almost hitting her ceiling, and did a backflip landing on the bed.

With that out of its system, Combusken quietly hopped off the bed and hoped May hadn't heard him. He walked back to the end of the bed, where the egg was, but it was gone! Combusken looked frantically around the room, wondering how an egg could just disappear. It checked under the bed, and could see that the egg had rolled under it somehow. Combusken reached under the bed to get it, but the egg was just out of its reach.

Combusken squeezed under the bed to try to reach the egg, but the egg rolled further out of its reach. It stared at the egg confused for a moment, then reached for it again. As it was reaching for the egg, however, it was distracted by the sound of the bathroom door opening. It raised its head in surprise, smacking it off the bottom of the bed. Combusken let out a cry and held its head in pain.

"Combusken? Was that you?" May asked from the hallway. By this time the egg had rolled even further under the bed, and was almost on the other side now. Combusken quickly crawled over to it and pushed it the rest of the way, then frantically crawled out from under the bed and grabbed the egg, standing up on the other side of the bed just as May entered the room.

"Are you ok Combusken? It sounded like you hit something..." May asked, pausing in the doorway. Combusken grinned sheepishly and waved one of its clawed hands, clutching the egg against it with the other.

"Alright...if you say so." May felt maybe Combusken was hiding something, but didn't think it could be anything important so she decided not to delve any further into it. May entered her room and picked up her fanny pack and pokedex off her desk. She strapped the fanny pack around her waist and put her pokedex in her pocket.

"I think after breakfast I'll go see Professor Birch and show him my pokedex, and maybe see if he'd know anything about that egg." She said to her Combusken. She then picked up a brush and brushed her hair, which still had the long hair hanging down on either side of her head even without her bandana on. She had actually grown her hair like that because she thought it looked nice. Combusken watched her as she brushed down her long strands of hair, which were a mess after getting a shower. When she finally finished, she put down her brush and turned to Combusken.

"Alright, lets go!" She said to him, then started for the door. She then stopped in the doorway and turned to him again.

"Oh, and bring the egg!" Combusken glanced down at the egg it was holding, then back at May. It slowly walked around the bed and followed May out of the room, being careful as to avoid dropping it. It followed May down the stairs and into the kitchen, where her mother was sitting at the table drinking a cup of tea and reading the newspaper. She looked up from her paper as May entered the kitchen.

"Morning, dear, did you have a good sleep?" Her mother asked her.

"Yep!" May replied enthusiastically. "Its great getting to sleep in your own bed once in a while!"

"Well how would you know? This is only the second time you've slept there..." Her mother replied, taking a sip of her tea.

"Thats just cruel, mom..." May said, crossing her arms and looking to the side.

"Oh you know I'm only joking, honey. You're a pokemon trainer now, and you're free to come and go as you please." May's mood seemed to brighten, though she knew her mother was only joking anyway.

"And who's that with you?" Her mother asked, finally noticing Combusken behind her.

"Huh?" May looked behind her and realized her mother was referring to Combusken.

"Oh, this is Combusken!" May replied. "He evolved from the Torchic that Professor Birch gave me!" Combusken held the egg against it with one arm again, waving at Caroline with the other.

"Oh? So he's the cute little bird that you took home on your first day in Hoenn?" Her mother asked. May gave a nod.

"He's been with me ever since too. In fact, he's one of my strongest pokemon!" Combusken flexed its free arm at that comment, moving the egg so that it was carrying it like a football.

"Well I'm glad there's someone strong looking after my daughter." Her mother said, getting up from the table.

"I trust you can get your own breakfast, May?" Caroline asked.

"Of course I can!" May replied.

"In that case, I will go get started on the laundry." May's mother walked by her and out of the kitchen, and May could hear her going upstairs to gather up dirty clothes.

"What should I have for breakfast though?" May wondered aloud as she looked around the kitchen. She considered making toast, but knew she'd probably end up burning it. In fact, cooking was pretty much out of the question for her.

"Guess I'll just have a bowl of cereal..." May took a box of cereal out of the cupboard and the milk out of the fridge and got herself a bowl of cereal. Combusken, meanwhile, put May's egg on one of the chairs near the table and decided to explore the kitchen, nosing around in the various cupboards that it could reach while May ate.

Combusken sniffed around in the fridge, taking in the smells of various foods. It noticed an interesting scent that lead him to check out the bottom shelf, where he found a loaf of bread. Combusken's eyes lit up as it spotted the bread, and it immediately grabbed the entire loaf from the fridge and closed the door behind it. May assumed it was still snooping around, and so she didn't realize Combusken had actually taken something out of the fridge.

Combusken sat down in the corner of the room with its treat and cut the bag the loaf of bread was in with its claws. It tore open the plastic bag and started gobbling down slice after slice of whole wheat bread, practically swallowing each slice whole. May still had yet to notice that Combusken had filchered something from the fridge, as she was still eatting her cereal and had gotten caught up reading the comics in the newspaper. By the time she finished her cereal, Combusken had completely devoured the loaf of bread. May finally noticed the empty bread bag and the stuffed Combusken when she got up to put her bowl in the sink.

"Combusken! Did you eat that entire loaf of bread!" Combusken looked at the empty bag, then hung its head in shame.

"Mom's going to kill me if she finds out..." May quickly scooped up the empty bag, balled it up, and stuffed it in her fanny pack. She didn't want to put it in the garbage because her mom would find it there. May looked back to Combusken, who was still staring at the floor, ashamed that it had let itself get so carried away. May sighed as she realized she shouldn't have yelled at him.

"Its alright, Combusken, I'll just buy her another loaf of bread later to replace it. If I knew you liked bread so much, I would have bought you some myself..." Upon hearing that, Combusken immediately jumped up and hugged May tightly. Very tightly.

"Ow! Combusken, not so hard!" Combusken blushed in embarassment, having forgotten how strong it was for a moment, and loosened its grip. May briefly hugged it in return. She gently broke the embrace and looked at her pokemon.

"Now, lets go outside and feed the rest of my pokemon before we head over to Birch's." Combusken gave a nod in agreement. May walked towards the kitchen entrance, while Combusken went to grab the egg which was still sitting on the chair where it left it, despite having been so eager to move around when it was in May's room.

"Mom, I'm heading over to Birch's lab!" May called up the stairs.

"Alright dear, just be back in time for dinner." Her mother called back down. She was still upstairs sorting through clothes to be washed.

May left her house, with Combusken following behind her with the egg. Once she got outside she released the rest of her pokemon, which includded Crawdaunt, Pelipper, Gulpin, Slugma, and Swablu. Upon being released, her Crawdaunt glared around at the rest of May's pokemon. Ever since it evolved, May noticed that it didn't seem particularly friendly towards the rest of her pokemon. She was worried it might try to attack them, but it never did.

She fed each of her pokemon the standard pokechow that she bought, with the exception of Combusken who had already filled up on an entire loaf of bread. May waited patiently while all her pokemon ate, and she gave them some time to stretch their legs and to get some fresh air as well. While she didn't know what it was like inside a pokeball, she figured her pokemon would be happy to get out of them once in a while and not just when its time to fight.

Her Swablu took its usual perch on May's head, while Pelipper took a quick flight around the town. Crawdaunt didn't really go anywhere or do anything, it just stayed near May and seemed to be giving Combusken a death glare. Combusken couldn't understand why Crawdaunt didn't seem very friendly all of a suddenly, but didn't want to try asking either. Slugma slithered around, leaving scorch marks on the ground from the heat it was giving off, and seemed to be curiously exploring its new surroundings. Fortunately for May, it was keeping its distance from any flammable objects.

"I guess I'm kinda lucky." May said, mostly to herself. "My pokemon are all easy to handle and take care of, except maybe Electrike and..." She looked around, wondering where a certain pokemon had gotten to. She caught sight of it trying to swallow a nearby rose bush, but immediately backed off when it felt the thorns stabbing its mouth.

"...Gulpin, who always tries to eat something." May said, rolling her eyes.

"Could be much worse though, I guess. I could have to deal with something like Alex's Skarmory. I'm surprised its willing to fly Alex around at all." May could still remember the day Alex somewhat accidentally caught Skarmory. He was using pokeballs in an attempt to slow it down, but wasn't really expecting to actually manage to catch it. She still didn't really understand why Alex didn't just deposit it after they had stopped Team Magma, or why he'd even try taming it.

"I'll never understand that guy..." She muttered. Combusken seemed to say something in agreement, but to May it just sounded like some kind of low-pitched bird sounds. Combusken could also remember its fight with the Skarmory that Alex had apparently caught, and was agreeing with May about how Alex would have to be crazy to try to use it. It remembered how Skarmory actually managed to withstand its most powerful attack, combined with a Thunderbolt from Alex's Minun, and then tried to get through Combusken to attack May. Swablu, who was still perched on May's head, just tilted its head in confusion. It didn't know about the whole incident with Alex's Skarmory.

"Well, guess I'll recall everyone and head over to the lab now." May said as she took two empty pokeballs in her hands, one belonging to Crawdaunt and the other being Pelipper's.

"Alright, time to move out!" She called out. Each of her pokemon that had wandered off started on their way back to her. Pelipper arrived quickly, dropping down out of the sky, and May recalled both it and her Crawdaunt, who hadn't really moved much and seemed to have its attention focused on Combusken. She placed their pokeballs on her belt, then took Swablu's and Slugma's empty pokeballs. Swablu jumped off her head and floated in front of her. It gave a happy little chirp before May recalled it and Slugma. She placed their pokeballs on her belt and grabbed one more.

"And now for Gulpin..." May turned to Gulpin, just in time to see it swallow May's egg while Combusken was still holding it. May and Combusken both looked on in horror.

"Gulpin! You spit out that egg right this isntant!" May yelled. Gulpin reluctantly spit the egg onto the ground, and Combusken immediately picked it up and wiped Gulpin's salvia off it on some grass.

"I can't believe you, Gulpin!" May continued. "I feed you, and yet everytime I let you out you're trying to eat whatever you can get your mouth on!" Gulpin merely stared at her, drool seeping out its mouth, seeming to be unphased by May's yelling. May grumbled and clenched her fist.

"Oh, forget it! Gulpin, return!" May held up Gulpin's pokeball and pressed the button on the front of it. A red beam shot forth, striking her Gulping and pulling it inside the pokeball. May placed the pokeball on her belt, then turned to Combusken.

"Alright, lets go already..." Combusken looked over the egg, making sure it was clean, then gave a nod and followed May to Birch's lab.

"May! Well now, isn't this a surprise!" Professor Birch said with a laugh. He was standing next to a lab table with a backpack sitting on it.

"I was just about to head out to do some field work, what brings you here?"

"I decided to come home for a while, and thought I'd drop by and show you my pokedex." May replied, holding her pokedex out to him. Combusken was standing behind her, still holding the egg. Professor Birch took her pokedex from her and turned it on.

"37 different pokemon caught, including pokemon that have evolved..." Professor Birch stroked his chin as he looked over the pokedex.

"You've come quite a ways since Slateport...this will further my research quite a bit, May."

"I've been trying harder. I hope to catch a lot more, too!" May said cheerfully. Professor Birch handed her pokedex back to her.

"Well I look forward to seeing you catch more. Is that everything you needed?"

"Actually..." May turned to Combusken and took the egg from him, then held it out to Professor Birch.

"I was wondering if you'd have any idea what pokemon might be in this?" Professor Birch scratched his head and looked over the pokemon egg May was carrying. He then turned to the desk behind him and opened a drawer, pulling out a stethescope. He put the ends of the headpieces in his ear, and held the other end against the shell of the egg. He could hear something breathing inside, but that was it. He dropped his stethescope, letting it fall against his chest, and took the earpieces out and put them around his neck. He stood up and folded his arms across his chest, staring at the egg.

"I'm not sure what to tell you May...I'm not much of an expert on pokemon eggs, so I have no idea what pokemon would lay an egg that looks like that. It sounded like there was something alive inside it though, so it might hatch soon."

"Really? Its been moving around on its own a bit lately too..." May put her hear up to the egg and tapped it, and she heard whatever was inside squeak.

"Hey! I think I heard something!" May said excitedly. Professor Birch put the stethescope back in his ears and put it up to the egg again. He tapped the egg and heard the squeaking too, but he didn't recognize the sounds it was making. Combusken stared at the two humans with a confused expression on its face. It didn't really understand what all the fuss was about.

"Its making noises too...it must be just about ready to try to break out." Professor Birch said as he removed the stethescope again.

"You'll have to show me what it is when it hatches." He continued.

"I will, Professor Birch!" May handed the egg back to Combusken. Combusken stared at the egg and scratched his head.

"Great! Now if thats all you needed, I have field research to do." Professor Birch said to her, taking off his stethescope and putting it back in the drawer.

"Nope, thats all I needed! Thanks, Professor!"

"Your quite welcome, May. Come back anytime." May and Combusken turned and left the lab, leaving Professor Birch to prepare to go out in the field.

"I can't believe it! My egg is almost ready to hatch! It might even hatch today!" May said, skipping happily through the town. Combusken followed behind her, but didn't show quite as much enthusiasm.

_"Combusken, the egg-sitting pokemon. This pokemon uses its powerful arms to carry around eggs for its trainer."_ Combusken was actually starting to get tired of carrying May's egg around. Had anyone else asked, naturally it would have refused. However, it was willing to serve its trainer almost unquestionably. Like most of her pokemon, Combusken developed a strong bond with May. Maybe even more so than the rest of her pokemon, since he was her first.

_"...Then again, I did eat all that bread on her...so I guess we're even...but I couldn't help it...it was just so good...beats seeds and that pokemon chow by a long shot."_

"What now though?" May wondered aloud, snapping Combusken out of his thoughts.

"I could go home and watch tv I guess...but that'd kinda be a waste, coming home and just watching tv. Even if its not something I have much of a chance to do while travelling around Hoenn. Could spend some time with mom...but that'll just end up with me doing chores!" May shuddered at the thought of spending her time home cleaning around the house.

"Well how about a battle?" A familiar voice asked. May looked back over her shoulder and saw Brendan several feet away holding a pokeball.

"Brendan? What are you doing here?" She asked him. Brendan laughed.

"I live here. Can't a guy stop by his home once in a while? Its not like you haven't." He replied. "I heard from Alex you'd be here though, so I figured I'd drop by and see if you're still keeping up with me."

_"He was talking to Alex?"_ May thought. _"Guess he's ok then..."_

"You want a battle then?" May said with a smirk. "You've got it!"

"Alright then, how does three pokemon each sound?"

"Thats fine by me!" May looked to Combusken.

"You're up first, Combusken!" Combusken gave a nod and put the egg down on the ground, then ran out in front of May.

"Marshtomp, go!" Brendan pressed the button on the front of the pokeball he was holding, thrusting his arm forward as he did. The pokeball opened up and a red beam shot out towards the ground, and Marshtomp appeared standing on its hind legs in front of Brendan.

"Combusken, use Bulk Up!" Combusken flexed its muscles and focused its strength, and its entire body began to appear noticeably more muscular.

"Marshstomp, use Water Gun!" Marshtomp opened its mouth and sprayed a stream of water at Combusken. Combusken winced as the stream of water struck it, but with its increased strength it was able to hold its ground.

"Move to the side and use Flamethrower!" May commanded. Combusken did a flip to get out of the way of the Water Gun attack, moving beside the stream of water, and released a blast of flames from its mouth towards Marshtomp. The flames engulfed the water pokemon, and it immediately let up on its Water Gun attack. Despite being a water type, Marshtomp looked like it was hurting quite a bit.

"Good! Now charge at it and use Scratch!" Combusken closed its mouth, and the flames soon disappeared, revealing a pretty badly burned Marshtomp. It raised its claws back and ran towards Marshtomp to attack it.

"Marshtomp, block it with a Mud Shot!" Brendan's Marshtomp turned to the oncoming Combusken and spat a blast of mud from its mouth. The mud struck Combusken in the chest, and the force of the impact knocked it off its feet. Combusken tried to get back up, but slipped and fell on the mud that was on the ground, landing on its butt. The mud made it hard to walk and the mud clinging to him was weighing him down as well.

"Combusken, aim a Flamethrower at the ground!" Combusken opened its mouth and released another Flamethrower attack, striking the ground exactly in the middle between it and Marshstomp, and the resulting flames created a large radius of fire. The heat from the flames was hurting both pokemon and heating the mud until it was solid dirt. As soon as the mud was dried, Combusken jumped back out of the flames and aimed its Flamethrower towards Marshtomp alone.

"Now use Double Kick!" Combusken once again stopped its attack to try a physical assault, but this time there was very little distance between it and Marshtomp. As soon as Marshtomp was freed from the flames it was met by a powerful kick to the chest from Combusken, followed up by another kick to the jaw sending it sprawling to the ground unconcious.

"You've gotten pretty good, May." Brendan commented as he recalled his Marshtomp. "Your Combusken managed to win even with a type disadvantage..."

"My Combusken isn't going to go down easy, Brendan!" May said with a smug smile on her face. Combusken flexed its bulging muscles again, allowing itself to show off a bit after its victory against Brendan's Marshstomp.

"Well I'm not finished yet..." Brendan said as he took another pokeball from his belt.

"Electrike, go!" Brendan held up the pokeball he grabbed and released his Electrike. The electric pokemon appeared in front of Brendan as it was released from its pokeball, ready to fight.

_"Electrike, huh?"_ May thought. _"I bet HIS Electrike listens to him..."_

"Combusken, use Flamethrower!"

"Electrike, use Thunderbolt!" Combusken released a blast of flames from its mouth towards Brendan's Electrike, while Electrike charged up electricity and fired a blast of lightning towards Combusken. Electrike became engulfed in flames shortly after launching its attack, but the Thunderbolt attack punched through the flames and struck Combusken. Both pokemon staggered as they were struck by the respective attacks. Combusken glowed red briefly after the electricity struck it, and seemed to give off heat. It was also starting to look like it was in pretty bad shape.

"Combusken, use Flamethrower one more time!"

"Finish it with another Thunderbolt, Electrike!" Combusken unleashed another blast of flames towards Electrike, this time the attack seemed to be far more intense and both May and Brendan could feel the heat from the attack. Electrike fired another blast of lightning towards Combusken, and both pokemon were once again struck by the attacks simultaneously. The intense heat of the flames was too much for Electrike to handle, and the pokemon had fainted when the flames cleared. Combusken wasn't able to stand up to another attack either, and collapsed as the bolt of electricity struck it. Both pokemon were down for the count, and the trainers recalled their respective pokemon.

"Well that was fast..." Brendan commented. "Both our pokemon went down."

"Well I still have two more pokemon, and you only have one!" May said to him.

"Well I only need one pokemon to beat you, May!" Brendan took another pokeball off his belt, as did May.

"Nuzleaf, go!"

"We'll see about that! Gulpin, go!" The two trainers simultaneously called out their next pokemon. Brendan sent out Nuzleaf, a brown human-shaped pokemon with a green bulge on each leg, a green face mask and pointed noise, and a leaf on top of its head. May sent out her gluttonous poison pokemon, Gulpin. The first thing Gulpin did upon being released was sniff the air to see if Brendan's Nuzleaf smelled like food. It made no immediate attempt to make a snack out of Nuzleaf though.

"Nuzleaf, use Nature Power!" Nuzleaf focused, tapping into its surroundings. It then thrust both its arms forward, releasing several yellow stars towards Gulpin in what May recognized as a Swift attack. As that attack neared Gulpin, the pokemon opened its mouth and the attack flew in. Gulpin closed its mouth and swallowed, and both Nuzleaf and Brendan stared at Gulpin in Bewilderment.

"Your Gulpin...just...ate a Swift attack!" Brendan said. May seemed to be just as surprised as him, but quickly turned her attention back to the battle.

"Gulpin, use Poison Gas!" Gulpin opened its mouth again, releasing a noxious purple gas from its mouth. The gas soon surrounded Nuzleaf, who was now breathing in poison. The pokemon coughed as the poison entered its system and started weakening it.

"Nuzleaf use Growth!" Nuzleaf concentrated again, focusing its power and temporarily growing slightly to increase the strength of its attacks.

"Now, use Giga Drain!" Nuzleaf extended one of its arms towards Gulpin, and soon energy could be seen draining from the poisonous pokemon and into Nuzleaf. As it drained Gulpin's energy, however, May noticed that the attack seemed to be hurting Nuzleaf as well.

_"Draining Gulpin's energy seems to be hurting Nuzleaf..."_ May thought. _"Maybe I can use that to my advantage!"_

"Gulpin, use Encore!" Gulpin brought its two tiny hands together and began clapping. A burst of applause echoed throughout the area, and as soon as Nuzleaf finished its Giga Drain attack it started using it again. Nuzleaf was draining Gulpin's energy from it, but Nuzleaf seemed to be weakening at a far greater pace from a combination of the poison and its own Giga Drain.

_"Damn...I should have known better than to use Giga Drain on a Gulpin!"_ Brendan thought, mentally slapping himself.

"Now use Sludge!" Gulpin opened its mouth again, this time spurting out a glob of Sludge towards Nuzleaf. The pokemon was knocked back onto the ground as the sludge struck it in the chest and clinged to it. Nuzleaf immediately got back up on its feet however and used another Giga Drain attack on Gulpin. Gulpin easily withstood the attack, but the effort had completely drained the last of Nuzleaf's energy and it collapsed, succumbing to the various poisons now affecting it.

"I guess you won this one, May." Brendan said to her as he recalled his pokemon. As Brendan was recalling his pokemon, however, May's Gulpin became enveloped in a white light and began to evolve. Both trainers watched in amazement as May's Gulpin began to grow, and it kept growing until it was standing even taller than May. When the light had finally faded, Gulpin didn't really look remotely like it had before.

The small green pokemon was now purple, and stood at over five feet tall. There were black diamonds going around its body just below its arms, and its barely noticeable eyes were now larger and red. It had long yellow whiskers on either side of its mouth, and a large nose. May's Gulpin had evolved into a Swalot.

"Alright! My Gulpin evolved!" May cried excitedly. Her excitement quickly died down, however, as she remembered the things Gulpin had tried to eat before. Now that it was much bigger, May wondered if it'd be even worse now. Her newly evolved Swalot immediately began looking around for something to eat, and May recalled it before it could cause any trouble.

"Just what I need..." May said with a sigh. "A bigger Gulpin..."

"Been having trouble with it, I'm guessing?" Brendan asked her.

"Yeah, it tries to eat just about anything in sight..." May replied. She then turned to pick up the egg that Combusken had been carrying before, but it was gone!

"My egg's gone!" May cried, looking around frantically for where it could have gone.

"Gone? Didn't Combusken leave it on the ground? Unless it hatched it couldn't have gotten far..." Brendan said, looking around as well.

"What was in it anyway?" He asked her.

"I don't know, but I have to find it! Professor Birch said it might be hatching soon!" May said before running off in search of her egg, leaving Brendan behind.

"Hey! Wait up! I'll help you look for it!" Brendan called after her.

"Man...is she always like this?" He said to himself, before running to catch up with her. He caught up to her behind someone's house, staring at something with a look of shock in her eyes and her mouth hanging open. Brendan followed her gaze, and couldn't believe what he was seeing either. May had found her egg repeatedly rolling into a tree in someone's yard.

"What...the...heck?" Both trainers watched in confusion as the egg repeatedly rolled back, then rolled forward into the tree. The egg had a few cracks on it where it was hitting the tree, and the cracks were getting larger after each hit.

"Is it...trying to hatch?" May asked.

"I think it is..." Brendan said to her. "But I've never seen a pokemon hatching like that before.."

The two of them watched the egg smash into the tree over and over, cracking more each time, until finally the egg shattered and revealed the baby pokemon that had been inside. The pokemon was the same color blue as the egg that it had just broken out of, and it had a black tail that seemed to match the black spot that was on the egg. It had a large mouth, two eyes that looked like triangular slits, and flaps on each side of its head that hung down to the ground.

"So is that your kid?" Brendan jokingly asked her. May punched him in the shoulder then ran over to make sure the baby pokemon was alright. The pokemon watched as she approached it, curious about the strange creature. May kneeled in front of the pokemon and smiled.

"Hey there, little guy!" May said softly to it. The pokemon stared at her, a curious expression on its face, then ran over to her and hugged her leg with the arm-like flaps hanging from its head. May smiled and picked up the pokemon.

"Now what kind of pokemon might you be..." May stood up and held the baby pokemon close to her with one hand, and tickled its stomach with the other. The pokemon seemed to be giggling as May did this.

"I wonder if Professor Birch knows what you are..." May looked to Brendan, who was standing behind them and watching.

"Any idea where your father is?" She asked him.

"I could probably find him if you want, though if you ask me your pokemon there kinda reminds me of a Wobbuffet. Could be some kind of baby Wobbuffet." Brendan said to her.

"Oh?" May looked down at the giggling pokemon in her arms. She heard of Wobbuffet, but never actually saw one before.

"Well Professor Birch wanted to see it when it hatched anyway..." Brendan gave a nod.

"I'll go find him then. Wait for us at the lab." May nodded, and Brendan went off to find his father. May went to the lab to wait for them, carrying the baby pokemon with her.

May watched the baby pokemon as it wandered around Birch's lab, curiously examining the various devices and other objects within the lab. May was keeping a close eye on it to make sure it didn't get into any trouble, but the pokemon was mostly just exploring and not getting into any trouble. While she was watching it, May decided to take out her pokedex and see if it had any info.

"Wynaut, the bright pokemon." The pokedex read. "A Wynaut loves to eat sweet fruits. It cleverly picks fruits using its earlike arms. They gather in fruit gardens, drawn by the fragrance." May looked from the pokedex to the baby Wynaut.

"So you're a Wynaut..." May said to the curious little pokemon. The Wynaut looked at her as she said its name.

"I have to say, I've never actually seen a Wynaut before." Professor Birch said as he entered the lab, carrying the supplies he took with him for his field work.

"Oh, hi there Professor Birch!" May picked up Wynaut and held it so it was facing Professor Birch.

"Wynaut, say hi to the professor!" Wynaut flapped its arms up and down and gave a little cry in greeting. Professor Birch leaned forward to examine it.

"Brendan's not with you?" May asked the professor, finally noticing that Brendan didn't arrive with the professor.

"Brendan left for Fortree already, he only stopped by because he heard you were here." Professor Birch straightened up and set his equipment down on a nearby table.

"You know, no one has ever seen a Wynaut in the wild. People have studied Wynaut that hatched from a Wobbuffet's egg, but never in the wild. Its rumored that there's an island somewhere where wild Wynaut live, but no one's ever been there before. This is the first time I've seen a Wynaut in person..." Professor Birch opened a drawer and pulled out a small syringe, then turned to May.

"Would you mind if I took a small blood sample?" He asked her. May looked down at the Wynaut in her arms.

"I guess not...the needle won't hurt it, would it?"

"It won't feel a thing." May nodded, and put Wynaut down on the table Professor Birch's gear was on. Wynaut turned around to look at May with a big smile on its face. May wondered if Wynaut could ever be upset. Professor Birch attached a needle to the end of the syringe, and took a small blood sample from one of Wynaut's arms. Wynaut didn't even seem to notice the needle being put into it, and seemed far more interested in May.

"There we go." Professor Birch took the needle over to a small metal box and placed it inside.

"Now that I have its DNA sample, I can try to find out where that Wynaut came from." Professor Birch turned to look at May, still standing near the box.

"I'd like to study it more, but it seems to be attached to you and I'm not one to separate a baby from its mother." Professor Birch said with a grin.

"Mother!" May looked at the Wynaut, then back at Professor Birch. "Are you saying this Wynaut thinks I'm its mother?"

"Well you were the first thing it saw after hatching, right?" Professor Birch asked her. May thought back to when Wynaut hatched earlier. Aside from Brendan, she was the only person around, and she did approach it just after it hatched.

"Yeah, I guess I was..." She finally said.

"Some baby pokemon have been known to become attached to the first living thing they see after hatching. Though to a baby pokemon, sometimes various machines seem alive as well." Professor Birch said to her.

"So I guess you think I'm your mother then?" May said to the baby Wynaut. She picked it up off the table and placed it on the floor. Wynaut looked around the lab again, but didn't leave May's side this time.

"Think it'd be ok if I didn't put Wynaut in a pokeball, Professor Birch?"

"It might be best you didn't, actually." Professor Birch replied. "Not for a while anyway. Since its only a baby, you should give it a chance to get used to being with a trainer first and maybe get to know the rest of your pokemon."

"I'll just let him follow me around for a while then." May bent down to Wynaut's height.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Wynaut hopped up and down happily, though it didn't really know what either May or Professor Birch were even talking to. She stood up and looked to Professor Birch.

"I'm going to head home and spend some time with my mom I think. Thanks for everything Professor Birch."

"Your quite welcome, May! And thank you for helping me with my research."

"Your welcome, bye Professor Birch!" May left the lab, and Wynaut followed her as fast as its little legs would carry it.

May spent the rest of the day with her mother, which ended up with May doing chores as predicted. She helped clean around the house a bit, and made a run to the store to buy bread. She bought a few berries for Wynaut while she was there as well, who spent most of the day just following May around and watching her as she did various chores. May also helped her mother make dinner, which consisted of chicken and rice.

Dinner was ready by the time May's father got home from his job as gym leader of the Petalburg Gym, and the three of them sat down to eat and talk about how their day went. May's Wynaut sat under the kitchen table and ate some of the berries that May had bought for it. Though May had dinner with her family the previous day, it actually felt more like they were having dinner as a family this time.

"So did you have many challengers today, dear?" May's mother asked as the three of them ate.

"A few, as usual. Didn't hand out any badges today either, though one trainer did come pretty close. If his Skarmory actually listened to him from the start of the battle, he may have actually won." Norman looked towards his daughter.

"It was that friend of yours, Alex. He's actually a pretty good trainer." May paused and stopped eatting, and looked at her father.

"Alex challenged you today? And he lost...?" Norman gave a nod. May took a moment to process this info.

"That so isn't fair!" May whined. "Alex lost another match and I wasn't there to see it..."

"I don't get it, why would you want to see your friend lose? You are friends, aren't you?" Norman asked her.

"You wouldn't understand, dad." May replied. "We are friends though. We've been travelling around Hoenn together ever since we met up in Slateport." May scooped up some rice with her fork and shoveled it into her mouth.

"At least I can rub it in his face that he lost to my dad..." May's parents looked at each other briefly, as if they were both thinking the same thing. This was the first they've heard of May travelling with Alex.

"So...you were travelling with a boy?" Her mother inquired.

"Yeah, why?" May looked at her parents, and from the looks they were giving her she immediately figured out what they were getting at.

"No! There's absolutely nothing between us! We're just friends! He's not my boyfriend! So don't bother asking!"

"Of course not..." Her father said casually, then went back to eating his food.

"Wouldn't even think it..." Her mother added.

"So are you two going to be travelling together again when you leave?" Her father asked.

"He's going to wait for me in Petalburg. I'm thinking about leaving for Petalburg tomorrow actually, and then I'm going to challenge you to a battle when I get there, dad!" Norman chuckled.

"Well I'll look forward to it, but why the sudden decision to leave?"

"Well..." May looked out the kitchen window. "Littleroot is great and all...but I think I'd rather be travelling." She then looked back to her dad.

"Dad, think I could go with you to Petalburg tomorrow?" She asked him.

"If you're awake by then its fine by me. I have to be there for 9 AM though."

"I'll be up, but you better not leave without me!"


	28. Chapter 20: May! Fight Your Father!

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Twenty**

**May, Fight Your Father!**

"I can't believe he left without me!" May shrieked, frantically pulling on her clothes. Wynaut watched from the foot of May's bed, curious as to why she seemed upset and was putting on a second skin.

"So what if I slept in, he could have woke me up!" It was now well past 9 AM in the morning, and May had just woke up and was getting dressed. She had planned to leave for Petalburg with her father so she could challenge him to a battle, but he had already left without her. She now had to go to Petalburg on her own.

May's clothes had been through the wash, and today she was wearing her usual outfit since she was going to be travelling again. She had her green bandana with a white pokeball pattern, her orange outfit which ended in a short skirt, and a pair of black shorts. She strapped her fannypack around her waist and picked up her other backpack and placed it on the floor next to Wynaut. Most of her items were in the side pockets of her backpack because the fossil she found in Mirage Tower was taking up all the space in the main section of her fannypack.

"Wynaut, I want you to get in this backpack." May said to it with a smile. "It'll be easier for me to carry you around this way and you won't be trying to keep up with me all the time."

Wynaut peered inside the backpack, where it was carried back when it was still in its egg. It curiously poked around inside it with one of its arms before happily jumping in. May gently picked up the backpack, which felt a bit awkward carrying a living pokemon inside it instead of an egg, and carefully slung it on her back. Wynaut poked its head out curiously and looked around May's room, excited that it was now going to be carried on May's back everywhere.

"Alright, now I'll grab a quick breakfast and head to Petalburg so I can beat dad!" May rushed downstairs, Wynaut giggling as it bounced with each step, and into the kitchen where her mother was sipping her tea and reading the morning paper.

"Morning, dear." Her mother said cheerfully, looking up from her paper.

"Morning, mom!" May quickly replied, crossing the kitchen to get to the toaster and popping two slices of bread into it. She then grabbed some oran berries out of the fridge and gave one to Wynaut and put the other two in a pouch on her backpack.

"You seem to be in a bit of a hurry this morning." Her mother commented.

"I overslept and dad didn't bother to wake me!" May said in frustation. "I want to get to Petalburg quickly so I can beat him and get it over with!"

"Well, at least your confident." Her mother replied with a light chuckle.

"My Combusken can beat his pokemon easily!" A loud ding was heard and the bread May put in the toaster popped up, fully toasted. May quickly spread a layer of butter over each slice. She then bolted for the door, taking her toast with her.

"I'm going to Petalburg now, bye mom, love you!" May slammed the front door closed as she left, leaving her mother alone in a quiet, empty house. Caroline took a sip of her tea, then looked at her watch. About a minute later, the front door was flung open and May bolted into the kitchen, opening the fridge and getting herself a glass of orange juice.

"Forget to get something to drink!" May finally said as she finished her orange juice.

"Ok, now I'm going! Bye, love you mom!" May bolted out of the house again, once again slamming the door shut behind her. Her mother couldn't help but chuckle at her daughter's antics.

"If that girl tried to move any faster she'd be there before Norman..."

A white blur flashed by a tree near the outskirts of Petalburg Woods. Moments later, the tree toppled over onto the ground. Standing nearby the fallen tree was the green wood-gecko pokemon, Grovyle. On one of its arms, in place of the three leaves normally on its forearm, was a single green blade. Grovyle had its Leaf Blade attack at the ready, and had combined it with a Quick Attack to chop down the tree.

Nearby, a v-shaped blade of air cut through several trees, causing them all to topple over. Another white blur seemed to bounce from tree to tree before the yellow electric mouse pokemon Minun appeared out of the blur on another nearby tree and launched a blast of lightning towards the attacking metal bird known as Skarmory.

Alex's Grovyle, Skarmory, and Minun were all out training near the outskirts of Petalburg Woods. Swellow was perched in some nearby trees outside the forest with several Tailow, and Azumarill and the Marill it had met up with were all curled up asleep on the beach. Alex's Numel was sleeping just outside Alex's tent, near what was obviously the remains of a campfire.

Alex had left all his pokemon out of their pokeballs from the night before, mostly because he didn't quite feel up to separating Swellow and Azumarill from their old friends so soon. Instead he decided to leave all his pokemon out overnight to do as they wished. Grovyle, Skarmory, and Minun didn't sleep much and were all eager to start training the next day. Grovyle had its own reasons for training, while Skarmory was determined not to let Minun get the best of it. Alex was awake as well, or at least partially awake.

"I wish they wouldn't make so much noise..." Alex muttered sleepily. Another pair of crashes could be heard nearby as Grovyle took down another tree, then sliced it in half before it hit the ground.

"...Forget it." Alex muttered, pulling himself out of his sleeping bag and sitting up. He pulled on his shoes, the only clothing he actually took off before going to bed, then unzipped the door of his tent and stepped outside. He had to shield his eyes against the morning sun as he glanced around to see what his pokemon were all up to. He spotted Minun, Grovyle, and Skarmory training in the nearby woods as well as Numel still asleep nearby. He couldn't see Swellow or Azumarill, but figured they couldn't be very far. His tent was set up at the top of the hill, near the beach.

"So its those three making all the noise..." Alex smirked as he watched Minun and Skarmory battle and Grovyle train on its own.

"Since they're all busy, and I'm obviously not going to get to sleep in today, I guess I'll head into Petalburg and grab some..." Alex stretched and gave a yawn. "...breakfast."

Alex went back in his tent and grabbed his wallet so he could buy his breakfast. He also gave his hair a quick comb, realizing that he probably looked like a mess having just woke up. When he finally felt like he was ready to go, he packed up his sleeping bag and went into town. Numel was the only pokemon that would have noticed him leave, but was still asleep. Alex's pokemon all continued on without realizing he was gone.

Upon arriving in Petalburg, Alex went to the same place for breakfast that he had stopped at the day before. He ordered his usual tea and a toasted bagel and sat down at a table near the windows to eat his breakfast. He picked up the newspaper near his seat and took a quick look over it while he ate his bagel and drank his tea. He skipped through the paper to the horoscopes, looking under cancer. Alex quietly read his horoscope to himself.

"Close relatives may make a surprise visit this week, but it won't necessarily be a welcome surprise. Your lucky day this week is Thursday. ...Well, today is Thursday, if that means anything." Alex didn't really believe horoscopes, though he always found himself curious as to what they said for some reason. Finished with it, Alex dropped the paper on the table and sat back in his chair, staring out the window and thinking about how he'll handle his second battle with Norman.

_"I think I'll start with Azumarill this time and use Swellow, Minun, and Grovyle. If I use all the same pokemon again, Norman will no doubt be ready for me. He'll probably use different strategies to try to throw me off as well, though he'll still probably save Slaking for last. This time, I think I'll try using speed against Slaking instead of durability."_ Alex took another sip of his tea as he formed a strategy in his mind.

_"Slaking doesn't attack very often, so I'll use Grovyle, Minun, or Swellow against it and try to evade its attacks. They should be able to easily dodge its Hyper Beam attack, and Minun and Grovyle should be able to take at least one Thunder Punch if it lands a hit. I wish I knew what other attacks it knew though..."_

As Alex stared out the window thinking about his battle strategy, he saw Norman jog by on his way to the gym. He was wearing a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, and a pair of running shoes instead of his usual outfit. Alex figured he'd probably change once he got to the gym, and probably jogged there from his home in Littleroot every morning.

_"I wonder if Norman is one of those people who believe that trainers should train as hard as their pokemon?"_ Alex looked down at his somewhat scrawny arms. He was never overly muscular to begin with, but ever since becoming a trainer he only had decent meals whenever he was in a town or city and would spend the majority of the day walking. He had actually lost a bit of weight since becoming a trainer.

_"I bet Norman gets to eat real food everyday, since he doesn't really have to travel anywhere. Though he does travel more than most gym leaders, who usually live in the same town. I wonder why his family moved to Littleroot instead of Petalburg when they came over to Hoenn anyway? Maybe I should ask May sometime..." _Alex drank the last of his tea, and shook the cup to make sure it was empty.

"Guess I should get back to my pokemon now, they might be wondering where I went." Alex said to himself. He got up from the table, leaving his empty plate where it was again and tossing his empty cup in the trash on the way out. He stopped for a moment once he was outside the restaurant.

"Think I'll let my pokemon train for a little while more after I give them their food, assuming Grovyle didn't take care of that already. Its not like there's any hurry though." He said to himself.

"May's probably going to spend a few days at home anyway..."

May pressed a few buttons on the keyboard in front of her. Shortly after, a pokeball appeared in the transporter next to the PC she was using. She picked up the pokeball from the transporter and placed it on her belt.

"Thats the last one..." She said to herself. Wynaut was peering over her shoulder from her backpack, curious about the computer and the pokeballs appearing.

May had wasted no time in getting to Petalburg, she didn't even stop for a break in Oldale. Upon arriving in Petalburg she immediately went to the pokemon center to make some temporary changes to her team. While she usually didn't really concern herself with how strong her pokemon were, today she wanted to make sure she had some of her best pokemon with her for her battle with her dad.

May switched her Pelipper, Crawdaunt, and Slugma for Roselia, Beautifly, and Kirlia. While Roselia wasn't one of her strongest pokemon, it had a large variety of techniques at its disposal. Her Roselia didn't have much actual battle experience, but she felt she could make good use of its attacks. Her Beautifly also had many different techniques at its disposal, and was even capable of healing its own injuries with its Morning Sun technique. She hoped to make use of her Kirlia's Teleport ability in battle as well.

"You know, its been a while since I challenged a gym leader without Alex giving me advice beforehand..." May said, looking over her shoulder at Wynaut.

"Alex couldn't beat my dad, but I will, and I won't need Mr. Know-it-all's advice either! I'm going to show both of them who the better trainer is!" Wynaut gave a happy cry, bouncing up and down in May's backpack. It had no idea what she was talking about, but it could hear the excitement in May's voice, and that made it very happy.

With her team set to challenge her father, May left the Petalburg Pokemon Center for her father's gym. She walked through the streets of Petalburg with a determined expression on her face. Many people gave her a second glance, wondering what was going through her head before realizing she was heading towards the Petalburg Gym. No one really recognized her, though, and assumed she was just another overconfident trainer that wouldn't stand a chance at beating Norman. May immediately entered the gym when she arrived, and her father was standing on the other side of the gym waiting.

"So you've finally made it, May." Norman said as his daughter entered the gym.

"I would have been here sooner if you didn't leave without me!" May yelled at him.

"Well you were sound asleep, and it seemed like it'd be a shame to wake you." Her father replied. "Besides, you're here now, so what difference does it make?"

"I guess it doesn't make any difference..." May admitted. "I just didn't want Alex to challenge you to a rematch before I got a chance to beat you."

"And what makes you think you'll beat me?" Norman smirked slightly.

"I know I'll beat you!" May shot back, grabbing a pokeball and holding it out in front of her.

"I made sure I'd be ready for this match, so you better be ready to lose to your own daughter!"

"We'll see." Norman replied. "I'm sure we can skip the introductions..." Norman took a pokeball off his belt as well, and held it at his side. He then smiled, and seemed to be a bit less serious.

"May...I'm glad to have the chance to battle my own daughter. But a battle's a battle, and as a gym leader I'm going to do everything I can to win." Norman brought the pokeball forward and released his first pokemon. May pressed the button on the pokeball she was holding up and did the same.

"Spinda, go!" Norman shouted as the pokeball opened, releasing the dizzy eyed teddy bear pokemon onto the gym's battlefield.

"Beautifly, go!" May called out her Beautifly to fight first. The butterfly pokemon appeared hovering over the battlefield, ready to battle Norman's Spinda. Though May couldn't tell, it was eager for a battle. May's Wynaut peered over her shoulder to watch the upcoming battle.

"Spinda, start off with an Ice Punch!" Norman commanded. Spinda took a running start towards May's Beautifly, ice gathering around its fist as it prepared for its attack. As it neared Beautifly, it leapt up towards it to delivery the punch.

"Beautifly, now! Use Gust!" Beautifly started flapping its wings rapidly in Spinda's direction, sending gusts of wind towards it as it was jumping up to attack. The force of the gusts sent Spinda flying backwards through the air and landing on the floor of the gym with a thud.

"Now use Stun Spore!" May's Beautifly spread its wings, releasing a cloud of spores into the air which began falling to the ground towards Spinda. Spinda was in the process of getting back up on its feet as the spore cloud hit it, and it suddenly got harder for the pokemon to move as the spores took effect. It struggled to get back on its feet, its muscles almost completely paralyzed. Norman didn't seem to be worried at all, though.

"Spinda, use Facade!" Spinda suddenly seemed to regain its strength, and its spiral eyes suddenly turned red as it stared down Beautifly. It charged towards Beautifly and jumped at it, delivering what seemed to be a powerful tackle attack that knocked Beautifly back hard into the far wall of the gym. Beautifly crashed to the floor of the gym and seemed to be in a great deal of pain from that one attack and was barely concious.

_"How'd that thing get so powerful all of a sudden!"_ May wondered, looking at her injured Beautifly. She briefly glanced at her father's Spinda, who once again seemed to be struggling from the paralysis.

"Facade turns a pokemon's raw determination into an attack." Norman said, as if reading his daughter's mind.

"The power of the attack greatly increases if the pokemon using it is suffering from any adverse conditions, such as being paralyzed by a Stun Spore attack. As you may be aware, most gym leaders have a signature technique of sorts. This one is mine." Norman smirked at his last comment, and May was starting to wonder if maybe Roselia and Beautifly weren't great choices like she thought they were. She wasn't ready to give up yet, though, and turned her attention back to her Beautifly.

"Beautifly, use Morning Sun!" Beautifly weakly spread its wings, which began to glow white as they absorbed light, as if preparing to use a Solar Beam attack. Instead, though, it was using the sunlight to restore its strength.

"Spinda, finish it with a Psybeam attack before it gets the chance to heal!" Spinda concentrated and fired a beam of psychic energy towards Beautifly from its eyes. The energy beam was cut short, however, as Spinda was suddenly overcome by paralysis and collapsed to the floor, unable to support itself. The attack failed to reach May's Beautifly at all, and soon Beautifly had the strength to move again, and flapped its wings to lift itself up off the gym floor.

"That was a close one..." May said under her breath.

"Beautifly, use Tackle!" Beautifly flapped its wings and flew towards the paralyzed Spinda. It slammed into it, the force of the impact rolling Spinda over onto its back, then pulled back up into the air and spun around to face Spinda again.

"Spinda, try to get up and use another Facade attack!" Spinda's spiral eyes turned red again and it seemed to gain the strength to get back on its feet, but was still moving somewhat sluggishly from its paralysis.

"Beautifly, quick! Land on its head and use Mega Drain!" Beautifly immediately dropped down from the air and landed on Spinda's head, causing it to stagger forward a bit. Spinda was able to overcome its paralysis to perform another devastating Facade attack, but it was unable to attack Beautifly because it had a firm grip on its head. Beautifly then proceded to drain energy directly from Spinda, and further regaining its strength as it healed its remaining injuries from the previous Facade attack.

Spinda's eyes returned to normal as its strength faded, and paralysis soon took over again. The pokemon collapsed to the floor, and Beautifly drained the rest of its energy and flew back up into the air, leaving Spinda unable to fight. Norman realized his Spinda was down and out, and recalled it to its pokeball. Despite Spinda putting up a good fight, May's Beautifly didn't even have a scratch on it.

"I have to admit, I never would have expected a Beautifly to give me much trouble..." He said to her. "You've obviously trained it well."

"Beautifly was one of the first pokemon I caught. I caught it when it was a Silcoon in Petalburg Woods, its not going to go down easy!" May replied.

"I can see that...but your old man isn't about to throw in the towel." Norman switched Spinda's pokeball for another one from his belt of pokeballs.

"Vigoroth, go!" Norman called out as he held up the pokeball he just grabbed and pressed the button on the front of the pokeball. The pokeball opened up in his hand, and a red beam fired out. The beam then formed into the fearsome and wild Vigoroth.

_"Vigoroth..."_ May thought to herself. _"I'm tempted to have Beautifly use Stun Spore on it...but it likely knows Facade, and looks like its a stronger pokemon than Spinda. If Beautifly can barely take a Facade from Spinda, it won't be able to take one from Vigoroth."_

"Vigoroth, use Fire Punch!" Norman's command snapped May out of her thoughts, and Norman's Vigoroth ran towards May's Beautifly as one of its clawed hands became covered in flames.

"Beautifly, use Whirlwind!" Beautifly started flapping its wings rapidly, as if using a Gust attack, but instead of creating strong gusts of wind a weak tornado began to form. Vigoroth leaped towards Beautifly, slowing down as it passed through the forming tornado. Despite the resistance, Vigoroth was able to reach its target and slammed its fiery fist into Beautifly. Beautifly was sent sailing backwards towards the ground while Vigoroth landed perfectly where the whirlwind was forming.

May's Beautifly laid still on the ground for several moments, and May was about to recall it when it suddenly started to move again. It pushed its wings against the floor, trying to push itself up, but to no avail. The fiery attack had actually singed its body quite a bit, and it didn't have the strength to get up. It was still concious, and if May had it use Morning Sun again it could get back in the fight, but she was sure it wouldn't get the chance to.

"Beautifly, you've done enough, return!" May recalled her injured Beautifly, and Wynaut watched curiously as it disappeared back into the pokeball May was holding. It wondered how Beautifly could fit into such a small ball. May placed the pokeball back on her belt and took another one off her belt. Wynaut looked at the pokeballs attached to May's belt, then at the one she was holding in her hand.

"Kirlia, go!" May called out her psychic ballerina-look-alike pokemon, Kirlia. Kirlia appeared on the battlefield and gave a slight bow.

"Kirlia, use Psychic!" Kirlia quickly began the battle with a Psychic attack. It closed its eyes and concentrated. Its eyes flashed blue when it opened them again, and an invisible psychic force slammed into Vigoroth causing it to stagger backwards, but it managed to remain standing despite the force of the impact.

"Well you're certainly not wasting any time..." Norman said. "Vigoroth, strike back with a Fury Swipes!" Vigoroth gave a menacing glare towards Kirlia as it recovered from the Psychic attack, then charged towards it with its claws held back, prepared to strike.

"Kirlia, use Teleport and Psychic!" Kirlia vanished just as Vigoroth was about to strike, appearing far behind it near the other end of the battle field. It then concentrated its psychic powers to use another Psychic attack. Vigoroth turned to face its opponent again, and found itself being struck by a hard blow seemingly from out of nowhere and was knocked off its feet. It got back up and gave Kirlia another angry glare.

_"Hmm...Vigoroth won't even be able to get close to May's Kirlia now. It'll just keep teleporting away."_ Norman thought, analyzing the situation.

_"Fortunately, Vigoroth has at least one attack it can use from back there..."_ Norman reached into his jacket pocket, and took out two small pieces of orange foam. From where May was standing, she couldn't tell what her father took out of his pocket.

"Vigoroth, use Uproar!" Vigoroth started pounding its chest and screaming loudly, making a loud Uproar that made it almost impossible for May or Kirlia to hear anything.May and both her pokemon held their ears with their hands to block out the noise. Norman, on the other hand, used the pieces of foam as earplugs. Though his Vigoroth would still be unable to hear him, Norman wouldn't have to deal with the Uproar distracting him.

_"I hoped I'd never hear that attack again!"_ May thought. Though it wasn't as bad as the combo nusiance she had to put up with when she faced Tabby and Gy, it was still pretty annoying.

_"Kirlia probably won't be able to concentrate enough in that Uproar to use Psychic...I wonder if she could still use Confusion though?"_ While May was trying to think of a plan of attack, Norman signalled to Vigoroth with a wave of his hand, and Vigoroth began to slowly approach May's Kirlia, still screaming and pounding its chest as it walked towards her pokemon to deliver an attack.

"Kirlia, use Confusion!" May called out to her pokemon, but Kirlia didn't seem to be able to hear her with its hands over its ears. Vigoroth finally stopped its Uproar when it reached Kirlia, then immediately began to attack Kirlia repeatedly with its claws. Kirlia seemed almost helpless to do anything against Vigoroth's assault. Norman took his earplugs out, but didn't issue any further commands to Vigoroth as it currently had Kirlia against the ropes.

"Kirlia, try to use Confusion!" Kirlia tried hard to focus its mental energies while being repeatedly slashed by Vigoroth. It was taking quite a beating, but managed to concentrate enough to use its Confusion attack. A sudden burst of psychic energy hit Vigoroth at point blank range, sending it sprawling backwards and finally giving Kirlia an opening.

"Now use Psychic!" Kirlia concenrtated hard, and its eyes suddenly turned blue as it unleashed a psychic energy wave towards the helpless Vigoroth. The invisible energy wave struck Vigoroth hard, sending it rolling backwards across the gym and landing on its back. The pokemon showed no signs of conciousness, and was clearly defeated. Norman recalled his pokemon, placing its pokeball on his belt and quickly grabbing another.

"Not bad, May. You've been putting up a pretty good fight so far." Norman said to her. "You've managed to beat two of my pokemon, without a single pokemon being defeated on your side. Though your Beautifly is definitely in rough shape."

"You better watch it, dad, or you might end up losing to your own daughter!" May called back. Norman chuckled.

"You better watch it yourself. The battle's not over yet. Linoone, go!" Norman held up the pokeball he grabbed and released his Linoone from the pokeball. Linoone appeared on the battlefield and gave a low growl as it faced Kirlia, who was on its side of the battlefield.

"Kirlia, you've done enough for now, return!" May's Kirlia gave no arguments as it was recalled into its pokeball, and Wynaut watched as yet another of May's pokemon disappeared into the tiny ball she was holding. May wanted to give her Kirlia a bit of a rest after having to deal with her father's Vigoroth. It had taken quite a beating, but it was still capable of battling if May decided to use it again. She placed Kirlia's pokeball on her belt, then took another and held it out in front of her.

"Roselia, your turn, go!" May pressed the button on the front of the pokeball, releasing her pokemon. The foot high rose pokemon Roselia appeared on May's side of the battlefield as May's next pokemon.

"Linoone, use Headbutt!" Norman commanded, and his Linoone obeyed and charged across the battlefield towards Roselia with its head lowered.

"Roselia, use Leech Seed!" Roselia brought one of its arms forward, and fired a seed from its red rose towards the oncoming Linoone. The seed landed on Linoone's back and immediately began growing roots which stuck to Linoone and started sapping energy from it, feeding it back to Roselia. The attack did nothing to stop Linoone, however, and it rammed into Roselia head first at full speed, sending the tiny plant pokemon crashing into the back wall of the gym. Surprisingly, Roselia was able to get up after such a hard impact, though it did seem a bit disoriented for a moment.

"Roselia, jump over it and use a Stun Spore!" Roselia ran back towards Linoone and jumped into the air. It started spinning around as it released Stun Spore's from the roses on the end of its arms. Linoone didn't move from where it was, and its muscles started locking up as the spores landed on it. Linoone could have easily evaded the attack if Norman commanded, but he didn't. In fact, he was somewhat surprised that May would try that again after what happened with Spinda. After performing its attack, Roselia gracefully landed behind Linoone.

"I guess you didn't learn anything from before..." Norman said, sounding somewhat disappointed.

"Linoone, use Facade!" The whites of Linoone's eyes turned red, and it temporarily shook off the effects of its paralysis and prepared to deliver a devastating physical attack.

"Roselia, jump!" Linoone turned around quickly in an attempt to smack Roselia with its tail, but Roselia easily jumped clear of its tail, completely avoiding Linoone's attack.

"Now use Poison Sting!" Roselia pointed one of its flowered arms towards the Linoone below it and fired a small yellow stinger towards it. The stinger struck Linoone in the back near where the Leech Seed had sprouted and delivered a dose of poison to the already suffering pokemon. Linoone winced in pain and growled as it felt the poison entering its body.

_"Whats she trying to prove?"_ Norman wondered. _"One good hit from Linoone's Facade attack now could probably take out just about every one of her pokemon. Then again, Linoone's weakening pretty rapidly now between the seed and the poison. The spores aren't helping much either."_

"Linoone, try to use Facade again!" Norman's Linoone looked up at its opponent still above it and slowly descending. Linoone's eyes were still red and its body was rippling with power from its raw determination. Before it got a chance to make another attack, though, it was overcome by paralysis from the spores and collapsed onto the floor as it no longer had the strength to stand on its four legs. Roselia once again gracefully landed in front of it.

"From where I'm standing, your Linoone is looking wiped out, dad!" May called across the gym. "Roselia, use Magical Leaf!" Roselia brought both its arms towards the Linoone that was lying in front of it and fired out several sharp leaves, striking Linoone at point blank range. Linoone cried out in pain as the leaves struck it, then collapsed as the last of its strength was drained from it. The seed withered and fell off its back, and Norman recalled his pokemon.

"Looks like you're down to your last pokemon, while I still have four left." May taunted.

"Well you know what they say, May..." Norman said with a smirk as he took his final pokeball from his belt.

"Save the best for last. Slaking, go!" Norman called out his Slaking, his last pokemon and easily his strongest pokemon. It yawned and scratched its side as it appeared on the battlefield. May stared in disbelief at her father's final pokemon. It was a mountain of muscle, and May could tell it was a very strong pokemon, but at the same time...it didn't look very energetic.

"Slaking is my strongest pokemon, May, and is almost undefeated. It is the very same pokemon that defeated your friend's Skarmory just yesterday. Still think you'll win?"

"Your Slaking might be tough, and it might have been able to take down Alex's Skarmory, but I still have all four of my pokemon left to fight it with!" May replied smugly, she was starting to feel as though it would be impossible for her to lose now.

_"And once I beat dad..."_ May thought. _"Alex is next!"_

Alex, meanwhile, was fighting another battle...

"Grovyle, don't you think you've trained enough?" Alex's question fell on deaf ears as Grovyle ran up to another tree and brought it down with an attack from its Leaf Blade. Alex had already packed up camp and recalled the rest of his pokemon, but Grovyle seemed to insist on training more. Grovyle stood before the stump of the tree he just cut down, panting heavily as its extreme workout was starting to tire it out.

_"Whats gotten into him all of a sudden?"_ Alex wondered. _"He's always taken his training seriously before, but he usually stops when I tell him to. Why is it today he's determined to train until he doesn't have the energy to stand up anymore? He's definitely going to take a while when I finally get him to the pokecenter."_

"I would like to take another shot at Norman sometime today, Grovyle." Alex said, rolling his eyes. Grovyle stopped for a moment, looking over the recently cut log. It wanted to train more, but was starting to feel exhausted. Ever since yesterday, Grovyle had felt an overwhelming need to become stronger. It wasn't satisfied with its training, but it gave in anyway. Grovyle turned to face Alex, finally ready to go back into its pokeball, which Alex was holding.

"You know, Grovyle, its great that you're so eager to train...but overdoing it won't get you anywhere." Alex said to him. Grovyle looked down, realizing Alex was right, but it was still going to keep training hard regardless. Alex finally recalled Grovyle and placed its pokeball on his belt.

"Now that thats over with, I'll head to the pokemon center before going to challenge Norman to another battle. This time I'll be ready for him. And when I'm done I guess I'll try to find out how long I'll be waiting in Petalburg for May." Alex headed into Petlaburg again to prepare for his battle with Norman, a group of Tailow and Marill watching as he left. Alex didn't know it yet, but May had already left Littleroot. He'd be finding out soon enough though.

"Roselia, use Stun Spore!" Roselia pointed both its flowers at Slaking and sprayed a cloud of spores towards it. Slaking seemed to twitch slightly as the spores landed on it, but remained standing despite the paralyzing effects of the spores.

"Slaking, use Return!" Slaking covered the distance between it and Roselia with surprising speed and immediately began rapidly punching the tiny rose pokemon, finishing with one good hard punch that knocked Roselia right to the edge of the battlefield marked out on the floor. Roselia didn't have any strength left in it at all from enduring such a fierce assault, and was out cold. May looked down at her pokemon in shock, it had been taking out already despite being almost unharmed from fighting Linoone courtesy of Leech Seed, and it was just a normal. attack too.

"That Slaking really is powerful..." May said to herself. She held up Roselia's pokeball, and reluctantly recalled her pokemon.

_"What pokemon should I use against that thing now?"_ May wondered. She had already used three pokemon, and of those three one had fainted. That meant that she had her Kirlia and Beautifly left to battle her father's Slaking, but still had one more to choose out of Swalot, Combusken, and Swablu.

_"Wait! Swablu knows Sing!"_ May thought. _"Maybe it can put that thing to sleep!" _She placed Roselia's pokeball on her belt, then took Swablu's pokeball in her hand.

"Swablu, your up next! Go!" May called out as she released her Swablu. As her Swablu appeared on the floor of the battlefield with its wings spread, her father's Slaking suddenly fell forward onto the floor, landing on its stomach. May and Swablu stared at Slaking in bewilderment, as it seemed to be perfectly fine other than the spores, which didn't seem to be bothering it yet. Wynaut, on the other hand, seemed to think it was pretty funny and started laughing while hopping from side to side.

"I suppose that would be Slaking's downside." Norman said to her. "Despite its overwhelming power, Slaking is a very lazy pokemon and tends to take a break after each attack."

"In that case, it won't mind taking a nap!" May replied. "Swablu, use Sing!"

May plugged her ears as Swablu sang a soothing melody to Slaking. Norman was far enough away that he wouldn't be affected by the singing. Slaking's eyelids began to feel heavy to it as it was lying on its stomach, staring at the small singing bird. Soon, it was fast asleep. Unfortunately, May had forgotten to tell her Wynaut to cover its ears. She heard a thud, and looked beside her to find her Wynaut was sleeping like a baby.

"Whoops! Sorry Wynaut!" May said sheepishly, though it couldn't hear her. She quickly turned her attention back to the battle.

"Swablu, use Fury Attack! Don't stop until it looks like its about to get up!" Swablu flapped its cloud-like wings to lift itself up off the floor, then took a short flight over to Slaking and began attacking it with a fury of claws and pecks. Slaking didn't seem to be waking up despite the punishment, so May temporarily turned her attention from the battle again to pick up the sleeping Wynaut and gently place it in her backpack to sleep. Norman, meanwhile, said nothing and patiently waited for his Slaking to wake up.

_"None of the pokemon May's used look particularly tough."_ Norman thought. _"Yet they've been putting up quite the fight. I thought for sure she'd use her Combusken against me though."_

Swablu continued to furiously attack Slaking until it started to wake up. Swablu flapped its wings and took off into the air to get away from it.

"Swablu, use Mist!" Swablu flapped its wings rapidly, hovering in the air, and began spreading mist around it. By the time Norman's Slaking as back on its feet, the area around both it and Swablu was completely concealed by a white mist. Slaking couldn't even see where Swablu was, but Norman knew where it was when it created the mist.

"Slaking, use Yawn and aim up!" Slaking looked up and saw nothing, but used its attack anyway. It opened its mouth and gave a yawn, releasing a white gas into the air which seemed to be almost indistinguishable from the mist surrounding it. Neither May nor Norman could see what had happened though because of the mist. Its task completed, Slaking sat down to take another break, and no one knew if it had even worked.

"Swablu, dive towards it and use Peck!" May called out, hoping Swablu was still ok inside the mist. The mist began to clear as Swablu stopped releasing more to attack. It dove down towards Slaking and delivered a peck attack straight to its forehead. Swablu then suddenly fell asleep after attacking, landing on the floor in front of Slaking. When the mist cleared, May could see that her Swablu had fallen asleep.

"Swablu! Wake up!" May called out desperately, but to no avail. Her Swablu was fast asleep and was lying right in front of Slaking. She was sure Slaking would be able to take out her Swablu just as easily as it beat her Roselia. Norman waited patiently for his Slaking to prepare to attack again. Several tense moments passed, and Swablu continued to snooze away while Slaking was resting.

"Slaking, toss it in the air and use Thunder Punch!" Slaking picked up May's Swablu in one hand and stood up. It then tossed Swablu up towards the ceiling while its other hand charged with electricity in preparation for its attack. As Swablu started to plummet to the floor again, Slaking slammed its fist into it in an uppercut sending it soaring upwards into the ceiling of the gym just like it did to Alex's Skarmory. Swablu woke with a cry as it hit the ceiling hard, then fall back down onto the floor. Swablu was unconcious and in pretty rough shape when it landed. May recalled her Swablu, and held its pokeball in her hand for a moment.

"Swablu...you gave it your best..." May said under her breath, before placing Swablu's pokeball back on her belt and taking her Beautifly's pokeball. She planned to get her Beautifly back in the match by taking advantage of Slaking's resting time.

"Beautifly, go! Use Morning Sun!" May called out her injured Beautifly, and immediately upon appearing on the floor of the battlefield it began absorbing sunlight through its wings while Norman's Slaking sat back down to rest again. As the absorbed sunlight healed its injuries, Beautifly was soon able to fly again and flapped its wings to lift itself into the air.

"Not bad...taking advantage of my Slaking's laziness to get your Beautifly back in fighting shape. I suppose I should have expected nothing less from you." Norman commented.

"I'm not finished yet! Beautifly, use Mega Drain!" A burst of yellow spheres of energy escaped from Slaking's body as Beautifly drained a bit of its energy from a safe distance, but Slaking barely seemed to flinch from it.

"Well lets see if your pokemon can still survive more than one hit! Slaking, use Thunder Punch!" Norman's Slaking once again got up to attack, and one of its fists began crackling with electricity. It charged towards Beautifly with surprising speed for its size, but then it suddenly tripped and toppled over as its body became completely paralyzed from the spores that Roselia had hit it with earlier.

"Phew...that was close..." May said under her breath.

"Alright, hit it with a Gust attack Beautifly!" Beautifly began flapping its wings rapidly, creating a gust of wind around Slaking. The gusts pulled and pushed at Slaking, but it took a while for the gusts off wind to become strong enough to have any real effect. A strong gust of wind finally knocked Slaking back a few feet, but the attack took Beautifly a great deal of effort because Slaking was lying down, and by the time the attack finally suceeded Slaking was ready to attack again.

"Slaking, try Thunder Punch again!" Norman's Slaking quickly jumped back up on its feet and raised its hand back as it crackled with electricity. It then jumped at May's Beautifly and delivered a powerful punch attack while shocking it with its electrified fists. Beautifly fell backwards onto the floor and no longer had the strength to fight, while Slaking landed with a loud thud. May's Beautifly had finally been taken down. May recalled her pokemon.

"Looks like you've gone from four pokemon to only one, May." Norman said to her. "Your only pokemon left now is your Kirlia. Still confident you can beat your old man?"

"Well like you said, dad..." May replied, taking her Kirlia's pokeball from her belt. "Save the best for last. Against your Slaking, that would be my Kirlia. Kirlia, go!" May sent out her Kirlia, confident that it'd be able to deal with her father's Slaking. She already had a plan in mind for Kirlia once she figured Slaking out, but wanted to weaken it as much as she could with her other pokemon first.

"Kirlia, use Double Team around Slaking!" May called out as her pokemon appeared. Kirlia immediately hopped over to Slaking, then made several mirror images of itself which surrounded it on all sides. Slaking scratched its head and grunted as it looked around at the many Kirlia's.

"Good! Now use Calm Mind!" Each of the images of May's Kirlia seemed to concentrate, focusing its mental powers to increase the potential of its attacks.

"I see now." Norman said thoughtfully. "You plan to avoid Slaking's attacks while powering up for the finishing blow. Lets see if your Kirlia will last long enough to pull it off. Slaking, use Hyper Beam and aim at the image directly behind you!" Norman's Slaking waited for a moment, before finally turning around and looking at the image of Kirlia that was standing directly behind it. It opened its mouth and fired a powerful blast of pure energy towards the image, but it turned out to be just that. The attack went straight through the Kirlia that it was aiming at, while Kirlia continued to concentrate to increase its mental powers.

"Kirlia, teleport to another image and keep using Calm Mind!" The images of Kirlia all vanished momentarily, then repeared all at the same time, with the real Kirlia in a different place than it was before. Kirlia then began focusing its power inwards again.

_"Seems she's just going to keep switching between images..."_ Norman thought. _"That'll make it difficult to predict where it is next. Time to try a different approach."_ Norman waited for a moment while Slaking rested, before issuing another command.

"Slaking, use Hyper Beam again but this time spin around!" Slaking fired off yet another powerful Hyper Beam attack, this time spinning around quickly so that it hit every image with its attack. One of the images was knocked back, revealing it to be the real Kirlia. Luckily for Kirlia it only took a glancing blow from the Hyper Beam attack and was still standing. The attack still did quite a number to it, though, and May knew if she tried that again then another Hyper Beam would still finish Kirlia off. She had to end this battle now, and could only hope that Kirlia's attack would be strong enough now.

"Kirlia, use Psychic!" Kirlia's eyes flashed blue as it stared down Slaking, releasing a powerful Psychic attack at the pokemon. Kirlia's increased mental powers made for a powerful attack that sent Slaking flying through the air and slamming hard into the side wall of the gym. The gym seemed to shake slightly from the impact, though the wall managed to suffer only a large dent that became revealed as Slaking dropped to the floor. After taking down all of May's previous pokemon in only one attack, Kirlia had managed to do the same to Slaking. May could hardly contain her excitement when she realized her Kirlia had won.

"Kirlia! You did it!" May cried, jumping up and raising her hand in the air. Kirlia fell back onto the floor of the gym, propping itself up with its arms and panting heavily. It put a lot of its power into that attack, and was mentally and physically exhausted. It then suddenly had a look of shock on its face and became enveloped in a white light. May calmed down and watched her Kirlia in amazement.

The white image of her Kirlia grew until it looked like it was three feet taller. The part of its body that looked somewhat like a skirt before grew much longer, and the horn-like extrusions on her head seemed to move down its body to the middle of its chest. Its arms grew longer as well, and what looked like its hair moved from the sides of its head to the back. When the glowing finally ceased, the pokemon that was sitting on the floor of the gym now looked more like an elegantly dressed lady. May's Kirlia had reached the final stage of its evolution and evolved into Gardevoir. May ran across the gym and hugged her pokemon tightly, and Gardevoir hugged her back.

"Kirlia! Or whatever you are now! I'm so happy for you!" May said to it, nearly in tears. "You managed to beat my father's strongest pokemon and evolved! Congratulations!" May and her evolved Kirlia held each other tightly. They had both made their greatest achievements yet. May managed to beat her father, and her Kirlia beat a fully evolved Slaking then evolved into its final stage. Norman couldn't help but smile at the two, before going over to check on his Slaking who seemed like he was just coming to.

"Looks like we lost this one, old buddy." Norman said to it, giving it a pat on the shoulder. Slaking looked up at its trainer, then past him to May and Gardevoir. Slaking felt like it had been hit by a tractor trailer after taking that Psychic attack.

"I can't believe I lost to my own daughter..." Norman said to himself, looking back over his shoulder. By now May's Wynaut was awake again, and May was introducing her two pokemon to each other.

"She's become a great trainer behind my back...I hope someday she makes it to the pokemon league..." Norman turned back to his Slaking and recalled it, then walked over to where his daughter was.

"Congratulations, May. That was a spectacular battle." He said to her, holding his hand out to her.

"Thanks! You were great yourself, dad!" May replied, shaking her father's hand.

"Its kind of funny..." Norman continued. "As a gym leader, I'm upset that I lost, and yet I'm glad to see my own daughter come so far as a trainer. Its kind of confusing." Norman reached into his pocket and took out a TM disc and the Balance Badge, and handed them to May.

"You've earned these, May." May looked at the two objects for a moment, before taking them from her father. May took out her trainers card and placed the Balance Badge in the 5th slot on her card.

"Thanks. Now I only need three more..." May turned to her two pokemon to show them her trainers card.

"We're past the halfway point now! Five gyms down, three to go!" Gardevoir smiled upon hearing the news, and Wynaut clapped its earlike arms together which seemed to cause a burst of applause to echo throughout the gym as if it used Encore.

"Well I guess we know one of your attacks now, Wynaut!" May said to it. Wynaut kept clapping, and the applause kept coming as if it was applauding May's progress. Wynaut stopped, however, when a brown haired woman in a business suit entered the gym.

"Oh! Sorry, I'm not interrupting anything am I?" The woman asked.

"I suppose not, the battle is already over." Norman said to her. "What can I do for you, Christine?"

"Well if you're not busy, Mr. Maple, could we perhaps get an interview with you down at the station?" She asked him.

"Sure, I'll be there in a bit." Norman replied.

"Thank you, sir. We'll be waiting for you!" The woman turned around and left the gym, and Norman gave a sigh.

"What was that all about?" May asked him.

"Huh? Oh, that was Christine from the Petalburg News. Then often interview me to hear my opinion on current events. As I'm sure you're aware, I'm pretty popular here in Petalburg."

"Don't you have to look after the gym though?"

"I doubt I'll be gone long enough for it to matter." Norman paused and thought for a moment. "Though...since you're here...would you mind watching over things while I'm gone?"

"Me!" May asked in shock. "But I'm not a gym leader."

"True." Norman said with a nod. "But I won't be gone long anyway. Besides, you are my daughter and you beat me, and I'd like for you to take over this gym someday. You should find everything you need in my office in the back."

"So you're really leaving me in charge of the gym?" May asked, looking at the door leading into Norman's office.

"I don't see why not. Anyway, I'll be back in a bit. There's a standard pokemon healing device in the back if you need it." Norman left the gym, and May watched him go.

"Wow...I'm in charge of the Petalburg Gym!" May said excitedly. She took out Gardevoir's pokeball and turned to her newly evolved pokemon.

"Come on, Gardevoir, we need to make sure you're ready to fight if any trainers show up!" Gardevoir gave a nod and May recalled it, then went to the back of the gym and entered her father's office. Wynaut followed her in.

"This is it?" May looked around the small office. There was hardly any room to move. There were about three boxes around the room, all with the pokemon league insignia on them. There was also a desk with a computer on it and a smaller version of the device in pokemon centers that was used to quickly heal any minor injuries to a pokemon. There was also another door in the office, but it was locked.

Wynaut poked at the various boxes curiously, wondering what was inside. Meanwhile, May placed her six pokeballs in the restoration machine and turned it on to heal her pokemon. While she was waiting, May decided to take a look at the boxes that were around the small office as well.

"This one says it contains badges..." May said to her Wynaut, who was looking at one of the smaller boxes. May looked at another small box that apparently contained TM's for her father's personal use. She guessed that gym trainers must be able to custom order TM's from the pokemon league. Another, larger box was labelled 'Reward TM's - Facade'. It looked like it held quite a few TM's. May opened the badge box and took one, and took a TM from the box of Facade TM's.

"I'll probably beat whatever trainers come along anyway..." May said smugly. "But it couldn't hurt to be prepared." She placed the TM disc and badge in her pocket. She then sat on the chair in front of the desk to wait for her pokemon to be healed. Wynaut held its earlike arms out to May while she was sitting, and May got the message and picked it up, putting it back into her backpack. Several moments later, she heard what sounded like an alarm coming from the machine she placed her pokemon in. May got up and looked at it.

"Pokemon: Swablu requires medical attention from a pokemon center." A flashing red message on the machine's monitor read.

"That can't be good..." May said to herself. She pressed a button on the machine to turn the alarm off. The device then started dinging as soon as she turned the alarm off, indicating that her pokemon were healed. May took the pokeballs from the machine and placed them back on her belt, then left her father's office and closed the door. Just as she was leaving the office, the front door of the gym opened and Alex walked in.

"Huh? May? What the heck are you doing here?" He asked her.

"What am I doing here?" May said with a smirk, folding her arms over her chest. "I'll tell you what I'm doing here. I challenged my dad and won, but he had to step out for a bit so he left me in charge of the gym. I hear you lost to my dad yesterday, Alex, but I beat him on my first try. And now if you want your badge...you're going to have to battle me for it!"

**Author's Notes: **Putting these at the end now . Anyway you can probably guess whats going to happen next chapter. I wanted to do something different for Alex's rematch instead of having a third battle with Norman, and this is it. Their second battle, next chapter!


	29. Chapter 21: May, the Gym Leader

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Twenty One**

**May, The Gym Leader**

"So wait...your father left you in charge of the gym...?" Alex asked, confused.

"Thats right! Until he gets back, I'm the gym leader here. If you want my dad's Balance Badge you're going to have to battle me, not that you stand a chance of beating me anyway!" May was quite sure she could beat Alex now. She had two pokemon that had evolved recently, and she had just managed to beat her father where Alex had lost to Slaking. She was determined to prove she was better than him now.

"I don't see why I'd HAVE to battle you..." Alex said with a shrug. "I mean, since I'm apparently going to lose to you, I could just wait for your father to come back and battle him. I'd at least stand a chance then, right?"

"You are NOT getting out of battling me, mister!" May yelled across the gym. "Ever since you beat me in Slateport you've been taunting me about it, and everytime you lose I'm not there to see it! Well now I WILL get to see you lose, because you're going to lose to me in an official gym battle!"

"Kinda figured thats what this was really about." Alex replied with a smirk.

"Are you going to battle me then or not?" May demanded.

"You want a battle? Then name your terms, miss gym leader."

"Knew you'd see things my way." May stuck her tongue out at him. She carefully took her backpack off and placed it on the floor, letting Wynaut hop out of it.

"Just watch, Wynaut! Mommy is going to kick Alex's butt!" She said to it, before turning to face Alex again.

_"Wynaut?"_ Alex wondered. _"Guess thats what was in the egg, since she was carrying Wynaut in the backpack she bought for the egg."_

"It'll be a three on three battle." May declared. "And you have to choose all three of your pokemon before the battle begins!"

"Alright, fine by me." Alex replied, taking three pokeballs off his belt containing the pokemon he intended to use in the battle. May did the same, choosing what she considered to be her three most powerful pokemon.

"This battle starts now! Swalot, go!"

"Swellow, go!" Alex and May released their pokemon to start the battle. May sent out her recently evolved poison pokemon Swalot, while Alex released his green and orange feathered Swellow as his first pokemon. Swellow was the first pokemon Alex used the last time he battled May as well.

"So your Gulpin evolved huh?" Alex asked.

"Evolved just yesterday after I beat Brendan with it, and now its going to beat your Swellow!" May shot back.

"We'll see about that...Swellow, use Double Team!" Alex's Swellow seemed to become blurry momentarily, then split off into several identical images of itself, concealing the real Swellow.

"That trick won't work on me! Swalot, use Poison Gas!" Swalot seemed to inflate itself, growing slightly larger, then squeezed flat against the floor of the gym like a pump being pushed down and releasing poisonous fumes into the air. The poisonous gasses quickly reached the Swellow images, and the real Swellow found itself breathing in the poison which began flowing through its body.

"You've obviously forgotten what Swellow are like..." Alex said with a smirk. "Swellow is capable of increasing its strength while under adverse conditions. Swellow, use Wing Attack!" Each of the Swellow clones flapped their wings, appearing to simultaneously lift themselves up off the gym floor. The images all vanished as Swellow flew towards its target, wings outstretched. It struck May's Swalot surprisingly hard with its wings, courtesy of the poison coursing through Swellow's body. Swellow flew past Swalot, then began to turn around for another attack.

"Swalot, turn and use Yawn!" Swalot turned a full 180 degrees to face the returning Swellow. It gave a loud yawn, releasing a white cloud of gas from its mouth as it did. As Swellow flew in to attack Swalot again, it flew through this cloud and breathed in the sleeping gas before landing another blow with one of its wings as it passed by, sending Swalot spinning around in circles. Swellow came to a stop after putting some distance between it and Swalot, and turned around to face it while flapping its wings to stay in the air and awaiting further commands.

_"I have to admit..."_ Alex thought. _"May's pretty good. With her diverse selection of pokemon I'd never know what she might use next. In any case, guess I'll have to try to get one more attack in before that Yawn kicks in."_

"Swellow, use Quick Attack!" Swellow shot forward towards Swalot again at blinding speed and ramming into it with quite a bit of force. Despite the constant abuse, though, Swalot was still standing. It was in pretty rough shape after taking several powerful blows, but Swellow was starting to weaken as well as the poison steadily sapped its strength. After delivering its attack, Swellow fell asleep and dropped to the floor in front of Swalot.

_"Good! Its asleep, now I don't have to worry about it evading Swalot's attacks!" _May thought to herself.

"Swalot, attack Swalot now With Body Slam!" Swalot took a small hop into the air, landing on top of Alex's Swellow. Swellow quickly woke up quickly and squawked loudly as May's Swalot slammed its weight down on top of it, crushing Swellow's body beneath its own. Swellow was trapped beneath Swalot, and didn't seem to have the strength to push Swalot off of it.

"Swellow, use Endeavor to get that thing off of you!" The whites of Swellow's eyes became red as its determination became its strength, similar to a Facade attack. It began pushing up with its wings, and was actually managing to push itself off the floor with Swalot still on its back. It didn't have the strength to continue, however, and collapsed with Swalot still on top of it, its strength completely drained now and no longer able to fight. Alex recalled his Swellow, causing Swalot to drop to the floor as Swellow vanished from underneath it.

"Guess I was asking a bit too much of you, Swellow..." Alex said, looking at the pokeball in his hand before placing it back on his belt. He put one of his remaining two pokeballs in his right hand to call it out into battle next.

"Minun, your up next! Go!" Alex called out, releasing his Minun for its first battle since Fallabar. Minun was released from its pokeball and the small yellow pokemon with blue ears and tail appeared, ready to fight.

"Swalot, weaken Minun with Toxic!" Swalot spit a small amount of a deadly poison from its stomach, aiming to hit Minun.

"Minun, dodge with Quick Attack!" Minun became a white blur as it moved out of the way of the oncoming Toxic with Quick Attack, and the poisonous substance landed on the floor of the gym where Minun was standing.

"Good! Now run and jump on Swalot's head!" Minun got on all fours and ran towards Swalot, leaping into the air and landing on top of it and holding on.

"Thats not going to do you any good, Alex! Swalot, shake it off and use Body Slam!"

"Thats what you think...Minun, use Thunderbolt now!" Swalot didn't get much of a chance to try to get Minun off its head before Minun sent powerful volts of electricity coursing through its body. The powerful electric attack caused Swalot's entire body to light up as electricity coursed through it, and Swalot seemed to be frozen in place until Minun finally stopped its attack. Minun hopped off Swalot's head as Swalot collapsed to the ground, completely knocked out by the overpowering attack. May recalled her Swalot, then shot a look at Alex.

"Your Minun might have managed to beat my Swalot, but Swalot still beat Swellow just like I said it would! My next pokemon will take your Minun down!" May snapped.

_"Sheesh...whats with her today?"_ Alex wondered. _"When we battled in Slateport, we were just having a friendly battle...but now its like she's taking this personally. She seemed awfully eager to battle me too. I'm starting to think beating her dad gave her ego a boost, especially knowing that I lost to him. She seemed quite confident she could beat me. I thought she was only trying to taunt me, but maybe she actually believes there's no way she can lose. Great, now I really can't afford to lose! If I do, she'll only get worse and I'll have to put up with her ego until someone beats her. So far though...I'm the only one who has. Well, I still have Grovyle left, and Minun didn't take any hits from May's Swalot. Two pokemon left each basically. Still up in the air..."_

"Your Minun doesnt stand a chance against my new, fully evolved pokemon!" May declared, placing Swalot's pokeball back on her belt.

"Gardevoir, go get him!" May called out, sending out her fully evolved Gardevoir to battle Alex's Minun.

_"Oh great..."_ Alex thought. _"A Gardevoir is about as powerful as Alakazam...I might be in a bit of trouble here. Minun probably won't be able to handle a Gardevoir..."_

"So I see your Kirlia finally evolved." Alex said to her, trying not to look nervous about battling it.

"You bet it did! And now that it has..." May paused, a smirk forming on her lips. "You don't stand a ghost of a chance!"

"We'll see about that...Minun, use Thunderbolt!" Electricity sparked from the blue circles on Minun's cheeks as it prepared to attack, it then fired a powerful bolt of electricity towards Gardevoir.

"Gardevoir, use Teleport!" Gardevoir vanished just before the lightning bolt struck it, reappearing behind Minun. The lightning bolt struck the floor near where Gardevoir was standing with no effect.

"Now, use Psychic!" Gardevoir's eyes flashed momentarily as it unleashed a psychic attack towards Minun. The attack struck Minun from behind, sending it flying forward. Minun quickly recovered from the attack, however, planting its hand on the floor as it was knocked back several feet and doing a flip in the air to land and face May's Gardevoir.

"Looks like Thunderbolt isn't going to work..." Alex muttered. "Alright then...Minun, use Quick Attack!" Minun charged towards Gardevoir on all fours, then became a white blur of movement when it got close enough to use its Quick Attack and striking Gardevoir before it'd have a chance to Teleport away.

"You can't expect to beat my Gardevoir with that attack, Alex!" May said to him. Gardevoir, use Teleport!"

"Maybe not...but with this attack I can! Minun, use Encore!" May's Gardevoir teleported away from Minun and appeared on the other side of the battlefield near where May was standing. Minun followed this up by clapping its hands together, creating a mind affecting burst of applause that would have Gardevoir using Teleport over and over.

"What good is THAT going to do you?" May snickered. "Gardevoir is just going to keep teleporting and you won't get a chance to hit it."

"Maybe not..." Alex replied. "But Minun can see the entire battlefield from where its standing, giving it an opening to attack as soon as the Encore wears off. Until then...it can get ready for its attack! Minun use Charge and keep at it! Then use Thunderbolt when Gardevoir stops teleporting!" May gasped as she realized her Gardevoir was now trapped. It continued to teleport around the field while under the effects of Encore, and May couldn't give it further commands until it was too late.

Minun began charging up electricity for its next attack. Sparks erupted from its cheeks, and as it continued to focus electricity its entire body became covered in sparks. Electricity continued to crackle around it while Gardevoir teleported around the gym randomly. Minun built up immense power for its attack, and electricity arced in a radius around it as it charged up.

When Gardevoir finally stopped teleporting and appeared in front of May, Minun was ready for it and unleashed all of the built up electricity in a powerful Thunderbolt attack. It fired several large bolts of electricity towards the unsuspecting Gardevoir, and each bolt struck it at the same time sending huge amounts of electricity coursing through its body. Gardevoir's eyes widened as it was electricuted badly, and when the electricity finally dissipitated Gardevoir was scorched from head to toe. It collapsed onto the floor, looking as stiff as a statue. May looked on in horror as her Gardevoir was brought down by the powerful electric attack.

"Gardevoir...no..." May collapsed to her knees, staring at her Gardevoir's unconcious and scorched form lying on the gym floor.

"You're one of my strongest pokemon...you beat my father's Slaking...but Alex's Minun just...brushed you aside like you were nothing...this is my fault..." Tears welled up in May's eyes, and Wynaut rubbed its head against her side to try to cheer her up.

"I guess...I got a bit carried away...I really thought I couldn't lose..." May sniffed sadly and wiped her tears with the back of her gloves.

"She's taking Gardevoir's loss kinda hard..." Alex said to Minun, who was standing nearby and panting heavily. It was quite exhausted after putting so much power into its Thunderbolt attack.

"Don't tell me you're giving up already, May." Alex shouted across the gym. May looked up in surprise.

"The May I know wouldn't give up when she still has one pokemon left. So what if your Gardevoir lost? Even the best pokemon lose sometimes. Heck, almost my entire team got wiped out by Vito's Heracross back when I battled him except for Minun, and then Minun was beaten by his next pokemon. Your Gardevoir is still a great pokemon, probably about as strong as my Alakazam, but I was able to use Minun's abilities to exploit your strategy. Instead of blaming yourself for Gardevoir's defeat, you should relax, enjoy the battle, and give it your best effort with your remaining pokemon."

"...I guess you're right." May admitted. "I just can't believe Gardevoir lost so easily..." May looked at Wynaut as she finally noticed it rubbing its head against her. She took it in her arms and hugged it tightly.

"Guess I should recall Gardevoir and get this battle going again, right Wynaut?" Wynaut nodded, though it was only starting to understand the concept of a pokemon battle. May placed Wynaut back on the floor and finally stood up.

"I'm sorry I let you down, Gardevoir...return!" May recalled her Gardevoir and placed its pokeball on her belt, leaving her holding her third and final pokemon in her hand.

"This battle isn't over yet, Alex! I still have one pokemon left, and its not going to go down without a fight!" May declared, holding up her last pokeball.

_"May's obviously back to her usual self..."_ Alex thought. _"Time to really get this battle underway then."_

"Combusken, go!" May called out, releasing Combusken from its pokeball as her fnal pokemon. Her fiery fighting pokemon appeared in front of her on the battlefield and took up a fighters stance as it prepared for combat.

"Combusken, use Bulk Up!" Combusken flexed its muscles, and his body expanded slightly as his muscles grew larger to increase its strength.

"Minun, use Thunderbolt!" Minun's cheeks sparked up as it prepared to attack, and it fired a small bolt of electricity towards Combusken that would probably be considered a Thundershock by most standards. The lightning bolt struck Combusken, shocking it briefly, but Combusken hardly seemed phased by the attack.

_"Minun must be low on power still after that last Thunderbolt attack..."_ Alex realized. _"Might have to try a more physical approach, but against May's Combusken...and after a Bulk Up at that..."_

"Looks like your Minun used up all its power on Gardevoir." May commented. "Without its electric attacks, it doesn't stand much chance! Combusken, get closer and use Flamethrower!" Combusken ran forward and leapt into the air, quickly closing the gap between it and Minun. While still in the air it aimed a Flamethrower attack down towards Minun, and Minun disappeared behind a wall of fire as it was engulfed in flames. Combusken landed several feet in front of it and kept its Flamethrower aimed at it.

"Minun use Quick Attack and get out of there!" Minun shot forward through the flames in a white blur, hitting Combusken square in the chest. Combusken's bulky chest helped it to resist the impact, but it was still enough to force it to stop its Flamethrower attack.

"Now use Spark!"

"Combusken, use Double Kick!" Minun's body became covered in electricity as it prepared to use its Spark. Before it had the chance to attack, however, it was met by a swift kick from Combusken. It was then kicked a second time, but it was ready for the second attack and as Combusken hit it with its foot Minun released the electricity into Combusken. The second kick sent Minun sprawling backwards and gave Combusken a minor shock.

"Now finish it with Scratch, Combusken!" Combusken charged towards Minun as it was struggling to get back on its feet, having been weakened by Combusken's attacks and not being able to put up much of a fight without its Thunderbolt, and raked it with its claws. Minun was thrown to the side by the force of the scratch. It tried to get up again, but no longer had any strength left to stand and fight. Alex recalled his Minun as soon as he realized it was down, and May's Combusken jumped back to distance itself from Alex's next pokemon.

"Alright then, looks like I'm down to my last pokemon too..." Alex said as he put Minun's pokeball back on his belt.

"This is it then! Grovyle, go!" Alex released his grass type pokemon Grovyle to face off against May's fire-type Combusken. Grovyle appeared kneeling with one knee on the floor of the gym, and its arms crossed in front of it. It looked across the gym at Combusken, and narrowed its eyes as it faced down its opponent. This was the second time Alex's Grovyle would be facing off against May's Combusken.

"Your last pokemon is Grovyle? This battle might as well be over then!" May said, placing her hands on her hips.

"Oh really? Last time my Grovyle fought your Combusken it actually held its own despite the type disadvantage." Alex said back to her.

"It did...but my Combusken's learned some new tricks since then!"

"My Grovyle's picked up some new techniques as well." Alex replied with a smirk.

"Then I guess this should be a pretty good fight then..." May replied, a smirk forming on her lips as well.

"Next you know they'll be asking me for my opinion on global warming..." Norman said to himself, on his way back to Petalburg Gym after finishing his interview.

"Its not easy being a gym leader in Petalburg. Especially not one with my abilities. Everyone in this town looks up to me because I almost never lose. Though I bet May would be instantly popular if they knew she beat me, being my own daughter and all..." Norman paused for a moment in front of his gym, casting a gaze around the town.

"I can't believe Detective Dirk has fallen so far though to actually be threatening people with his pokemon. If I knew about that Tuesday I would have taught him a thing or two myself." Norman said, then gave a sigh as his thoughts wandered to back when he first met Dirk, shortly after becoming the gym leader in Petalburg.

Back then, Dirk was one of the best detectives around. Sherlock Holmes had nothing on him. He first started as a detective in Oldale, but it wasn't long before his skills were in demand all over Hoenn. Detective Dirk is credited with bringing the crime rate in Hoenn down to being almost nonexistant. Would-be criminals would hear of Dirk's exploits and realize they had no chance of getting anything past him.

That also turned out to be Dirk's downfall, however. Dirk lived for solving cases, but with no cases to solve, Dirk actually began looking for cases. He found none, of course, and no one really thought anything of him back then. With the lack of cases though, Dirk began making up cases and accusing innocent people of commiting crimes. The police force caught on to this, and Dirk was fired. That didn't stop him though, and as time went on he began slowly losing his mind. He'd be caught digging through people's trash, and making a big deal out of the smallest things. In his mind, though, he had actually believed them all to be true. Then, he met Alex...

Alex immediately seemed suspicious to Dirk. The disappearance of Melany Stone, and the appearance of Alex, a boy who seemed to be shrouded in secrecy, immediately got him thinking. It didn't help any that he overheard Alex's comment on the news broadcast of Melany's disappearance. He began following Alex, and the more he followed Alex the more he suspected of him. Even May, who Dirk firmly believed to be his accomplice after a while, seemed to know little about him though.

When Dirk saw both of them at Mt. Chimney, and saw the Team Magma and Team Aqua helicopters taking off, he started to draw a lot of false connections. He immediately suspected Alex and May of working for them, and Team Aqua and Team Magma of actually working together for something. He figured since May was a criminal, then her father, a gym leader would have to be a criminal too. Someone with a criminal record wouldn't be in the Hoenn Pokemon League unless the entire league was a criminal organization. Meaning all the gym leaders were criminals. From there, he immediately assumed all trainers were evil and that gym leaders were a test for them to climb the rankings within a cirminal organization.

Of course, Norman had no idea about Dirk's involvement with his daughter or Alex, and thought he was just arrested because he was terrorizing the citizens of Petalburg and had finally, completely lost it. Dirk was a great detective, too great for his own good. Without Dirk around though, the crime rate already seemed to be on the rise, with Melany's disappearance suspected of being related to some kind of criminal activity. Though some detectives believed evidence suggested she ran away.

"Well, at least he won't be causing anymore trouble now." Norman went for the door of his gym, but then he thought he saw something through a nearby window. Looking in, he saw Alex in his gym and Grovyle kneeling on the floor in front of him. On the other side of the gym was May and her Wynaut, and she had her Combusken ready to battle Alex's Grovyle.

_"Looks like Alex came back for a rematch..."_ Norman thought. _"Think I'll stay out here and watch. This looks like it should be interesting."_

"Grovyle, use Agility!"

"Combusken, use Flamethrower!" Grovyle concentrated, relaxing its body and focusing on increasing its speed. Combusken, meanwhile, opened its mouth and released a blast of intensely hot flames towards Grovyle. Using its increased speed, however, Grovyle rolled to the side to avoid the flames then got up and started running around Combusken in a circle as Combusken spun around to try to hit Grovyle with its Flamethrower attack, keeping a wall of flames on Grovyle's heels at all times.

"Grovyle, backflip and use Leaf Blade!" Grovyle came to a stop then did a flip into the air, soaring over the Flamethrower attack as it passed under him. Grovyle activated both its Leaf Blades while still in midair, and as soon as it landed it quickly closed the gap between it and Combusken before Combusken could realize what had happened. Grovyle passed by Combusken, slashing it across the side with its Leaf Blade as it did.

"Combusken, try Flamethrower again!" Combusken quickly turned towards Grovyle and unleashed a blast of flames upon the grass pokemon from behind. Grovyle had little time to react, and as such found itself completely enveloped in flames.

"Use Quick Attack to get out of the flames!" Upon Alex's command, Grovyle used Quick Attack and shot out of the flames to strike May's Combusken with its fist, using the same manuever Minun had before. Grovyle's body was scorched quite a bit from exposure to the flames. Combusken stopped its attack upon being hit by Grovyle.

"Now grab it and use Mega Drain!" Grovyle grabbed Combusken's throat in an attempt to prevent it from using anymore flame attacks, and began draining energy from it with its Mega Drain attack. As its drained energy from Combusken, some of the burns on Grovyle's body began to disappear.

"Get Grovyle off you with Double Kick!" May commanded. Combusken brought its foot up into Grovyle's stomach, causing him to let go of Combusken's neck and double over in pain. Combusken then spun around and delivered a second kick, sending Grovyle sprawling backwards. Grovyle quickly jumped back up on its feet, still ready for more.

"Now use Flamethrower again!"

"Grovyle, dodge it and use Leaf Blade!" Combusken aimed yet another blast of hot flames at Grovyle, but this time Grovyle was ready and swiftly dodged to the side of the attack, then ran alongside it to strike Combusken in the side with one of its blades and immediately turned to face Combusken again as it ran by. Combusken clutched its side as it felt the pain from where Grovyle struck it.

_"His Grovyle's fast..."_ May thought. _"Combusken's having trouble hitting him even with Flamethrower. I need to slow it down somehow..." _May thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to slow down Alex's Grovyle.

_"Wait...I've got it!"_

"Combusken, use Fire Spin!" Combusken turned around to face Grovyle and attacked with Fire Spin, spewing flames from its mouth as if using Flamethrower except instead of hitting Grovyle directly, the flames wrapped around it and seemed for form a cylindrical wall of fire. In order for Grovyle to move now, it'd have to go through the flames. Even while inside the flames, it was being weakened by the intense heat.

_"Great, now the only way Grovyle can dodge her Combusken's fire attacks is to go through the flames..."_ Alex thought. _"Though its likely to hurt Grovyle less than taking a direct hit from a Flamethrower, it does mean he's taking a fire attack either way."_

"Good! Now use Flamethrower!"

"Grovyle, Quick Attack! Get out of there!" Combusken switched from using its Fire Spin attack to Flamethrower, aiming the flames directly at Grovyle now while flames still circled around it. Grovyle didn't stick around very long though, it used its Quick Attack to shoot through the flames, and started running as Combusken followed behind it with its Flamethrower attack again.

_"I don't think Grovyle can take another Flamethrower attack..."_ Alex realized. _"Have to make one powerful strike, and I think I know how."_

"Grovyle use Quick Attack then attack with both Leaf Blades!" Grovyle stopped then shot towards Combusken with its Quick Attack, while at the same time Combusken's Flamethrower had caught up with him. Grovyle stopped in front of Combusken, now taking the full impact of the Flamethrower attack, and crossed its arms as it slashed Combusken with both its Leaf Blades. Combusken's attack stopped as it collapsed backwards from the impact, but at the same time Grovyle finally succumbed to the injuries it had sustained from the fire attacks and collapsed on tope of Combusken. Both of their pokemon seemed to be down for the count.

"Is that...is that a draw?" May said in shock. Both pokemon were down, and neither really seemed to be moving either.

"I think it is..." Alex responded.

"But what do I do if its a draw?" May wondered out loud. Just then, the front door of the gym opened and May's father walked in.

"Dad! You're back!" May exclaimed. "We kinda have a problem here..."

"I know." Norman said. "I was watching from outside. And according to the official Pokemon League rules, in the unlikely event of a tie during a gym match, the challenger still receives a badge for managing to defeat the leader's pokemon but the match is still recorded as a tie in the Pokemon League data files. The exception to this rule is if the challenger ends the battle with Explosion, Self-Destruct, or Perish Song, as all those attacks would knock out the trainer's pokemon anyway."

"Well thats a relief..." Alex said. "I wouldn't want to try again a third time!"

"Well I think if you battled like that yesterday, Alex, you probably would have beaten me anyway. Your Skarmory was tough, but your Grovyle's speed combined with its Agility technique would have been difficult for even Slaking to hit and eventually you would have wore it down."

"True, I guess..." Alex replied while finally recalling his Grovyle. May recalled her Combusken as well. "Grovyle just learned Agility while training outside Petalburg though."

"I see." Norman replied, then looked across the gym towards his daughter.

"May, don't you have something to give to Alex?" He said to her.

"Huh?" May thought for a moment, before it clicked in.

"Oh, right!" May took the badge out of her pocket that she grabbed earlier, when she was in her father's office. She approached Alex and held it out to him.

"I present you with the Balance Badge, Alex. You earned it...I think." May said to him.

"Thanks, May." Alex said as he took the badge. "Feels kinda weird getting a badge from you though..."

"Yeah, it kinda does..." May admitted. "So uh...I guess we should go get our pokemon healed at the pokecenter, huh?" She then said, trying to change the subject.

"You could just use the machine in the back." Norman said to her. May shook her head.

"I used it before, but it said I need to take Swablu to a pokemon center for some reason."

"It did? Then you should have taken Swablu there right away, it could be seriously injured." Norman said to her.

"You...really think so?" Norman gave a nod.

"Oh no! I better get Swablu to the pokecenter!" May rushed out the gym door, slamming it closed behind her. Wynaut ran up to the door and started banging on it, having been forgotten by May in her haste to get to the pokemon center.

"Her Swablu had to battle your Slaking, didn't it?" Alex asked Norman.

"Yeah...maybe I was a bit too rough on it." Norman said, rubbing the back of his head and looking down at the floor. Norman remembered having Slaking do the same thing to May's Swablu that it did to Alex's Skarmory twice. Skarmory was a much more durable pokemon than May's Swablu, though.

"I sure hope it'll be ok. May would never forgive me if I've permanently injured one of her pokemon..."

"It probably just broke a wing or something. Its a common injury for bird pokemon, and easily treated by the experienced doctors and nurses that work at pokemon centers." Alex said to him.

"You're right I suppose." Norman replied. "It probably isn't the first time Slaking broke another pokemon's bones. Being May's pokemon, though, I can't help but feel a little guilty."

Wynaut continued to bang on the front door of the gym while the two of them were talking, as if trying to break the door down to get out to catch up with May. The door wasn't budging at all though, as it just didn't have the strength to knock it down. It eventually gave up, and tears began to well up in its eyes. It turned to Norman and Alex and began crying loudly. It ran to Norman, recognizing him as May's father, and wrapped its ear-like arms around his legs.

"Wynaut, May didn't mean to leave you behind...I'm sure she'll be back." Norman said to it, bending down so he was closer to its height. Wynaut let go of Norman's legs, but kept crying.

"I should probably get my pokemon checked out at the pokecenter too, I could take Wynaut with me." Alex said to Norman, then bent down so he was at Wynaut's level as well.

"What do you say Wynaut? Want to go see May?" He said to it. Wynaut stopped crying and gave a nod, though there was still tears coming from its eyes.

"It would probably be for the best." Norman responded, giving a nod to Alex. Alex picked Wynaut up, then looked at Norman.

"Guess I'll be off then. I wouldn't mind having a rematch with you Norman, but now doesn't really seem like the time."

"You'd give me a run for my money anyway, I'm sure." Norman said to him. Alex started on his way to the door, and Norman started for his office but stopped in the middle of the gym.

"Alex? One last thing..." Norman said, not looking back.

"Yeah?" Alex asked, stopping in front of the door and looking back at Norman.

"Don't try anything funny with my daughter, understood?" Alex paused for a moment, before he realized what Norman was getting at.

"Eh heh...wouldn't think of it, sir!" Alex replied nervously.

"Good. Take care then." Alex left the gym in a hurry after that, and Norman couldn't help but smile to himself. He didn't think Alex would even think of doing anything like that anyway, though Norman was curious as to how he'd respond.

May was pacing back and forth in front of the desk at the pokecenter. Except for Swablu, all her pokemon had been fully restored already. The nurse working the front desk informed her, though, that her Swablu had broken its wings and had to be operated on. The nurse took May's Swablu into the back of the pokecenter, but May had to wait outside. She had been anxiously waiting for news of her Swablu's condition ever since.

May stopped her pacing and looked up as she heard the pokecenter doors open, and Alex walked in carrying a fidgeting Wynaut. Alex put Wynaut down on the floor after stepping through the doors, and Wynaut immediately ran over to May and wrapped its arms tightly around her legs and started crying, getting the attention of everyone in the pokecenter.

"Sorry Wynaut, I didn't mean to leave you behind!" May said, picking up the baby pokemon and holding it close to her. Wynaut calmed down a bit once it was in May's arms.

"You seem to have the ability to create a scene wherever you go." Alex commented as he approached May, taking note of all the people staring at her.

"Huh?" May took a look around the pokecenter. Her face turned red with embarassment as she finally realized everyone was looking at her and Wynaut. She quickly turned her back to everyone and faced the front desk.

"So how's your Swablu?" Alex asked her.

"I don't know..." May said with a sigh, looking down at her Wynaut. "The nurse said it broke its wings, and then they took it into the operating room. I haven't heard anything since."

"I'm sure it'll be fine, May." Alex said to her, before going over to the front desk and handing over his own pokemon to be healed. The two of them waited in the pokecenter lobby for their pokemon to be healed. It took about half the usual time for Alex's pokemon to be healed, as only three of them had battled since his last visit. There was still no news on May's Swablu when Alex got his pokemon back, however.

The two of them eventually sat down on one of the sofas, with Wynaut sitting in May's lap. May kept looking towards the front desk, waiting impatiently for some news about her Swablu.

"So...May...your Combusken put up quite the fight back there." Alex eventually said to her, trying to break the silence.

"Huh? Oh, thanks Alex..." May said, only looking at him for a moment before looking towards the desk again. "Your Grovyle was great too."

"We should probably head to Rustboro next." Alex said, trying a different approach. "We can get these fossils taken care of so we won't be dragging them all around Hoenn. Not like we can just get rid of them at the nearest PC like most items."

"Yeah, you're probably right. You probably want to see your folks anyway, right?" May still didn't take her eyes off the front desk, even when addressing Alex directly.

"Erm...actually, no. Me and my family don't exactly get along that well." Alex replied, rubbing the back of his head.

_"I wouldn't mind going home, actually..."_ He then thought. _"Wish I could..."_

"Oh? Thats too bad..." May said. Alex started thinking of something else to say, when a nurse came out of a door behind the front desk, carrying May's Swablu and its pokeball. Her Swablu had both of its wings covered in bandages. May quickly got up, knocking her Wynaut onto the floor, and rushed to the front desk. Wynaut got up and followed behind her, not seeming to be bothered much by the fall. Alex followed as well.

"Nurse! Is my Swablu ok!" May asked frantically.

"Your Swablu will be just fine." The nurse replied, in a much more calm tone. "You should leave the bandages on for a day or two, but it might be a while before its wings are strong enough for it to fly again." The nurse then handed the depressed looking Swablu over to May, and May carefully took the injured pokemon in her arms.

"I'm sorry I let this happen to you Swablu..." May said to it apologetically. Swablu chirped sadly.

"Your Swablu should probably rest." The nurse said to her. "And let it stretch its wings when you take the bandages off. There's nothing more a pokecenter can do for it, however, it'll just have to heal on its own now." May nodded and took Swablu's pokeball from the nurse.

"Don't worry Swablu, I'm going to take good care of you." May said to it, smiling softly. "For now though I'm going to put you in your pokeball." Swablu nodded. May set Swablu down on the counter and returned it to its pokeball, then placed it back on her belt.

"So we're going to Rustboro next then?" May said, turning to Alex.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. We can get these fossils of ours revived, then go through Rusturf Tunnel and Verdanturf to get to Mauville since we'll be in that area anyway." Alex replied.

"Ok then, but first I want to switch my pokemon around then go back to the gym to say goodbye to my dad." Alex gave a nod, and May went over to the PC to switch her pokemon around a bit. She deposited her Swalot, Beautifly, and Combusken in exchange for her recently caught Trapinch, Lombre, and Electrike. May wanted to try to get her Electrike under control, and wanted to get to know her Trapinch.

Once she finished exchanging her pokemon, she picked up Wynaut and put it back in its backpack, then both her and Alex left the pokecenter to get on their way to Rustboro.

**Author's Notes:** Tried to draw out the Grovyle/Combusken battle a bit. Wanted those two to put up quite the fight before they KO'd each other. Also, will probably be quite few chapters before they reach Fortree, as I've got a couple of events planned before then.


	30. Chapter 22: Rustboro Revisit

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Twenty Two**

**Rustboro Revisit**

"I think...we lost him..." May said, panting heavily. She stopped to lean agaist a tree just outside Petalburg Woods near Rustboro.

"I hope so..." Alex was sitting at the base of another tree, taking a break after running most of the way through Petalburg Woods.

"That kid sure holds a grudge..." He muttered.

"How can anyone like Wurmples so much?" May wondered aloud.

"Get back here!" A boy's voice called out from within Petalburg Woods. Alex and May looked at each other, then immediately ran off towards Rustboro. The boy, a young Wurmple enthusiast that both May and Alex battled when they were just starting out, emerged from the woods wielding his net as if he intended to catch one of them in it. He stopped at the edge of the woods, and lowered his net.

"...My Wurmples will get you next time!" He called out after them, not bothering to chase them past Petalburg Woods. "Just you wait! My Wurmples will teach you a lesson you'll never forget!"

The boy had been chasing them during almost their entire trip through Petalburg Woods. He was relentlessly pursuing them, claiming his Wurmples wanted revenge for their defeat and for the insults that both Alex and May gave him for his choice of pokemon. They had been trying their best to avoid him, and fortunately for them it seemed he was uninterested in chasing them into Rustboro.

"I don't think he followed us out of the woods..." May said, panting. The two of them had stopped once more at the edge of Rustboro to rest. They were both exhausted from trying to outrun the Wurmple kid all day, and May was especially exhausted since she was carrying Wynaut on her back. She had put Wynaut down now that it finally looked safe to rest, and it had currently preoccupied itself staring at its reflection in a puddle of water.

"Great...remind me never to go into Petalburg Woods...ever again..." Alex muttered, looking back across the lake. He involuntarily shuddered as he finally realized he just crossed the bridge, over the lake. He was too busy running from the Wurmple kid to notice. May noticed this, but figured it had something to do with the kid that was chasing them. A slight smirk crossed her lips as a thought came to her.

"Alex?"

"What?" Alex asked, looking back to her.

"Never go into Petalburg Woods." She replied, grinning widely.

"Very funny..." Alex said, rolling his eyes. May giggled at her own joke.

"Lets go already. The sooner we get these fossils revived the sooner we can get back on the road again."

"Whats the hurry?" May asked.

"Well we didn't plan to do anything else in Rustboro." Alex said with a shrug. "Might as well get this overwith and keep going. We might be able to reach Verdanturf by this afternoon, and then we can get to Mauville later tonight. Then tomorrow we set out for Fortree after stocking up on supplies."

"...Or, we can stay the night in Rustboro, leave for Mauville early tomorrow, stock up on supplies, then spend another night in Mauville." May added with a smile.

"Why would we want to spend the entire day in Rustboro?" Alex asked her, folding his arms over his chest.

"Well...last time I was in Rustboro I left pretty much as soon as I got my badge. So maybe this time we could stay a while and you could show me around since you know the are?" Alex took his hat off and scratched his head, looking out at the town before him while he thought about May's request. He heard a splash behind him as Wynaut finally got tired of looking at its reflection and started splashing around in the puddle. After splashing around for a bit, it hopped out of the puddle and shook the water off, then ran up to May and sat down next to her on the ground.

"...Alright, guess I could show you around a bit." Alex finally said, looking back to May. If you're expecting tourist attractions, though, you're out of luck."

"I just want to look around really. Besides, shouldn't the stadium for that tornament be around here somewhere?"

"Rustboro Park is the stadium in a way, actually, but yeah I can take you there. You're in for a surprise though." May peered at Alex quizically, wondering what he was talking about. Alex started walking towards town, and May followed behind him after picking up Wynaut. She decided to carry him in her arms for a change, though, so he could get a better view as they toured through Rustboro.

The first thing they did upon entering Rustboro, of course, was stop by the local pokemon center to get their pokemon checked up. The nurses there took May's Swablu to give it a full medical evaluation, and determined it should be ok to remove the bandages. Swablu tried to fly as soon as the bandages were off, but its wings just didn't have the strength to carry it yet because of the operation. It could still fight, but without being able to fly Swablu wasn't going to be able to move much.

After leaving the pokemon center, the two of them went through downtown Rustboro. Alex showed May what he considered to be the best places to eat and a few of the shops. He ended up dragging her away from most of the shops though. After walking around town for a while, they stopped for lunch and got a slice of pizza each at a small pizzaria. May ordered a small slice for Wynaut as well, but Wynaut didn't like it so she gave it some berries she picked up in Petalburg Woods instead.

"So where to next?" May asked, taking another bite of her pizza.

"Well, obviously you've been to the gym already..." Alex stated, looking out the window to the streets of Rustboro. He had already finished his pizza while May was dealing with Wynaut.

"Guessing you wouldn't be interested in seeing the Pokemon Trainers school? Roxanne is a teacher there in addition to her duties as a gym leader." May glared at Alex, too busy eating to voice her response. Alex looked at her, expecting a response, but got the message when he saw the look she was giving him.

"Didn't think a school would interest you..." Alex said, grinning sheepishly. "So I guess since we've seen just about everything else anyway, how about we go to Rustboro Park next?" May nodded in agreement.

"Alright, Rustboro Park it is..." Alex sat back in his chair and waited for May to finish eating her pizza. While he was waiting, he felt something nudging his leg. When he looked under the table, he saw May's Wynaut staring back at him.

"Well what do you want? Huh?" Alex said to it, reaching under to pat it on the head. Wynaut batted Alex's hand away with a swipe of one of its arms as he reached under, though. Alex quickly withdrawed his hand.

"Sheesh...I was just trying to be friendly." Alex said to it. He sat back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest. May giggled when she realized what happened, and Alex stuck his tongue out at her. Wynaut wasn't quite finished, however. It ran up to Alex's legs and started hitting him with its arms. It wasn't really hitting Alex very hard, but it was somewhat annoying.

"May, could you please call off your Wynaut?" Alex muttered.

"Wynaut, behave yourself." May said to it. Wynaut immediately stopped hitting Alex and sat down by May under the table. When May finally finished her pizza, the two of them left the pizzaria with May once again carrying Wynaut in her arms.

It took them several minutes of walking to get to the Rustboro Park, as it was near the northern edge of the town. The park was mostly barren, with only a few trees scattered about and a walking track that seemed to go in a large oval. There were so few trees around, though, that the entire walking track could be seen from the park entrance. It was about a 300 feet from where Alex and May were standing to the other side of the track, and it went about another 300 feet to the left and right of them.

Aside from the few trees, the only thing that was growing there was grass. There were a fair amount of trees on the outside of the dirt walking path, however. It was as if the center was purposely kept clear. There were a couple of small buildings around, but they were all closed off. There was one such building on the east and west sides of the track from where Alex and May were standing, and another larger building across from them. There were a few benches around the outside of the track as well, but there was one thing that May noticed she didn't see in the park.

"Alex...isn't the stadium supposed to be here?" May asked in bewilderment.

"It is here." Alex replied. May scanned the park again, but still couldn't see anything.

"You sure? Cause I don't see it, and you'd think if you were near a stadium you'd be able to see it. In fact, you should be able to see it from just about anywhere in Rustboro..."

"Well, its not exactly a stadium...Devon was going to build an actual stadium here, but decided against it since it would only be used for their annual tornament. So instead, they opted for something they could just set up when they'd need it. This park actually IS the 'stadium', which is why those buildings are there and why they don't grow anything in the middle of the track." May looked around at the three buildings Alex had mentioned. It was actually impossible to tell what they were used for, just by looking at them.

"That large building is used for storage during the year, and is where all the tornament officials and the announcer are during the actual tornament. The other two buildings are where trainers would rest inbetween matches, and they usually have snacks and such in there too."

"So wait...is the entire inside of the walking track the battlefield?" May asked.

"Pretty much, aside from the space used up for seats and the fences. The fences actually come up out of the ground." Alex said to her.

"Wow...thats a pretty big battlefield..." May said, surprised by how much room a pokemon would have to fight. The average gym battlefield could fit into the area several times over.

"Well by the time your into the top eight trainers, you're usually dealing with some pretty powerful pokemon. They'll have plenty of room to battle this way. There's also usually a large pool in the center of the battlefield, which allows for the use of pretty much any pokemon except Wailord. Between the large ground area, the open arena, and the large pool, any pokemon can be used in the tornament to its maximum ability. Its similar to the Evergrande City stadium, except that one is an actual stadium. The pool and the fences are covered over by artificial grass during the year though."

"Wow...I can't wait to battle in the Devon Grand Prix now!" May exclaimed excitedly. Wynaut gave an excited cry as well. May held Wynaut face to face to her.

"Maybe by then you'll be strong enough to fight too, and I could enter you in the tornament! How would you like that?" Wynaut stared at her, unsure how to respond at first. It gave another excited cry, though, as it realized what she meant by a battle, and curled its two arms to look like fists and held them up as if looking for a fight.

"I guess you would like to battle, huh?" May said, smiling at it. She wouldn't have minded using it in a fight, but the only attack she knew Wynaut could use was Encore.

"So, that all you wanted to see here?" Alex asked her.

"Whats the rush? We're staying in Rustboro all day afterall." May replied.

"Well I figured you only wanted to see where the tornament would take place..." Alex scratched the back of his slightly, a bit confused by May's response.

"We're in a park, so why not let our pokemon out so they can enjoy it?" May said to him. She then took her pokeballs off her belt and started releasing her pokemon from the pokeballs one by one, starting with Gardevoir and ending with Electrike. Soon, all six of her pokemon were standing before her.

"Alright, we're officially on vacation today guys!" May said to her pokemon. "Everyone's free to do whatever they want, just don't leave the park!" Roselia, Gardevoir, and Lombre all nodded then went off to lounge around in the park. Her Trapinch, Electrike, Wynaut, and Swablu didn't budge though.

Trapinch was still unsure of all the unfamiliar pokemon and even May, it had yet to get to know any of them since being caught. Swablu was staying by May since it couldn't fly up and perch in a tree or on May's head, and Wynaut wasn't leaving May's side either. Electrike was just being stubborn as usual. Roselia danced around in the open field, while Gardevoir sat down in the middle and seemed to be meditating. Lombre went off in search of somewhere to swim, and eventually found a small pond hidden behind some trees and bushes.

"Aren't you going to release your pokemon too, Alex?" May asked him when all her pokemon were released.

"No reason not to I guess..." Alex replied with a shrug. He then set to releasing all six of his pokemon as well, releasing his Grovyle, Azumarill, Skarmory, Numel, Minun, and Swellow one by one to relax in the park.

"We're taking a day off, guys, so feel free to wander off and do whatever for a while. You've all earned a break anyway." Alex's pokemon all gave a nod, and went their separate ways. Grovyle hopped up into a tree and rested on a low branch. Swellow picked up May's disabled Swablu and flew to the same tree Grovyle was at so they could both perch on its branches. Skarmory took up a position in another tree, seeming to keep an eye on May, and Minun went to the same tree to keep an eye on Skarmory. Numel found some shade to rest in, as usual, and Azumarill found its way to the pond Lombre was swimming in and went swimming as well.

"Aren't you going to join the others in the park, Electrike?" May asked her Electrike, leaning over towards it. Electrike turned its head away from her as soon as she addressed it, then ran off towards Rustboro instead of going into the park with the rest of Alex and May's pokemon.

"What! HEY! Get back here Electrike!" May called out after it, but Electrike just kept going and ignored May.

"Wow, I think your Electrike might be worse than my Skarmory was..." Alex said to her as he watched the scene before him. "At this rate, I don't think that thing will ever listen to you."

"Just what is its problem with me anyway?" May said, sighing in defeat.

"Maybe its rebellious? Or maybe its just spiteful?" Alex suggested. "We should probably go after it though, to make sure it doesn't cause any trouble..." May nodded in agreement.

"What about the rest of our pokemon though?" May wondered, looking back towards the park.

"The rest of our pokemon can probably look after themselves, especially my Grovyle and your Gardevoir. Though we should both take a pokemon with us, just incase."

"Alright." May replied. "I'll take Trapinch, and of course Wynaut will be coming with me as well." May looked at her two remaining pokemon, who were still standing by her side. Both of them gave a nod. Even her Trapinch was willing to co-operate with May, as it felt that it was in its best interest to follow her. Despite having been captured by May, it had already realized she was easy to get along with.

"Trapinch is a ground-type pokemon." Alex commented. "If the need arises it should have no problems fighting your Electrike. Think I'll take Numel along as well." Alex looked back towards the tree where Numel was lying in the shade.

"Numel, come here! Need your help with something." Alex called to it. Numel lazily lifted its head as it heard Alex, then hopped up on its feet and dashed towards him as fast as its tiny legs would carry it. It came to a stop in front of Alex.

"May's Electrike ran off into town, so we're going after it. I'll need you there incase it turns on us completely." Numel nodded in response, and Alex turned back to May.

"Ready to go?" He asked her. May bent down and took Wynaut in her arms.

"Am now!" She replied. The two of them then went back into Rustboro to try to catch up with Electrike, and Trapinch and Numel followed behind them. By the time they were finally leaving the park, however, Electrike was nowhere in sight. The group immediately began searching through town to find Electrike, with Alex and May splitting up eventually to cover more ground. Neither of them could find any sign of May's Electrike though.

Between the two of them, they searched through alleys, the streets, and even the outskirts of town. They didn't have any luck finding May's Electrike, however, and eventually the two of them met up again at the edge of Rustboro facing the Petalburg Woods.

"Any sign of Electrike?" May asked. Alex shook his head.

"I bet its hiding somewhere..." He said. "We probably won't be able to find it easily. I think we should go back to the park and get Swellow to help. Maybe Swellow will be able to spot it from the air."

"Wish Swablu could help too..." May said with a sigh. "Lets go then."

The two of them started on their way back into town, heading back to the park where they had left the rest of their pokemon. Numel and Trapinch were still following them, but both were beginning to grow bored and tired from walking so much. As they were walking through the town, however, they heard a commotion from a nearby alleyway. They stopped and looked in the alley to see what it was. What they saw surprised them both.

Standing in the alley, with his back to them, was a familiar green haired boy and floating in front of him was a metal ball with a large magnet on either side of it, which both May and Alex recognized as a Magnemite, and it too was facing away from them. Further into the alleyway was May's Electrike. It looked as though the boy, Wally, and his Magnemite were in battle with May's Electrike. Electrike seemed to be losing as well.

"Is that Wally?" May said in bewilderment.

"Is that your Electrike?" Alex added. "I'm sure I checked this alley..."

"Magnemite, hit it with another Swift attack!" Wally called out, oblivious to the two trainers who were watching him battle. Magnemite pointed both of its magnets towards May's Electrike and and fired several star-shaped rays at it. The resulting barrage weakened Electrike further, and it didn't even seem to have the strength to launch a counter attack. Wally immediately took an empty pokeball out of his pocket and hurled it at the weakened Electrike. Electrike was pulled in to the pokeball, but as soon as the pokeball closed it opened up again and seemed to spit Electrike out, as if rejecting it.

"Hey! What gives?" Wally said in surprise. At that moment, May finally took out Electrike's pokeball.

"Electrike, return!" May called out as she returned the weakened Electrike to its pokeball. Wally turned around to see Alex and May standing behind him, with Numel, Trapinch, and Wynaut standing by them. May had to put Wynaut down to get Electrike's pokeball.

"May? Alex? What are you guys doing here?" Wally asked. "I thought you two would be like...on the other side of Hoenn by now!"

"We would be...but we seem to take detours a lot." Alex replied with a smirk.

"Well its not like we're in any real hurry anyway." May said.

"Oh, I see...so uh...that was your Electrike back there May?" Wally asked her.

"Yeah, it kinda ran away from me earlier. Alex and I have been looking all over for it. It doesn't seem to listen to me anymore for some reason, ever since it battled two reporters." May replied.

"Sorry about trying to catch it then..." Wally said to her, rubbing the back of his head in embarassment.

"Don't worry about it! If you didn't try to catch it, we might not have been able to find it!" May said with a smile.

"So what are you doing in Rustboro, Wally?" Alex asked out of curiosity.

"I've decided to take the pokemon league challenge, so I'm here to challenge Roxanne!" Wally exclaimed enthusiastically. The Magnemite still floating behind him gave several beeps in response.

"So, either of you want to battle?" He then asked them. "I want to get some last minute practice in before challenging Roxanne." Alex and May looked at each other briefly, realizing they had only one battle-ready pokemon each.

"We only have one pokemon each thats capable of fighting, Wally..." Alex replied.

"We left all our pokemon at Rustboro Park to relax for a bit, and that was when my Electrike ran off." May added. "So unless you want to battle us one on one, or go with us to Rustboro Park..." Wally thought over this information for a moment.

"Why don't we have a double battle then? I'll use two pokemon and between the two of you, you have two pokemon too! And we can battle in this alley!"

"Sounds great!" May replied enthusiastically. Wynaut held up its arms like fists and made punching motions.

"Sorry, Wynaut..." May said to it. "We're still not sure what you're capable of in battle, so you'll have to sit this one out."

The three trainers took up positions to battle in the alleyway. Wally recalled his Magnemite, planning to use two different pokemon for the battle. Alex's Numel and May's Trapinch were standing in front of the two trainers, ready for battle, while Wynaut was standing beside May and watching. It was a bit disappointed that it wasn't going to get to fight yet. May and Wally were enthusiastically waiting to start the battle, though Alex was a little concerned about fighting in such a narrow space.

"Kirlia, Roselia, go!" Wally called out, releasing two of his pokemon to battle Alex and May with. The small rose-like pokemon Roselia and ballerina-like pokemon Kirlia both appeared simultaneously. May immediately realized that Wally's Ralts must have evolved into Kirlia, and figured it should be able to put up a much better fight now. She wondered if she'd be able to win with Trapinch, as it didn't have any battle experience at all yet.

"Roselia, attack both of their pokemon with a Stun Spore!" Wally called out. Roselia did a leap into the air and brought its two flower-tipped arms forward and sprayed a cloud of Stun Spores towards Alex and May's pokemon, who had nowhere to run from the attack or any way of countering it. The spores attached themselves to Numel and Trapinch, and the effects immediately set in, paralyzing the two pokemon and slowing them down.

"Guess its a good thing my Numel doesn't need to move much." Alex stated. "Numel, use Ember on Roselia!" Numel quickly shot a series of small fireballs towards Wally's Roselia, but before the Ember attack hit Kirlia suddenly appeared in front of Wally's Roselia and took the attack, sparing the grass type Roselia from taking the hit from the fireballs. Alex was caught completely off guard by Kirlia teleporting to protect Roselia without any commands from Wally.

"Kirlia, now! Use Disable on Numel!" Wally commanded.

"Trapinch, stop Kirlia with Faint Attack!" Trapinch ran forward, or at least was moving at a pace that would be considered running for it, while at the same time Kirlia's eyes began to glow blue as it prepared to use its Disable attack. Trapinch suddenly shot towards Kirlia and disappeared, while Kirlia released a short wave of psychic energy towards Numel. When the attack hit Numel, it immediately forgot how to use its Ember attack. Meanwhile, May's Trapinch appeared between Kirlia and Roselia and Kirlia looked like it was suddenly hit by something. Though Trapinch managed to hit Kirlia with its Faint Attack, it was too late to stop it from using Disable.

_"Damn it...thats the only ranged attack Numel knew, except for Magnitude which he can't use here without causing damage to the buildings."_ Alex thought. _"The only other attacks it knows are Tackle and Take Down, but Numel will probably be moving so slow that both Wally's pokemon can dodge its attacks...I don't have much of a choice though, not until Disable wears off anyway. If the battle lasts that long."_

"Numel, use Take Down on Kirlia!"

"Trapinch, use Bite on Roselia!" Numel dashed towards Kirlia as fast as it could, which wasn't very fast at all. Kirlia teleported behind Numel before it got close enough to attack it. Trapinch, meanwhile, was close enough to clamp its jaws down on Roselia without giving the small flower pokemon any chance to dodge. Unfortunately for Trapinch, however, in the process of biting Roselia it came into contact with the poisonous barbs near the flowers on its arms.

"Roselia, Mega Drain! Kirlia, use Double Team!" Wally issued commands to both of his pokemon. Roselia immediately started draining Trapinch's energy while in direct contact with the ground-type pokemon, and it wasn't long before Trapinch collapsed from the massive loss of energy and released Roselia from its jaws. May recalled her fallen Trapinch, leaving Alex's Numel alone in battle against both Roselia and Kirlia, and at a huge disadvantage. Kirlia used its Double Team attack, surrounding Alex's Numel with many images of itself, making it even harder for Numel to get an attack in.

_"I should have had Trapinch use Faint Attack..."_ May thought to herself. _"Using an attack like Bite on Roselia was just setting up for a really powerful Mega Drain attack, especially since grass-type attacks hurt Trapinch so much...I wasn't thinking..."_

"Numel, try using Take Down again!"

"Roselia, use Bullet Seed! Kirlia, use Confusion!" Alex's Numel charged towards one of the Kirlias, but the one it attacked turned out to be a fake and it ran straight through it. It was then struck by attacks from both pokemon, as Kirlia attacked with its Confusion attack and Roselia fired a round of seeds from its two flowers. When the barrage of attacks was over, Numel didn't seem to be hurt much by it. Alex could tell this was a onesided battle, and against Wally Wood.

_"Wally's pokemon have definitely gotten stronger since May battled him last time."_ Alex realized. _"She said she was holding back and her Combusken still beat his Ralts in one hit. This time neither of us have really been able to land any hits. Of course, then again, May's Trapinch is relatively new to battling and Numel is probably the least experienced of my pokemon as well. Add in the narrow space, and the low amount of options either of our pokemon has, and the odds are kinda stacked in Wally's favor...plus his pokemon seem to co-operate in battle much better than any of our's."_

"Roselia! Kirlia! Attack again!" Wally commanded.

"Numel, try using Take Down on Kirlia again!" Alex's Numel charged towards another of the Kirlia images while they were all preparing for another Confusion attack. This time, Numel seemed to connect with something, and all the other images seemed to vanish as Numel hit Wally's Kirlia full force, preventing it from attacking and knocking it into the wall of the building next to them. Numel still got pounded by Roselia's Bullet Seed attack, however, which seemed to hit with a lot more seeds than the previous attack. Numel was starting to look a bit worn out at this point, but so Wally's Kirlia looked like it was in far worse condition after Numel's Take Down attack.

"Finish it with another Take Down, Numel!" Alex commanded his Numel, and Numel took a few steps back to prepare for its attack.

"Kirlia! Roselia! Attack Numel with Confusion and Bullet Seed before it can attack again!" Both of Wally's pokemon prepared to attack again, Roselia pointing its flowers towards Numel and firing off a volley of seeds while Kirlia mentally prepared to use its Confusion attack. Numel ran towards Kirlia again to use Take Down, but suddenly collapsed as the paralysis took full effect on its body and stopped it in its tracks. Numel was helpless as both of Wally's pokemon hit it with one final attack. Numel was hit by a barrage of seeds from Roselia and a psychic energy attack from Kirlia, knocking it unconcious and ending the battle. Alex recalled his pokemon.

"Alright! We did it!" Wally shouted, giving a triumphant cheer. Both Kirlia and Roselia also gave cries of joy as they hopped up and down, celebrating their victory over two trainers that Wally looked up to.

"I can't believe we lost to Wally..." May whispered to Alex.

"He had quite a bit of an advantage over us anyway I think." Alex whispered back to her, having realized it was a one sided battle from the moment May's Trapinch fainted.

"You think so?" May asked. Alex gave a nod.

"I can't believe I beat you two!" Wally exclaimed as he approached them, both of his pokemon by his side.

"You and your pokemon did great back there, Wally." Alex said to him.

"Yeah! Roxanne doesn't stand a chance against you!" May said cheerfully.

"Thanks, guys! I've become a lot stronger since I last saw you two!" Wally grinned widely.

"I see you've gotten a pokenav, too." Alex said, noticing the red pokenav clipped to Wally's belt.

"Yeah, my uncle bought it for me. It even has a phone feature!" Wally took his pokenav off his belt then showed it to them.

"Lets register each other then!" May said, taking her own pokenav off her belt as well. Alex was a bit hesitant, but decided to as well. The three of them registered each other's numbers, then put their pokenavs away.

"Great! Now we can contact each other anytime!" Wally exclaimed. "So what are you guys in Rustboro for anyway?"

"Well, we came here to see if we could get some fossils revived at Devon. May decided to turn it into an overnight stay though..." Alex replied.

"Fossils? Revived?" Wally asked, astonished.

"Yeah, Devon Inc. apparently has a machine that can revive extinct pokemon from fossils." Alex took his backpack off, then opened it and pulled out the fossil he had retrieved from Mirage Tower.

"Like this fossil here. Unless I'm mistaken, which is highly unlikely, Anorith can be revived from this fossil." Wally looked over the rock Alex was holding. It seemed to be formed like some kind of shelled pokemon with a pair of pincer-like claws.

"Neat..." Wally said under his breath while looking over the fossil. "Well, good luck with that guys! I'm going to get my pokemon checked up at the pokecenter then challenge Roxanne." He then looked to his two pokemon, who he still hadn't recalled.

"Come on guys! Lets go earn a badge!" His two pokemon nodded, then Wally returned them to their respective pokeballs.

"I'll see you guys later! Maybe I'll call you and tell you how things went! See yas!" Wally said to them before heading off to the pokecenter.

"Later Wally, good luck!" May called out to him.

"Well, I've learned one thing from this." Alex said as Wally disappeared down the street.

"Whats that?" May asked.

"I need to find a way to teach Numel some new tricks..."

"I know what you mean..." May said looking down at her Wynaut. "Both our pokemon kinda lose out a bit battling in a city like this. I mean, if we were battling in the desert I bet Trapinch alone would have stood a fair chance against both of Wally's pokemon." May bent down and took Wynaut into her arms again, and Wynaut was more than happy to be being carried by May.

"What attacks do you think Wynaut would know?" She then asked Alex. Alex took out his pokenav and pointed it at Wynaut.

"Your Wynaut knows Splash, Charm, and Encore...though I know for a fact that it will eventually learn an interesting combination of attacks. Namely Counter, Mirror Coat, Destiny Bond, and Safeguard. The first three could make it quite the fighter, especially with its durability. Wynaut and its evolved form also have an ability called 'Shadow Tag' where they can freeze their foe's shadow, preventing it from moving very far. Pokemon affected by Shadow Tag can't even be recalled. Don't know if your Wynaut knows how to use that ability yet, though, since it just hatched a few days ago..." May and and Wynaut both stared at Alex dumbfoundedly.

"...What? Its not like there was much to know about Wynaut or Wobbufet." Alex said as he noticed them staring at him. "Its not like it was hard for me to remember that. Wobbufet are known for being able to counter any attack and bring their opponent down with them as a last resort. It wasn't like it was hard info to find either..."

"You must have been a very lonely child..." May eventually said, and Wynaut nodded in agreement with her. Alex folded his arms over his chest and turned his back to her.

"So what if I was? At least I made good use of my time before becoming a trainer..." Alex muttered.

"Alex, most people that study as much as you did are called bookworms and geeks. I'll be surprised if you don't end up being a pokemon researcher of some sort..." Alex seemed to think about May's comment for a moment, then shrugged.

"...Anyway, we should probably get back to the park and check up on our pokemon." May suggested.

"Yeah, you're right." Alex said, turning to face her. "Lets get going then."

The two of them went back to Rustboro park to retrieve their pokemon, then went to the pokecenter to have their pokemon healed. After their pokemon were healed they went to the Devon Inc. building. May had called ahead using her pokenav to let the president know they were coming, and as soon as they arrived they were escorted to one of the labs by a scientist by the name of Samuel, who was apparently the head of the Fossil Revitalization Project. Samuel looked like your stereotypical scientist, wearing a pair of glasses and a white lab coat that covered most of his body. He had short black hair and seemed to be one of the younger scientists in the building, being in his early thirties.

"And this is the machine we use the revive the fossils." Samuel stated, gesturing towards a large machine standing in front of them. The machine consisted of a large glass cylinder that sat on top of a large metal platform. The cylinder was about ten feet high and had a diameter of six feet. There was also a control console built into the platform the glass cylinder was on. On the front of the cylinder seemed to be a sliding door, where the fossils would be put into the machine.

"Wow! That looks like something out of a science fiction movie!" May exclaimed.

"Why of course." Samuel replied. "Afterall, you are in the great labs of Devon! We strive to make mankind's wildest dreams a reality!" Samuel struck a pose as he finished his statement, pointing towards the ceiling. Alex slapped his forhead and May stared at Samuel like she thought he was crazy. Wynaut was in May's backpack again and was trying to look over her shoulder to see what was going on.

_"Of all the people he could have sent...he had to send Samuel...probably the most eccentric scientist in the building..."_ Alex thought to himself.

"Now if you two will hand over your fossils and a pokeball we can get started." Samuel said as he finally calmed down. Both trainers took out their respective fossils and a pokeball and handed them to Samuel. Samuel then opened the large glass cylinder and placed May's fossil inside first, then pressed a few buttons on the control panel. A hole in the middle of the control panel opened up, and Samuel placed the pokeball May handed him in the hole. He then pressed a few more buttons, and the machine seemed to come to life.

Several lights began flashing on the control panel as the machine started up, and a pillar of light shot up in the middle of the containment unit where May's fossil was. The pillar then began to expand until May's fossil could no longer be seen inside the cylinder and the light seemed to fill the containment unit completely. It stayed like that for several minutes before it started to shrink inward again and then finally disappearing completely.

When the light disappeared, a pokemon could be seen standing in the containment unit where May's fossil was only moments ago. There was also some dust and small pebbles, likely the remains of the rock that the fossil was in. The pokemon itself appeared to be some kind of purple plant. It seemed to have four tiny legs at its base that seemed to anchor it to the ground, and orange tendrils coming out the top of it. The strange pokemon looked cautiously around its unfamiliar environment.

"Wow! That was cool!" May commented. "So thats my pokemon?" May moved closer to the machine to look at the strange pokemon inside it, and Wynaut curiously looked over May's shoulder. The pokemon seemed to be staring back at them. It then turned completely white and seemed to vanish into the floor as Samuel pressed a button on the control panel, and the pokeball he put in earlier popped out of the machine then disappeared as well.

"The revitalization process was a complete success!" The professor announced. "The fossil was of the ancient pokemon Lileep. Since you have six pokemon with you it was automatically sent to storage."

"Thanks, Samuel." May said to him, then backed away and looked at Alex.

"Guess its your turn now." Alex nodded, seeming somewhat uninterested in the process. Samuel set up the machine again, putting Alex's fossil and pokeball into the machine and starting it up. Once again the entire inside of the glass cylinder was filled by a white light, and when the light finally faded the fossil was once again gone and instead the pokemon that had been revived from the fossil was standing in its place.

Alex's revived pokemon was much different than May's. His pokemon had a hard shelled, silver body with four small white wings with red tips along each side of its body, which obviously wouldn't have been used for flying but rather for swimming. It had no hands, but instead it had two large claws on the front of its body and its eyes were on stalks that protruded from the side of its head. Its eyes seemed to be moving around as if scanning its new environment. Just like before, the pokemon turned white and vanished as the machine put it in Alex's pokeball. The pokeball popped out of the machine and was sent to storage.

"Another successul revitalization!" Samuel announced. "This one was an ancient pokemon known as Anorith."

"Thanks." Alex replied.

"You two are welcome back here anytime if you find a new fossil." The scientist said to them. "Good luck on your journey May and...uh..." Samuel looked at Alex confused for a moment.

"What was your name again?" He asked.

"Alex..."

"Ah! Right! You know, you seem somewhat familiar, Alex. Have we met before?"

"Don't think so. I live in Rustboro though." Alex said in response to Samuel's question.

"Ah, maybe I've seen you around town then..." Samuel said thoughtfully. "Well good luck you two!"

"Thanks, Samuel! Good luck with your research!" May said to him. Her and Alex then left the building.

It was getting late when Alex and May were finished at Devon Inc., so they grabbed a bite to eat, fed their pokemon, then booked a hotel for the night. May couldn't believe Alex would stay in a hotel in his home town, and didn't even make any attempt to contact his parents, but Alex wouldn't change his mind. They said goodnight to each other before going into their separate rooms for the night.

**Author's Notes: **Sorry about the lateness with this chapter, been a bit busy lately and just got a job recently. I'll try to speed up the next chapter though. Anyway, thanks for the reviews everyone!


	31. Chapter 23: Shocking Disaster!

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Twenty Three**

**Shocking Disaster!**

"Finally! We're in Mauville!" May exclaimed.

"...Again." Alex added dryly. "Maybe this time we won't make a fool out of ourselves while we're here."

"We can just get takeout this time, that'd solve that problem in a hurry." May said to him.

"...Now why didn't I ever think of that?" Alex wondered out loud.

"Because I did." May replied, smiling widely. Wynaut chirped happily from May's backpack.

After spending a night in Rustboro, May and Alex had left for Mauville first thing in the morning. They were now just arriving in the city early in the evening, after passing through Verdanturf and the Rusturf Tunnel. They intended to stop by the Elite Hotel first, their usual place to stay in Mauville, to book their rooms for the night. Little did either of them know, it'd take them much longer than they thought it would to get to the hotel.

"So we're staying at the same hotel as usual then?" Alex asked as they walked through the city. Alex had stayed at the Elite Hotel during every visit to Mauville. May stayed at the Wattson Inn during her first overnight stay in Mauville, which she ended up regretting and stayed at the Elite Hotel after that.

"Yeah, don't see why not..." May replied. "Though I think we should just share a room for a change. It'd be cheaper than getting separate rooms all the time."

"May, you're a girl, I'm a guy, thats why we get separate rooms." Alex said flatly.

"So we can't share a hotel room, but its perfectly fine for us to sleep on the ground next to each other?" May shot back. "At least in a hotel room I wouldn't have to worry about you spying on me when I'm taking a shower or getting a bath."

"What!" Alex said in shock. "When have I ever tried spying on you!"

"That time when we were camping outside Verdanturf." May said to him, stopping where she was and glaring at him.

"I was worried about you!" Alex said, glaring back at her. "I heard you scream and wanted to make sure you were alright!"

"Hmph! That was just an excuse and you know it!"

"What makes you think I'd even WANT to see you taking a bath?"

"Because I'm beautiful AND the daughter of a gym leader, of course." May ran her fingers through her hair. "Its only natural for a guy to want a girl that is so far out of his league..."

"You're completely delusional..." Alex said dryly.

"WHAT WAS THAT!" May yelled.

"You heard me..." Alex muttered.

"You jerk! You're lucky I'm even willing to travel with someone like you!" May snapped, shaking her fist as if threatening to punch Alex.

"Lucky?" Alex snorted. "All you do is hold me back, yell at me, and complain. I'd be better off without you."

"Well if thats how you feel then why don't you just go your own way then!"

"Maybe I will!"

"Fine!"

"FINE!" Alex and May turned their backs to each other and crossed their arms over their chest with a 'hmph'. The two of them then started walking in separate directions to get away from each other. Wynaut watched Alex walk away from them with a puzzled expression on its face, wondering why its 'mother' and someone it thought she was good friends with suddenly started fighting.

_"Way to go..."_ Alex thought. _"You managed to piss off one of the few human friends you have." _Alex stopped in his tracks as suddenly another thought dawned on him.

_"...And, you're heading the wrong way to get to the hotel. The hotel is the other way."_ Alex looked back in the direction May was heading, which was also where he was supposed to be going. Wynaut was still staring back at him.

_"I'll take the long way. Otherwise, May would probably accuse me of stalking her..." _Alex continued on his way, cutting through an alley and preparing to circle around town to the Elite Hotel.

_"Delusional...holding me back...why'd I say that to her anyway?"_ Alex wondered as he continued on his way. _"Sure, I was upset because she brought up that incident at the pond again, but thats no excuse. May's right, I AM being a jerk...maybe I should just go apologize and get it over with." _Alex turned around again, taking the same route to the hotel that May was taking.

"Delusional...hmph...I look great!" May said, looking at her reflection in the window of a nearby store.

"Right, Wynaut?" May looked over her shoulder at the baby pokemon in her backpack. It didn't seem to be paying attention to her, though, and gave no response.

"...Anyway! Its not like we need Alex with us, I can get along just fine without Mr. Know-it-all." May continued down the road towards the Elite Hotel, which was now straight in front of them. The large hotel rose several stories off the ground, and had about eight floors of hotel rooms all above the lobby, an indoor swimming pool, workout room, and everything else you'd expect a somewhat expensive hotel to have. As May approached the hotel, she failed to notice that the lights in the nearby stores seemed to be flickering.

"Maybe I should stay at a different hotel though..." May said to herself. "I mean...that place is a bit expensive. Alex paid for my room last time, but he decided to be a big jerk and went off on his own. Well I don't need him to pay for my reservation anyway!"

"Wahahaha! I thought I heard someone familiar!" Came a familiar voice from nearby.

_"I only know one person who laughs like that..."_ May thought. Looking to her right, she saw the Mauville gym leader Wattson leaning up against a nearby building and wearing his usual brown top and matching tan-colored pants.

"Hey, Wattson!" May called out to him.

"Hello there, May. I see you're still doing well!" Wattson replied.

"Yep! I have five badges now!" May said excitedly.

"Wahahahaha! Well I'm glad to hear I was beaten by a good trainer at least!" Wattson said, giving his usual laugh which he seemed to do far too often.

"...Fine! I've decided!" Wattson suddenly announced. "May, I have a favor I'd like to ask of you!"

"Huh? Whats that?" May asked.

"In my spare time I've been working on a little underground project I'm calling..."

"Wait! You're doing something illegal!" May cut him off.

"Wahahahaha! Of course not!" Wattson replied. "I mean its actually underground. I was working on an underground power plant that I called New Mauville. It used an experimental generator to produce electricity, which is why I kept it underground." May nodded, and Wattson continued.

"I don't know if you've noticed or not, but the powers been flickering in Mauville lately. Apparently the generator down in New Mauville has been malfunctioning. If its shut off, though, Mauville's main power plant will take over again and the power will return to normal. I'd like for you to go turn it off. Of course, I wouldn't ask you to do it for nothing, so in return I'll give you a TM for a powerful electric attack!"

"Alright then! You can count on me Wattson!" May replied enthusiastically.

"Wahahahaha! Knew I could count on you May!" Wattson reached into his pocket and pulled out a key, then approached May and handed it to her.

"Thats the key to New Mauville." Wattson said. "The entrance is just south of Mauville, on a small island. I'm sure you'd have no trouble getting there."

May gave a nod and went off to shut down the generator in New Mauville, forgetting for the moment to make a reservation at the hotel. May ended up going down the same road to leave Mauville that Alex was going down to get to the Elite Hotel. Neither trainer noticed each other in the crowd of people walking the streets. Alex stopped by a street light just across from the Elite Hotel, scanning around for any sign of May.

"Don't see May around..." Alex said to himself. "Guess she must already be in the hotel." Alex suddenly heard the faint sound of glass shattering above him, and looked up to see that the street light seemed to have just turned on and the light inside it shattered.

"Thats odd...must have been a power surge or something." Alex took another look around town, and noticed that many other streetlights seemed like they were doing the same thing. At least half of the nearby streetlights seemed to be shattering when they were supposed to turn on.

"...Ok, thats just a little bit suspicious." Alex said to himself. Everyone else in town seemed to be just as confused as he was, with the exception of Wattson who was standing near by.

_"I wonder if Wattson would know whats going on around here?"_ Alex thought, finally noticing Wattson. Alex decided to approach him and find out.

"Hey, Wattson, any idea whats going on around here?" Alex asked him.

"Wahahahaha! So you're here too, Alex! I thought for sure you and May were travelling together!"

"We are...kinda..." Alex replied. "Anyway, you have any idea whats going on here?"

"A generator I built is going haywire. Its located in an underground power plant nearby here, but I sent May to shut it down so everything should be ok." Wattson said to him.

"Oh, alright then. Nothing I need to worry about I guess." Alex turned to head to the hotel, but suddenly stopped.

"Wait, you sent WHO!" Alex asked in shock.

"I sent May, she seems like a capable trainer so it should be no problem for her to handle." Wattson replied.

"Oh great..." Alex muttered, slapping his hand against his forehead.

"Whats the problem?" Wattson wondered.

"Being a good trainer is one thing..." Alex muttered. "But I doubt May knows a thing about generators or power plants. She could get into serious trouble down there. Where's this power plant at?"

"Its in the middle of the water on the route just south of Mauville, but don't you think..." Alex took off down the road before Wattson could finish his sentence.

"Kids these days...that Alex especially needs to learn some manners..."

"Looks like this is the place..." May said to herself, looking up at the large door in front of her. In the very center of the large door was a small keyhole. May took the key out of her pocket and unlocked the door. As soon as she unlocked it, the door opened on its own. Inside there was a small steel corridor that seemed to split off into two directions at the end. Straight ahead of her, May could see some kind of map. She quickly walked to the end of the corridor and studied the map.

"Lets see...looks like the generator is here..." May said to herself, looking at a red-colored room at the top of the map. Down the bottom of the map was a small green triangle with an arrow pointing to it that said 'You Are Here'. May traced the two different routes she could take on the map with her finger, and realized that the path going down to the right was much shorter than the path going to the left. When she looked towards the right end of the corridor, though, she saw a large steel door blocking her way and she couldn't see any buttons nearby to open it.

"Guess I don't have any choice but to take the long way..." May said with a sigh, then started down the left corridor. The interior of the power plant didn't seem to be anything special. The entire corridor was pretty much bare metal, with lights built into the ceiling. May passed by several doors, which were more like traditional doors then the large steel door blocking the other path. They were all locked, too, and the key Wattson gave her didn't seem to be able to open them. The key was apparently for the main door only.

"This is boring...I thought there'd be more interesting stuff in a power plant than empty corridors and locked doors..." May looked around the corridors for anything remotely interesting. She soon spotted a large red and white ball that seemed to resemble a large pokeball.

_"Huh? Thats an awfully big pokeball..."_ May thought. _"I feel like I've seen it before though...wonder what it is." _May stood back and stared at the strange ball for a moment, trying to figure out what it was. She couldn't see the eyes on the other side of it, though, and had no idea she was staring at a Voltorb.

She reached out to touch it, but just before she did she heard Wynaut making a commotion behind her, then someone grabbed her shoulder from behind. May thought for sure she was alone in that power plant, and without giving it a second thought she quickly spun around and punched whoever it was in the side of the head and sent them sprawling onto the floor. When she finally looked at her assailant, she realized she had punched Alex.

"Alex! What the heck are you doing here? Were you stalking me!" May demanded.

"I came here to make sure you don't get yourself killed..." Alex muttered, sitting up on the floor. He rubbed the side of his face where May had hit him.

"Well I can take care of myself just fine!" May shot back.

"Oh, of course you can...you were only about to pick up a Voltorb. Wild Voltorb tend to explode as a form of self-defense, May." Alex stood up and dusted himself off.

"Well I still don't need you tagging along!" May snapped, then continued off into the power plant in a huff.

"Why is it that worrying about May usually gets me nothing but pain?" Alex wondered out loud.

"Last time it was a shoe, this time she just outright punched me..." Alex followed behind May, despite her insisting she doesn't need him and punching him. He hurried to catch up with her, but didn't go far as she had stopped at the beginning of another corridor, and seemed to be staring down the corridor in shock. Alex looked down the corridor as well, and what he saw was several Magnemites bouncing back and forth between the walls. It was as if their magnets were being attracted to one wall and then the other.

"Whats with those Magnemites I wonder..." May said to herself, not even taking notice of Alex standing behind her. Wynaut was keeping quiet this time as Alex approached, as it didn't like seeing May hit him.

With the way the Magnemites were moving, it almost seemed to May like an overused scenario from a video game where giant crushing machines moved back and forth and the main character had to move through without getting killed. Only instead of crushing machines they were Magnemites behaving oddly, and if one of them hit her she'd probably only get

"Well, there's plenty of room for me to go under them at least." May moved forward, then got down on her hands and knees and crawled across the floor, staying under the Magnemites floating above. Alex quietly followed behind her, but May knew Alex was likely following her. She was ignoring him, though. She was actually rather annoyed that after being such a jerk to her earlier he was trying to help her now, as if she was completely incapable of looking after herself. She wanted to prove she could handle the job on her own.

When May reached the end of the corridor, she found she had come to another dead end. There was another large, steel door in her way with no sign of a keyhole. May stood up once she was past the final Magnemite and approached the door. She looked it over, desperately trying to find a way past it, but couldn't find any way of opening it at all.

"Whats with this power plant! None of these doors open!" May cried out. Just then, Alex opened up a panel in the wall and pressed a button inside causing the big steel door to recede into the ground. May glared at him, but stopped when she caught sight of something in the room out of the corner of her eye. She gasped in surprise and backed away from the door. Out of curiosity, Alex glanced inside.

"So there's a pokemon inside.." Alex said to himself. "Kinda looks like the pokemon I saw in the newspaper the other day."

On the other side of the door Alex had opened was the generator May had intended to shut down, and sparks were erupting from various places on the generator which seemed to indicate it was in rough shape. Lying in front of the generator, however, was a large yellow pokemon. When standing on all four legs it looked like it would be over six feet tall. It had black markings on the sides of its body, a gray lightning bolt tail, a purple mane of hair going across its back, and a pair of really large fangs protruding from its mouth. The pokemon seemed to stir slightly as May and Alex's prescence disturbed its rest.

"Looks like a pretty strong electric pokemon too..." Alex took a pokeball off his belt. "I have no idea what this pokemon is, but I'm going to try to catch it! Grovyle, go!" Alex released his Grovyle to battle the unknown pokemon. By this time, the wild pokemon had gotten up on its feet and was ready to do battle with Alex's pokemon.

"A-A-Alex...I...don't think you want to fight that thing..." May stammered, still in shock from seeing the pokemon. Alex didn't understand what May's problem with the unknown pokemon was, though, and attacked anyway.

"Grovyle, attack that thing with Leaf Blade!" Alex's Grovyle formed a long green blade from the leaves on one of its arms, then leapt towards the strange pokemon and prepared to attack with its Leaf Blade. Before it could even land its attack, however, the pokemon released a powerful blast of lightning from its body towards Grovyle. Grovyle was instantly knocked out when the electricity struck it and fell to the ground in front of the unknown pokemon. Alex immediately recalled it.

"Damn...that thing must be REALLY powerful..." Alex muttered. "Just one attack and it knocked out my Grovyle...an electric attack at that..."

"Its...I think...I think its Raikou..." May stuttered. Alex scratched the back of his head.

"Raikou? The hecks a Raikou?" Alex wondered. He reached into his backpack and took out a pokeball.

"Lets try a different approach..." Alex threw a pokeball at Raikou, but the ball suddenly seemed to stop in midair and shot back towards Alex! Alex barely ducked in time as the ball flew by his head and towards a Magnemite in the corridor behind him. The pokeball landed on one of the Magnemite's magnets and became activated, opening up and pulling the Magnemite inside. Alex looked back to see what had happened, and saw the pokeball shaking on the ground as it tried to contain the accidentally captured Magnemite. After shaking for a few seconds, the pokeball clicked and locked shut. It then turned white and vanished as the Magnemite was sent to storage.

"WHAT! You've got to be kidding me!" Alex yelled in frustration. In the generator room, the wild Raikou was growling menacingly, as if threatening the two trainers. Alex tried to think of what to do next when Wynaut suddenly hopped out of May's backpack and ran in front of Alex, as if it was going to confront Raikou. May gasped in shock.

"Wynaut! Get back here! That thing could seriously hurt you!" May called out, but Wynaut seemed intent on facing Raikou, its usual wide grin twisted into an expression of determination. Wynaut made a series of small cries, as if saying something to Raikou.

"-Leave my mommy alone you big bully!-" Was what Wynaut said to it.

"-Excuse me?-" Came Raikou's response, mostly in the form of growls. "-Those two idiots came into MY territory and woke me up. They're going to pay for that, and there's nothing you can do to stop me, pipsqueak.-"

"-I won't let you hurt them!-" Wynaut said to it, standing defiantly in front of the two trainers. Alex and May both watched, not knowing what was going on as they didn't understand what Wynaut and Raikou were saying to each other.

"-...And what the heck are you going to do about it?-" Raikou shot back. "-In case you didn't hear the girl with the strange hairstyle, I'm THE Raikou, straight out of Johto, servant of THE great Ho-Oh. What the heck do you expect to be able to do to me? Here, let me show you just what you're dealing with!-"

Raikou fired another bolt of lightning from its body, aiming it at Wynaut. Wynaut wrapped its arms around its face and cowered in fear as Raikou attacked. At the same time, though, its body seemed to take on a reflective coating. The Thunderbolt attack struck Wynaut and instantly knocked the poor baby pokemon out, but at the same time the attack was also bounced back at Raikou with twice the intensity. Raikou's eyes widened in fear just before its own attack struck it, sending the legendary pokemon flying across the room and landing in front of an open door on the other side. Sparks danced around its body, lingering from the powerful electric attack.

"WYNAUT!" May screamed in terror, running into the room and picking up Wynaut, tears streaming from her eyes. Wynaut was severely injured from Raikou's powerful attack. Raikou, meanwhile, seemed to be suffering quite a bit as well. It struggled to get back up on its feet, having been dealt a powerful blow courtesy of Wynaut learning how to use its Mirror Coat attack.

_"That...hurt..."_ Raikou thought as it stood up on all four legs again. _"How the heck did that...CHILD do this to me! Damn it...Ho-Oh sends me and Entei to different regions as a test for some chosen one that I don't even know about...and I'm almost beaten by a baby! Screw this, I'm getting out of this power plant and finding somewhere else to crash!" _Raikou bolted out the door behind it with all the speed it could muster in its injured state, intent on distancing itself from Alex and May.

"Wynaut...please be ok..." May sobbed, craddling the pokemon close to her.

"May, you need to get Wynaut to the pokecenter..." Alex said to her. May looked at him, then back at Wynaut. She was still mad at Alex, but now really didn't seem like the time to be holding a grudge on him.

"I'll take care of the generator." He continued. "Just go." May nodded slightly, then quickly left the room. Alex then turned his attention to the generator.

_"Raikou..."_ Alex thought. _"A pokemon of enormous power, and I've never heard of it...it can't be a pokemon normally found in Hoenn then...since May's heard of it, my guess is its from Johto since thats where she's from. Well, whatever, I'll ask her about it later if she's willing to talk to me by then. Now lets see about this generator..."_

May sat in a sofa in the pokecenter, sniffling sadly. It was getting late, so she was the only one in the pokecenter besides the nurses, and she was waiting impatiently for news about her Wynaut. She had been crying quite a bit since she left the power plant with Wynaut. She was worried sick about it because it was just a baby pokemon and it tried to stand up against Raikou, a legendary pokemon from Johto.

_"What is Raikou doing in Hoenn in the first place? From what I can remember, its supposed to be asleep somewhere in Johto..."_ May thought. She looked over towards the front desk, where one of the nurses was standing and ready to help out any other trainers that came in. It was taking them a while with her Wynaut because May didn't have it in a pokeball, otherwise the nurse could have just healed it like they do any other pokemon. Despite its current condition, May still refused to put it in a pokeball.

_"I hope Wynaut will be ok...it took a direct attack from a legendary pokemon...I wonder what attack that was that Wynaut used, though? It looked like it reflected Raikou's attack back at it...Alex did say Wynaut could turn its opponent's attacks against it...so I guess it must have learned how to use some of its abilities."_

Just then, Alex entered the pokecenter, having just gotten back from shutting down the generator. He looked around the pokecenter and spotted May sitting on a sofa at the far end of the pokecenter. May looked away as he approached her, not particularly looking forward to seeing him again at the moment. Alex stopped in front of her and held out a TM disc to her. May looked at the disc, then at Alex, a puzzled expression on her face.

"I ran into Wattson on the way here, he wanted me to give this to you for shutting down the generator." May looked at the TM and hesitantly took it from him.

"But...why did you tell him that? I mean, you shut down the generator..."

"You could have handled that without me, and besides it was your Wynaut who drove off that powerful Raikou thing. How is the little guy anyway?"

"The nurse said he should be fine..." May replied. "I'm still worried about it though...I didn't tell them about Raikou...its not like they'd believe me anyway..."

"What is a 'Raikou' anyway?" Alex asked.

"Raikou is one of the three servants of Ho-Oh, resurrected by the legendary phoenix itself after they perished in a burning fire."

"I've heard of Ho-Oh...this is the first I heard of its 'servants' though. As far as we've come, I guess we really wouldn't stand much of a chance against a legend."

"Yeah, no kidding..." May looked up at Alex, and noticed there was a bruise where she had hit him earlier.

"Sorry I hit you and called you a jerk, Alex..." May said apologetically.

"I kinda deserved it, really..." Alex replied. "I shouldn't have said those things to you before, and I honestly didn't mean what I said either...sorry. Still friends?" Alex held out his hand to her.

"Of course we're still friends..." May said, smiling and shaking his hand. The two of them held hands for several moments before the nurse interrupted them.

"Excuse me, miss, but as much as I'd hate to interrupt this heartwarming moment, your Wynaut has been completely healed..." Alex and May looked over towards the front desk where the nurse was, and a young man was standing beside her holding May's struggling Wynaut. The two of them then looked back at each other, and quickly withdrew their hands when they realized what they were doing, their faces red with embarassment.

Wynaut eventually managed to break free of the man's hold and landed on the front desk. It jumped down onto the floor then ran over to May and jumped up in her lap.

"Wynaut! You're ok!" May cried happily, hugging Wynaut close to her. "I was so worried about you..." Wynaut hugged May back, while turning towards the man at the front desk and sticking his tongue out at him.

"He's a tough little guy, I'll give him that..." Alex said, referring to Wynaut.

"Don't you ever scare me like that ever again..." May whispered to Wynaut while fighting back tears. Alex decided to give May and Wynaut some space while he handed over his own pokemon for healing as well. By the time Alex's pokemon were done, May and Wynaut were ready to leave and the three of them left the pokecenter. They stopped just outside, however, as May had plans for her recently acquired Thunderbolt TM.

"I'm going to teach it to Electrike!" May announced suddenly.

"Excuse me?" Alex said, astounded. "I couldn't have heard that right, cause I could have sworn you just said you wanted to teach Thunderbolt to your Electrike..."

"I did." May stuck her tongue out at him. "Maybe if I teach it a new technique it'll respect me a bit more...or something." May took the TM disc out of her pocket with one hand and grabbed the pokeball containing Electrike off her belt with the other. She held up Electrike's pokeball and released the disobedient pokemon, who appeared with its back to her and didn't even bother to turn around.

"Electrike! I've got something for you!" Electrike glanced over its shoulder, curious but not wanting to show any interest. It noticed the TM May was holding, then shrugged and turned away.

"Its a Thunderbolt TM, Electrike! It'll teach you how to use Thunderbolt, one of the most powerful electric attacks there is!" Electrike still hid any sign of interest, despite the enthusiasm in May's voice. Wynaut, who was on the ground instead of in its backpack, ran out in front of Electrike to find out why it was ignoring May, but Electrike ignored it too. May, tired of Electrike's ignorance, came up from behind it and slapped the TM onto Electrike's head.

"You'll thank me later!" May said confidently after placing the TM on its head. Electrike growled, but then went quiet as the TM activated. The disc began to glow, and Electrike's eyes seemed to go blank as the information on the disc was transferred to it, instantly teaching Electrike how to use Thunderbolt. Once the process was complete, the disc shattered. When it was finally free again, Electrike turned to May and glared at her.

"I don't think that was such a great idea, May..." Alex said to her.

"Why not? I'm sure Electrike appreciates knowing such a powerful technique." May replied to Alex. "Right Electrike? Why don't we test out your new attack on something?"

Electrike didn't give a response, and began charging up electricity as if preparing to attack. May wondered what it was doing, when suddenly it unleashed a powerful Thunderbolt attack directly at her! May didn't have time to move out of the way because she was standing right next to Electrike, and several bolts of electricity arced from Electrike's body to strike May and electrocuted her.

May shrieked in pain as the electricity coursed through her body, and by the time either Alex or Wynaut realized what was going on, the attack was over. May fell unconcious and collapsed backwards, but Alex managed to catch her before she hit the ground. Alex shook her desperately, trying to wake her up, but it was no use. Wynaut started crying and latched onto May's leg desperately, and Electrike's eyes widened in horror as it suddenly realized that it had gone too far with its rebellious antics.

**Author's Notes:**

Yeah, thats probably an evil way to end a chapter. Of course, it probably goes without saying, she's not dead. She's a main character, she can't die. Also, the Raikou thing is mostly to set up a plot, and I thought it'd be an interesting way to give Wynaut some spotlight. And thats about all I have to say for now. Still working a bit slow, I know, but hopefully that'll change once I get used to sleeping during the day.


	32. Chapter 24: Team Aqua Propeganda

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Twenty Four**

**Team Aqua Propeganda**

"Room 206...guess this is it..." Alex stopped in front of a hospital room door with the number 206 on it. He carried a fannypack in his hands as well as a set of six pokeballs, both of which belonged to May. Wynaut was following Alex, eager to see May again.

Alex had immediately called an ambulance for May after the incident with Electrike and she was rushed to the hospital. All of May's pokeballs were unharmed by the attack and Alex had been taking care of her pokemon for the past two days. May's parents had been contacted recently, but they wouldn't arrive until later in the day. Alex hadn't told anyone that her own Electrike had attacked her, though, and instead said she startled a wild Magnemite.

May was finally concious again for the first time since the accident, and Alex had stopped by the hospital to visit her early in the morning. Alex was worried she might not make it and wanted to see how she was doing. He had kept Wynaut with him while she was in the hospital, but Wynaut had been continually whining and crying and sometimes even kept Alex up at night. He was more than happy to be finally taking Wynaut to see May.

Alex opened the door and entered the room. May was lying on a hospital bed in the room, hooked up to several machines which were measuring her vital signs. She was almost completely covered by a blanket, and wasn't wearing her bandana. She looked as though she was asleep at first, but soon she opened her eyes to see who had entered the room. Wynaut ran past Alex to May's bed and was hopping up and down beside it as if trying to get up to see May. Alex picked up Wynaut and held him so he could see May.

"Hey May, how ya feeling?" Alex asked her.

"Like I was struck by lightning..." May mumbled. "My legs hurt...my arms hurt...I can barely move either...I'm tired...and hungry...did you really have to ask?"

"Well I figured I should ask anyway..." Alex replied, placing Wynaut on the edge of the bed. Wynaut buried its face in May's side and cried into the blanket that was covering most of her body. May wanted to reach out to hug Wynaut, but she could barely move her arms so she just let it cuddle up against her.

"Wynaut's been crying almost nonstop since Electrike attacked you." Alex said to her.

"He was probably worried about me..." May replied.

"You had me worried too. I'd say I told you so about teaching Electrike that TM, but I guess this isn't really the time. Electrike seems to be awfully upset about what it did to you, though."

"It does?" May asked.

"Yeah, I've been keeping an eye on your pokemon and Electrike seemed to be depressed everytime I let it out of its pokeball. Guess it didn't think its attack would hurt you as much as it did."

"The doctors said an attack from an electric pokemon couldn't kill me anyway..." May replied. "Something about low amps and some other technical stuff I couldn't understand...doesn't make it hurt any less though..."

"They happen to say how long you'd be in here?" Alex asked her.

"I think they said it'd be at least a few days before I'll be able to walk again..."

_"A few days..."_ Alex thought. _"I wonder if I'm starting to push my luck? ...Well, it doesn't matter. I'm not leaving Mauville until May's feeling better."_

"Well, you just try to get better. I'm staying in Mauville until you're ready to go." He then said to her.

"Why? You could have your sixth badge by the time I'm out..."

"True, but it'd be an awfully boring trip to Fortree without your antics." Alex said with a smirk. May smiled slightly at his remark.

"Think you could keep looking after my pokemon for me then?" May asked him. "Except Wynaut, he can stay here with me."

"Sure thing. By the way, your parents should be by later in the day."

"Oh great..." May muttered. "I'm not going to hear the end of it...they'll probably want me to release Electrike..."

"No one knows it was Electrike except us, I've been telling people a wild Magnemite got scared and attacked you." Alex said.

"Oh, thats kind of a relief then I guess..." May said with a sigh. "By the way...what are you going to do with that Magnemite you caught?"

"Magnemite?" Alex thought for a moment, wondering what May was talking about. He thought back to the other day when he tried to throw a pokeball at Raikou, and could remember the pokeball was attracted by a Magnemite's magnet and accidentally caught the Magnemite that it hit.

"Now I remember...I accidentally caught one of those Magnemites that were behaving oddly...though they all seemed to return to normal after the generator was shut down. Well, I guess I could train it. No point in releasing it or just leaving it in storage...maybe I'll head to the pokecenter and grab it and Anorith."

"What do you plan to do in Mauville anyway?" May asked him.

"I'm sure I'll find something to do..." Alex replied, giving a sly grin.

"These slot machines are way too easy. Real casinos don't let you choose when to stop the reels..." Alex said to himself, just before pressing a button on the slot machine in front of him to stop the final reel from spinning and landing on a third 'bar', earning Alex another 100 coins.

"I guess thats why kids are allowed in here though...its really more of an arcade of sorts than a casino because there's less luck involved. Plus, you don't win money and coins have no monetary value." Alex pulled the lever on the side of the slot machine, and chose to have three coins deducted from his electronic Game Corner Member card. Alex had stopped by the Mauville Game Corner to try to win more TM's. In particular he wanted to get a Flamethrower TM for Numel, but he was also stocking up on a few since he seemed to continually catch pokemon he had no intention of catching.

Alex watched the reels of the slot machine turn intently, trying to keep his eye on the seven in the first column as usual. He pushed a small button below where the first column was on the screen and it stopped on another "Bar". Alex quickly pressed the next two buttons, and another two "Bars" made a line going from the top left corner to bottom right.

"Just can't seem to get those elusive sevens today..." Alex said to himself. He was about to start up the slot machine again when he heard some people talking nearby.

"Hey, did you hear?" Someone using the slot machines behind him said to another young trainer sitting beside him. "The ferry terminal is closed today..."

"Really? Why's that?" The other trainer asked the first.

"Apparently there's a group of Sharpedo patrolling the waters...and you know how Sharpedo can get. So they're keeping the ferry docked incase any of them attack. You know what Sharpedo can do to an unprepared ship..."

"Yeah, but don't they usually stay out at sea? What'd they come inland for?"

"Nobody knows, but until they leave the ferry isn't moving."

_"Sharpedo problems, huh?"_ Alex thought. _"Think I'll take a look, just out of curiosity...not going anywhere near that water though..." _Alex pulled his card from the machine and placed it in his pocket, then made his way out of the Game Corner.

Alex first stopped by the pokecenter to switch his pokemon team around a bit. Though he didn't switch his pokemon often, he thought he should take his two newest pokemon with him at least for a little while. He switched his Grovyle and Minun for Anorith and Magnemite so they would at least be out of the PC for a while. He wasn't expecting to be battling anytime soon unless someone challenged him. Once he was finished at the pokecenter, he headed east of Mauville to see if there really were Sharpedo in the water.

"Can't really see anything from here..." Alex said as he scanned the water from the safety of the shore. There was actually a small crowd gathered around him trying to spot the Sharpedo as well.

"Well, luckily I have my Devon Scope with me..." Alex reached back and took off his backpack, placing it on the ground in front of him. He opened it up, and pulled out a helmet-like device with a visor that looked like something from Star Trek. He placed the helmet on his head and took another look around through the visor. Out in the water he could see the red outlines of what looked like torpedos with fins. Alex immediately recognized them as Sharpedo, however. There seemed to be about twenty of them swimming around in a group.

The Devon Scope allowed Alex to see the specific energy signatures that pokemon gave off. All living things gave off energy waves of sorts, but all pokemon gave off similar energy signatures. The Devon Scope was designed to detect those energy signatures while ignoring others, so it could detect nearby pokemon. It was designed by Devon to aide trainers in finding wild pokemon and to detect troublesome pokemon such as Kecleon, which can camouflage themselves to become almost completely invisible.

"Thats a lot of Sharpedo..." Alex took off his Devon Scope and put it back in his backpack.

"Hope they're gone by the time May's out of the hospital...looks like we would have been waiting in Mauville for a while anyway though. Well, nothing I can do really. Guess I'll just head back to the Game Corner." Alex picked up his backpack and started walking away from the shore. The crowd gathered there started making a commotion, however, so Alex stopped for a moment to see what was going on. Out on the water, several small black ships had arrived, each bearing a blue "A" in a bone-like design.

_"Team Aqua? What are they doing here?"_ Alex wondered. There were three ships in total, and they were all heading towards the area where Alex had seen the group of sharpedo. There were two smaller ships, about the size of a fisherman's boat, and another one that was about five times as large of them and looked almost like some kind of cargo vessel as there was a large crane at the back of the ship. Near the front edge of the larger ship, Alex could make out the form of the Team Aqua leader, Archie.

_"Archie must have completely lost it if he's going after those Sharpedo..."_ Alex thought. _"They'd rip those ships open like they were cans of sardines..."_

The larger ship that Archie was on came to a stop near the Sharpedo while the two smaller vessels kept going. Several Team Aqua grunts could be seen working with nets on the smaller vessels and dropping them into the water. The two ships went in a circle around the Sharpedo, and soon the fins of the Sharpedo rose above the water as they seemed to realize they were being surrounded and tried to break through the nets but to no avail. The Sharpedo then tried to go for the closing gap between the ships, but the ships had the net completely surrounding the Sharpedo before they could escape.

"No part of this is making any sense..." Alex muttered. "What kind of net can hold Sharpedo at bay? Heck, they could probably pull those ships underwater to get free. Its like those Sharpedo aren't even trying..."

With the two smaller ships finished their task, the larger one moved in towards the Sharpedo. The crane on the back of the ship picked up a large cage, then lowered it into the water where the wild Sharpedo were trapped. The cage door was opened by remote and all the Sharpedo swam into the cage, looking as though something was drawing them in. Once all the Sharpedo were in, the cage door closed and it was lifted out of the water and placed in a holding tank on the deck of the ship. The crowd gathered on the shore gave a round of applause except for Alex, who was skeptical of the entire event. Archie picked up a megahorn from the deck of his ship and began to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen." Archie began. "Some of you may know me as Archie, the esteemed leader of the nature loving Team Aqua! I know you may think of us as criminals. Though a few of our members seem to have lost their way, I assure you that Team Aqua remains true to their goals to make the world a better place for both people and pokemon."

_"Right..."_ Alex thought. _"And you're just doing so well with that. And what was your master plan again? Oh right, more water, flood the land. Bleh. I hate water...and does he even realize the kind of devastation that'd create? Or does he think the sacrifice will be worth it or something? Both him and Maxie are out of their minds if you ask me..."_

"When we heard of the Sharpedo problem, we decided to deal with this problem ourselves in a manner that would be beneficial to both humans and pokemon. We have removed the wild Sharpedo from the area and will see to it that they are deposited in another location, where they won't cause anyone any harm. The rest of Team Aqua and I hope you will all remember this deed when you hear of our misguided brothers and sisters comitting crimes and blame not us, but the individual."

_"Well if that isn't a blatant cry for support, I don't know what is."_ Alex thought. _"There's no way any of these people would believe..."_ At that moment, the crowd around him gave an unrivaled cheer for the Team Aqua leader.

_"Okay, seriously, you have got to be kidding me...they're actually buying into this?!"_ Alex slapped his hand against his forehead, and Archie made another announcement as the crowd quieted down again.

"We will remain in the area for the remainder of the day to ensure all the Sharpedo have been removed from the area and to check up on the ones we have captured. Until our departure, everyone is welcome to come aboard to see our ships up close."

_"Letting people on board, huh? In that case, time to find out whats really going on with those Sharpedo..." _Alex took Skarmory's pokeball from his belt, preparing to release him to fly over to Archie's ship.

_"Why couldn't it have been a land based pokemon..."_

One of the nurses who came by to check up on May had moved a small tv into her room and left a basket of Oran berries for Wynaut. May was lying on the bed and flipping through the channels, but couldn't find anything on worth watching. Just about everything on was soap operas, news, or kids shows. She wasn't particularly interested in any of them at the moment, she couldn't even find anything pokemon related on the news. She wanted to take a nap, but knew her parents were going to come by eventually.

"This is boring..." May muttered. "No tournaments...no contests...no battles of any kind...not even a trainers tips or pokemon documentary...there's nothing good on tv this time of day..."

Wynaut looked over at May from its spot on the floor, turning its attention from the basket of berries in front of it momentarily while holding one in each of its arms. It was curious as to what she was talking about, as it didn't know anything about tv or tv shows. It followed May's gaze to the tv, which to it seemed like some kind of strange box. It watched the images constantly changing on the screen as May flipped through the channels for a while before going back to eatting its berries.

After channel surfing for a while, May finally stopped on the TV Guide and decided to just wait and see if anything interesting pops up while she waited for her parents to arrive. She didn't have long to wait, however, before her mother burst into the room and rushed to May's side and nearly trampling Wynaut and his berries in the process.

"Oh my poor baby! Are you ok?!" May's mother cried, hugging May tightly.

"Ow!" May winced in pain as her mother hugged her. "Mom, that hurts!"

"Oh, sorry dear..." Her mother released her grip on her slightly. "Your father and I were just so worried about you, we rushed here as soon as we heard what happened."

"Where's dad then?" May asked.

"He was just behind me..." Both of them looked to the door, with May struggling to sit up in her bed as her father finally managed to catch up with her mother. Norman gave a sigh of relief when he saw May sitting up on the bed.

"May...I'm glad to see your ok..." He said to her. "I could hardly believe it when I heard what happened...you seemed to be doing fine up until now."

_"Fine?"_ May thought. _"Sure, if you don't count Team Aqua, Team Magma, Mirage Tower, that incident with Skarmory, and the stuff at the power plant, then yes, this would be the only problem I've had so far. Naw, this is just the most painful incident...I mean, if Alex's Skarmory had its way we both would have been goners...and all because I threw a pokeball at it."_

"I guess I should have been a bit more careful..." May replied nonchalantly.

"You're right you should be careful!" Her mother snapped. "You could have been seriously injured! Or worse!"

"Caroline, I think May's been through enough without us yelling at her..." Norman stated calmly.

"You're right, I guess..." Caroline replied, giving a sigh. "I just didn't believe anything bad could ever happen to May..." Caroline sniffed sadly, holding back tears. Norman approached her and put an arm around her to comfort her.

"Hey! I'm fine now!" May said to her parents. "I just can't walk yet and..."

"May baby can't walk!" Her mother cried out, then buried her face against Norman's shoulder and began sobbing. Norman held her tightly, trying to calm her down.

"Hey! I said YET!" May shouted, having forgotten she was in a hospital. Her mother didn't seem to take any notice, though, and continued sobbing.

"Maybe we should just come back tomorrow..." Norman said to his wife. Caroline nodded slightly and tried to calm down a bit. The two of them stood up and walked to the door. Norman stopped at the door, however, and look back towards May while Caroline left the room.

"You know, May, something like this happened to me when I was your age as well..." He said to her. May was surprised to hear her father say that.

"I was in Kanto, trying to catch a Pikachu in Viridian Forest without using my pokemon to impress a girl I had a crush on. I ended up in the hospital several times before I finally gave up, and in the end it didn't matter anyway. A trainer faces many dangers, May, thats why we have pokemon. They can endure far more than we can. You should never approach a wild pokemon without a pokemon of your own to defend you."

"I'll keep that in mind...thanks dad..." May replied. She still didn't want to tell her parents what had really happened, that it was her own pokemon and not a wild Magnemite.

"We'll visit you again later, or whenever your mother calms down..." May nodded in response, and her father left and closed the door behind him.

"I wonder how Electrike's doing..." May said to herself, now that she was alone with Wynaut again.

"Alex said it seemed upset lately...wish I could see it again..." Wynaut stopped eating its berries and looked at May with a puzzled expression on its face. It couldn't understand why May would be worried about Electrike after it shocked her.

"I think I understand what happened now...that day we battled Gabby and Ty...Electrike must have decided to do things its own way." May smiled a bit, as she felt like she was finally starting to understand her pokemon.

"So in a way...it became kinda rebellious. It purposely did the opposite of what I wanted it to do...and when I told it we should test out its new attack...it attacked me out of spite. It never really wanted to hurt me though, and thats why its upset...because now I'm in the hospital and it blames itself." May lied back in her bed, laying her head on her pillow.

"Yep...I finally understand...my Electrike..." May mumbled as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Wynaut pondered over May's words for a moment, before turning its attention to the last berry in the basket. It quickly gobbled it down, then picked up the empty basket and placed it on its head.

_"There's no water under this ship..."_ Alex thought, trying to remain calm so he could conduct his investigation. _"Nope...nothing under this ship but a sea of chocolate... yep... chocolate... I'm on a ship floating in a sea of chocolate, and once I shut down Team Aqua's operation here I can have all the chocolate I want."_

Alex took a deep breath and walked towards the edge of the ship, walking by his Skarmory that was still out of its pokeball. The two of them were at the far end of the ship where Archie had been standing earlier. On the other side of the ship, Team Aqua was busy 'dealing' with the Sharpedo and no one was paying any attention to Alex. Alex reached for a pokeball as he approached the edge of the ship and looked down over the edge. He immediately ran back in fear, however, upon seeing the water. That was the third time now that he failed to get up the courage to send out his Anorith into the water below.

"Too much water...too much water...too much water..." Alex mumbled to himself over and over, shaking in fear.

_"Oh good grief..."_ Skarmory thought. _"He'll never get done whatever it is he's trying to do at this rate. I had no idea he was such a coward. Sheesh. He doesn't seem to mind water when he's riding on my back. What a pain. Well, obviously someone has to take charge, and since I'm the only one here..."_

Skarmory approached Alex from behind and clamped its beak down on the back of Alex's shirt. It took Alex a few seconds to realize he was being dragged backwards as Skarmory pulled him towards the edge of the ship. Alex panicked as he looked back and saw the edge of the ship getting closer.

"No! I don't want to go in the water! Let go of me! Letgoletgoletgoletgo!" Alex struggled frantically against Skarmory's pull, but it was no use. He was no match for the powerful bird pokemon. Skarmory pulled him right to the edge of the ship, then stopped. Alex was still freaking out due to being afraid of water, however, so Skarmory threw him down onto the floor of the ship, planting Alex's face into the steel deck.

"Ow..." Alex mumbled. He slowly got back up, then turned to Skarmory.

"The heck was that for?!" Alex demanded.

_"Oh, I don't know..."_ Skarmory thought to itself. _"Maybe because you're being a complete wimp. Maybe because you only ever release me to have me fly you somewhere. Maybe because I was having a nice dream involving a female Skarmory before you and that other brat came along. Maybe its because you had me sparring with that damn electric rodent. Maybe its because I just don't like you. Mostly, its the first one, though I'd love to make up for all the others too."_

Even though Alex was less than amused by Skarmory's antics, he had finally managed to get up the courage to go through with his plan. He took Anorith's pokeball off his belt and released his recently revived prehistoric pokemon in front of the ship's railing. Anorith looked around its unfamiliar surroundings curiously, then looked at Alex as if awaiting instructions.

"Anorith, we haven't had much of a chance to get to know each other, so...I'm Alex, your trainer." Anorith nodded its head slightly.

"Anyway, since I know you can swim, I need you to do something for me. See that net in the water down there?" Alex pointed towards the net that the two smaller ships were now in the process of pulling back in. Anorith looked where Alex was pointing.

"I need you to go down there and cut off a small piece of it if you can. A normal net wouldn't hold Sharpedo, so if that net is made of ordinary rope then I'll know that those Sharpedo weren't really trying to break free for some reason. Once you get a piece of the rope, Skarmory here will swoop down and pick you up. Think you can do that for me?"

Anorith gave a nod, then jumped off the edge of the ship and into the water below. Alex shuddered as he suddenly had the mental image of him splashing down into the water instead of Anorith. Once it was in the water, Anorith rose to the surface using the four tiny wings on both sides of its body to propel itself through the water. It swam towards the nets, then cut off about a half a foot of black rope from the nets with its sharp claws.

"Alright, your turn now Skarmory." Alex said. Skarmory gave a nod, then jumped off the edge of the ship as well, spreading its wings and pulling up before hitting the water. Anorith distanced itself from the net, and then Skarmory picked it up in its steel talons and carried it back onto the deck of the ship Alex was on. Skarmory landed on the deck, then released Anorith from its grasp. Alex took the piece of rope from Anorith and examined it.

"Just as I suspected...its just a regular net. There's no way this would have been able to hold a group of Sharpedo like that. They would have torn it to shreds. Good work you two. Now I just need to check out those Sharpedo. I have a feeling they might belong to Team Aqua, so I'll scan them with my pokenav to see if they have a trainer's id set to them." Alex returned Anorith to its pokeball, then he and Skarmory went to the part of the ship where Archie and the rest of Team Aqua were tending to the Sharpedo.

"Excuse me, sir..."Alex said as he approached Archie. Archie turned and looked at him suspiciously.

"You...aren't you the one I saw battling Maxie at Mount Chimney?" Archie inquired.

"Err...yeah, I guess that'd be me." Alex hesitantly replied.

"Come to try your luck against me now, have you then?"

"Oh, no sir! I was at Mount Chimney because I feel that Team Magma's goals are misguided. The Earth doesn't need more land, what it really needs is more water!" Alex grinned widely.

"Ha! You're all right, kid!" Archie exclaimed. "What can I do for ya?"

"Well, you see..." Alex took out his pokenav, which was set to its pokedex function. He opened it up and showed it to Archie.

"I'm working on a pokedex." Alex continued. "Sharpedo is one of the pokemon I still need data for, so I was wondering if maybe I could scan one of the Sharpedo you guys caught."

"No harm in that I suppose." Archie replied, stroking his chin as if thinking over Alex's question. "Knock yourself out."

"Thanks!" Alex approached the holding tank built into the ship's deck, but switched his pokenav out of pokedex mode. Naturally, he had no interest in his pokedex like May did. He merely planned to use the pokedex as an excuse to get close enough to the Sharpedo to check them for a trainer ID courtesy of his pokenav. He pointed his pokenav at a few of the Sharpedo to check their ID's, and sure enough each one of them were already caught by trainers. One of the ID's, which was already programmed into his pokenav, happened to be Archie's.

_"Just as I suspected..."_ Alex thought. _"These Sharpedo belong to Team Aqua. Think I have all the evidence I need now to prove this is all just an elaborate setup."_

Alex switched his pokenav back to pokedex mode, just in case Archie or someone else in Team Aqua wanted to see it, then stepped back from the holding tank.

"Thanks Archie, I've got everything I need now." Alex said to him.

"Anytime, its great to see young minds such as yourself who support our goals." Archie replied with a grin. "Your generation will come to appreciate the new world that Team Aqua will create."

Alex walked over to where Skarmory was waiting for him and hopped on the pokemon's back and were ready to take off from the ship, but Alex still had something to say to Archie.

"You know, it must have been pretty easy for you to catch those Sharpedo..." Alex commented with his back to Archie and the rest of Team Aqua.

"What do you mean by that?" Archie asked.

"I mean...it can't be very difficult for you to catch your own pokemon..."

"WHAT?!" Suddenly every member of Team Aqua turned their attention to Alex.

"It was a clever ploy." Alex stated. "Making it look like you were the good guys by helping out the people of Mauville with a Sharpedo problem, when in reality the Sharpedo were your's to begin with, released here by you and the rest of Team Aqua. After they start causing problems, you would come in and be the heroes and make yourselves look like the good guys."

"You have no proof of that..." Archie growled.

"But I do." Alex replied. "First off, there's the net you used to catch the Sharpedo. I had one of my pokemon cut a piece from it, and discovered it was a simple rope net that'd have no chance of containing a group of Sharpedo. Second, all your Sharpedo have trainer ID's, one of which happens to match your ID in particular, Archie..."

"What?! How did you check their ID's with a pokedex?!" Archie demanded.

"Simple." Alex replied, a smirk forming on his lips. "My pokedex is built into my pokenav, so I tricked you by setting it in pokedex mode, then switched it to pokenav to scan all your Sharpedo."

"So you were only here to try to stop us..." Archie grumbled. "Just who the hell are you?!"

"My name is Alex..." Alex replied, looking back towards Archie. "A name neither you nor Maxie will ever forget, because I intend to prevent you two from ever achieving your goals."

"How does a child like you expect to stop us? Do you even know what we're planning?"

"I know exactly what you're planning...and how you plan to do it..." Archie's eyes widened in shock as he heard this, and everyone else in Team Aqua seemed equally surprised.

"Thats impossible! Outside of Team Aqua and Team Magma the only person who knows of our plans is..." Archie paused, as if he had just realized something, and gritted his teeth in anger.

"SHARPEDO! ATTACK!" Archie commanded, pointing to Alex and his Skarmory. "Don't let them escape!"

"Thats our cue to get the hell out of here!" Alex said to Skarmory. Skarmory nodded in agreement, then ran to the edge of the ship and jumped over the railing and dove down straight towards the water as a series of Water Gun and Hydro Pump attacks blasted over their heads. Skarmory leveled off just before hitting the water and flew towards the shore at top speed, meanwhile the Sharpedo had all jumped from the holding tank on the ship and into the water below. Fortunately, Alex and Skarmory had a huge head start on them.

Before reaching the shore, Alex removed two pokeballs from his belt and another two from May's belt which he was also wearing. Skarmory came in to land on the beach near several startled onlookers who were by now fleeing the scene after seeing the Sharpedo escape from the ship. Alex jumped off Skarmory's back and began releasing pokemon from the pokeballs he grabbed.

"Lombre! Roselia! Magnemite! Anorith! Go!" Alex called out, releasing all four pokemon at once to confront the oncoming Sharpedo. All four pokemon appeared looking ready for a fight, and even May's two pokemon seemed willing to take orders from Alex for a change.

"Anorith, I want you to hang back and power up with Swords Dance. Everyone else, attack those Sharpedo with everything you've got!" All five pokemon standing on the beach nodded, and Anorith crawled behind Alex. A blue aura that seemed to take on the appearance of several swords surrounded Anorith as it focused its power.

The Sharpedo all leapt from the water as they approached the shore, each of them ready to deliver powerful Bite and Crunch attacks. Before they could get a chance to attack, however, the pokemon Alex released were on them. Roselia began firing off several Magical Leaf attacks, striking several Sharpedo and knocking them from the air, Lombre used its Nature Power attack to create a wall of water that swept up several more Sharpedo, Magnemite released bursts of electricity in the form of a Thundershock attack to strike several more Sharpedo, while Skarmory attacked with its Air Cutter attack, slashing several more Sharpedo with a blade of air.

It wasn't long before the group of Sharpedo retreated from the barrage of attacks. As the group of Sharpedo retreated, however, another lone Sharpedo was moving through the water towards the group like a torpedo. Alex took out his pokenav and confirmed his suspicions, that the Sharpedo belonged to Archie.

"Alright...if Archie's pokemon are as strong as Maxie's...I'll need to throw everything I've got at this thing!" Alex turned to Anorith, who was still powering up.

"This is where you come in Anorith, I want you to attack that Sharpedo with Metal Claw as soon as its within range." Anorith gave a nod, and stopped powering up in preparation for its Metal Claw attack. As the lone Sharpedo closed in on them, the other four pokemon once again unleashed a barrage of attacks. This Sharpedo, however, seemed to swim through the attacks like they were nothing. It leapt out of the water and fired off a powerful Hydro Pump attack at Alex's Skarmory, sending it skidding across the ground. By this point, the Sharpedo was in range for Anorith.

"Anorith! Now!" Anorith charged towards the Sharpedo that was now coming down on the shore, its right claw turning a silverish color as it prepared to attack. Sharpedo was met by a swift uppercut by Anorith as it jumped up and slashed upwards with its Metal Claw attack, the force of the impact sent the more powerful Sharpedo back into the water. Anorith landed near the water, and the Sharpedo surfaced and looked like it was contemplating another attack. The two pokemon stared each other down for several moments, before Archie's Sharpedo finally retreated back to the ship with the others.

Each Team Aqua member recalled their Sharpedos and all three of the ships in the strait began setting off for the open ocean again just as several police boats set out into the water after Team Aqua.

"All right guys! We did it!" Alex shouted triumphantly, raising his fist in the air. Each pokemon joined in the cheering.

"You all did great guys, especially you Anorith." Alex said to the group of pokemon. Anorith waved its claw as Alex mentioned it.

"You ok back there Skarmory?" Alex looked back to where Skarmory had landed, and saw the steel bird was just getting up and shaking the dust off its body.

_"That Sharpedo has just made 'the list'..."_ Skarmory thought, before nodding in response to Alex's question. It had been hit by a powerful attack, but despite that Skarmory looked like it handled it fairly well.

"Lets get out of here guys, I don't think anyone's going to believe Team Aqua's story at this point..." Alex recalled all five pokemon, then left the beach, all too happy to be getting away from the water.

Alex spent much of the remainder of the day at the Mauville Game Corner, and towards the end of the day he decided to drop by the hospital to visit May again. By that time, Wynaut had been given yet another basket of berries, much to May's dismay. She was worried it'd end up being an overweight baby if it kept eatting. This time it had been given some Sitrus berries, which it seemed to be enjoying.

"So your parents dropped by huh? How'd that go?"

"My mom practically took a nervous break down..." May replied. "I'll be surprised if she doesn't try to get me to come home. She's kinda emotional at times..."

"So thats where you get it from, huh?" Alex said with a smirk. May glared at him.

"If I could, I'd hit you right now..." May said. Alex was about to say something back to her when he was suddenly hit in the back of the head by a berry. He turned around and saw Wynaut ready to throw another berry at him. Wynaut tried to act innocent and went back to eatting its berries.

"Thanks Wynaut!" May said with a giggle. "So how was your day, Alex?"

"My day?" Alex thought for a moment.

"Well, let me fill you in on the details..."

**Author's Notes:** Phew! Finally finished this chapter. Bit of a writers block with the May/parents scene. Next chapter is going to be the third history chapter.


	33. History: Taming the Dragon

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**History Chapter:**

**Taming the Dragon**

"Doesn't look like it'll rain today either..." Odari said with a sigh. Overhead there wasn't a cloud in sight. There hadn't been any rain at all for several weeks. Her tribe had almost used up the last of their water supply by now and had to choose between watering the tribe's crops or drinking it to keep themselves alive. Either way, if they didn't get rain soon, they were either going to starve or dehydrate.

"Well, at least they're not blaming this one on me..." Odari said dryly, looking towards the elder's hut before her.

"Guess I should give my report..." Odari approached the hut and moved aside the reeds that passed for a door as she entered the hut. Inside, the five elders of Hoenn were meditating. Shami looked up and gave Odari an angry glare as she entered the hut, but said nothing.

"Have you found them yet?" Her father asked her while maintaining his meditative pose. Odari shook her head.

"No, they must have moved very far from their original locations. I've even tried searching from the air with no luck. Both tribes must have been eager to move away from us." Odari's father nodded, remaining silent for a moment as he contemplated this.

After the incident with Latios and Latias, Odari had decided that it would be best if she attempted to find the other two tribes. So far, she hadn't had any luck finding them, and it didn't help that her entire tribe was facing a crisis at the moment. They haven't had any rain for the past few weeks, and their water sources were now starting to run dry. There hasn't even been a cloud in the sky at all, not since the day that a green dragon was seen flying through the sky towards a nearby mountain. The elders referred to the dragon as the titan of the sky.

"It seems we have more pressing matters anyway..." One of the other elders stated.

"Yes." Another added. "Unless there is rain soon, our people will have nothing to drink. The only nearby water source is the sea, but drinking sea water has proven to be unhealthy at best."

"As long as the titan of the sky remains nearby, I believe no rain shall come to us. Its very prescence keeps the skies calm and prevents the rain from coming." Odari's father stated.

"Then why don't we just get the sky dragon to leave?" Odari suggested.

"If we anger the sky dragon it will surely destroy us all! And without it there would be nothing to stop the other two titans!" Shami snapped. "An immature child like you could never understand that." Odari clenched her fist in rage. It took every ounce of willpower she had not to punch him.

"That is enough, Shami." Odari's father stated. "She may have a point. Though confronting the dragon could be disasterous, our future seems bleak at this time anyway. Confronting the titan of the sky may be our only hope. With any luck, it may understand our situation and be willing to help us..." The elder finally opened his eyes and looked straight at Odari.

"Odari, I must ask you to do this alone. It will do no good to get the rest of the tribe involved. If you must fight the sky titan, then Rejisteel would be the only pokemon in the entire village that would stand a chance against it. But please, at least try to negotiate before you rush into battle."

"As you wish, father." Odari replied, giving a slight bow. "I will go now and confront the dragon alone." Odari turned and left the hut. Her father watched her leave and gave a sigh.

"The task I bestowed upon her is a dangerous one indeed. I may have just sent my own daughter to her death. However, such is the risk that our leader must take for the sake of our tribe. Should she fail, our fates may not be much better..."

Odari picked up one of her two capture jars from the wooden chest she kept them in in her hut and placed it around her neck. Naturally, the capture jar she took was the one that contained the Hoenn guardian, Rejisteel. The other contained her only other pokemon, a Ptera she had been lucky enough to capture. She was the only one in any tribe to ever manage to catch one, but as she found out in her battle with Aisha's Rejice it wasn't an unstoppable pokemon. Her Ptera didn't stand a chance against Rejice's ice attacks.

"If I have to battle, Rejisteel won't be enough...but Ptera won't stand a chance at all. I believe I'll enlist someone else's help, just to be safe." Odari picked up her sword sheath and placed it around her waist, then carefully sheathed the Hoenn tribe's sacred sword before leaving her hut. Once outside, she looked around her village, trying to spot a certain individual in particular.

"Excuse me, miss Odari!" An eager young woman carrying a bucket of water exclaimed as she approached Odari. The woman was wearing a brown robe with a gold trim, an outfit commonly worn by a tribe leader's servants. She was roughly the same age as Odari, with black hair and red eyes.

_"Just who I was looking for..."_ Odari thought, spotting the woman who happened to be the only servant she had in her service and had only recently been accepted into the Hoenn tribe. Odari originally had no intention of having any servants because she preferred to do things for herself, but she had found reason enough for this particular girl.

"Water's become scarce, so you should take this!" She said enthusiastically, holding up the bucket.

"No thanks...I think it would be best if it was given to the rest of the villagers." Odari said, smiling slightly. "Though I could use your help with something. Could you meet me outside the village?" The woman was quiet for a moment, as if puzzled by Odari's request.

"Oh! Sure! Anything for you, miss Odari!" She eventually said. Odari gave a nod, then made her way to the forest outside her village. Once she was fairly deep into the forest, she leaned against a nearby tree and waited patiently for the woman to arrive. A familiar red-haired woman soon arrived instead, however. It was Latias, in her human form.

"So what seems to be the problem?" Latias asked Odari.

"I think it should be fairly obvious, you know what conditions have been like in my village for the past while." Odari replied.

"I'm fully aware, I've been one of your villagers for a while afterall. What does this have to do with me though?"

"I was just speaking with the elders, and they want me to confront the dragon..." Latias's eyes widened in shock.

"You can't be serious! You're going to face that dragon on your own?!"

"I don't intend to fight it if I don't have to." Odari stated calmly. "However, if I do, I'd like to have you by my side. You seem to be a fairly powerful pokemon yourself, afterall."

"Y-you want me to fight Rayquaza?!" Latias asked, stunned by Odari's request.

"If it comes down to it, yes." Odari replied.

_"Though the truth is..."_ She thought. _"I have a feeling it will..." _Odari recalled the images shown to her by the Emerald, the image of her and Rejisteel preparing to battle the dragon titan of the sky, Rayquaza. Odari could tell it was a very powerful creature, and that she'd need all the help she could get to fight it.

"...I'll help you." Latias said, sighing softly. She closed her eyes and a white light began to radiate from her body as she reverted to her natural form of a pokemon.

_"Lets get going."_ Latias said to Odari telepathically. Odari nodded in agreement, then climbed onto Latias back. Once Odari had a good grip, Latias took off up over the trees and in the direction of the mountain where the sky dragon Rayquaza was residing.

_"So, lets say we do end up fighting Rayquaza...any strategies in mind?"_ Latias asked telepathically.

"Its hard to make a strategy for an unknown opponent..." Odari replied.

_"...Wow, that makes me feel so much better."_ Latias said sarcastically.

"I'll think of something when the time comes if necessary." Odari said to her.

Latias flew over the forest that surrounded most of the Hoenn tribe, and soon the forest gave way to a grassy plain. A large mountain loomed in the distance as soon the grass disappeared entirely. There was no vegetation growing on or near the mountain, and Latias was approaching it as fast as she could safely go. She approached the mountain fairly low, then began to rise as she flew up the side of the mountain, aiming for a cave near the top that almost seemed like an entrance to a tomb. Once she reached the cave entrance she stopped and Odari hopped off and Latias changed into her human form.

The inside of the 'cave' actually had walls, ceiling, and floor made from stone and was very large. It was about ten from wall to wall and from the ceiling to the floor. The stone corridor seemed to stretch out a long way and was fairly dark, though a light of some sort could be seen at the other end. Neither Odari nor Latias could tell what was down there, but the corridor seemed to be quite empty.

"So this is really where Rayquaza resides?" Odari asked.

"This must be it..." Latias replied. "Its the location Rayquaza was last seen heading towards. I'm betting we find it at the end of this corridor."

"I wonder who built this place then...and how..." Odari looked around the stone tunnel, admiring how perfectly shaped the stone seemed to be. It was completely flat, and she couldn't see any gouges, cracks, or scrapes anywhere in the stone from the entrance. She knew that none of the tribes would have been able to make such a place, as they would have had no way of getting building materials up as high as they were now. The stone also seemed to be all in one piece, and Odari wondered if somehow it was carved from the mountain itself. Near the ceiling and floor on the walls were various serpent-like carvings which Odari assumed would have something to do with the green dragon. She knelt down next to the wall to take a closer look.

"Odari? What are you doing?" Latias asked her. "Shouldn't we keep going?"

"Hold on...I want to see if maybe there's some kind of meaning in these carvings..." Odari replied. She followed the carvings along the floor, which appeared to be the same in each corner of the corridor. Going down the length of the corridor, however, there seemed to be a pattern of some sort that depicted a story.

The first image Odari looked over depicted had three diamond-shaped objects, one colored red, one colored blue, and one colored green. Odari was quick to notice them as they were the only colored images on the wall. They were arranged in a triangle, with the red and blue ones facing each other and the green at the top. The red and blue ones also had swords pointing at each other, while the green had a sword pointing at both.

"I wonder if maybe these shapes...represent the three gems. The emerald, the ruby, and the sapphire..." Odari said to herself, which seemed to get Latias interested in the pictures as well.

"It looks as though these gems are supposed to be locked in combat or something..." Odari thought back to her battle with Haruka and Aisha. The two of them were locked in combat with each other until Odari intervened and challenged them both to a battle. It was a fairly easy win for Odari because, as she had predicted, the two would not co-operate in a battle against her. She had her strategy planned out perfectly long before the battle had even started.

The next image depicted a fourth gem, which resembled the Soul Dew in shape. Branching off from it were the three images that Odari believed represented the gems. The picture seemed to suggest that the three gems were born from the Soul Dew. Odari wondered for a moment why it wouldn't come first, but then she noticed the two figures near the emerald figure. The emerald was straight down from the image of the Soul Dew, while the ruby and sapphire went at left and right angles. The two figures beneath the emerald seemed to be shaped like Latios and Latias.

"This is...kinda weird..." Latias mumbled. "This next picture seems to have something to do with the Soul Dew, the gems, and me and my brother...you think it has something to do with me taking you to Soul Dew?"

"Its a possibility..." Odari replied, before moving onto the next image. The next image depicted the emerald at the bottom. To the left and right in front of it were the images of Latios and Latias again, and between them was a bulky humanoid figure. Facing that group of images up higher was a serpent-like image of a dragon. Odari and Latias both looked at each other.

"You don't think...?"

"It certainly looks that way..." Odari pointed to the humanoid figure. "Thats likely supposed to be Rejisteel, and the serpent is obviously Rayquaza. I'm guessing the emerald is supposed to represent me in some way, and it does seem to depict us confronting Rayquaza. Only thing I don't get is why it seems to have Latios there when its only me and you..."

"Its possible that whoever made this was predicting the future in some way..." Latias replied. "But perhaps its not possible to fully predict what will happen."

"Guess we'll find out soon enough then." Odari said, getting up and starting off down the corridor. She didn't go very far, though, before turning her attention to the drawings again. The entire pattern began to repeat itself all the way down the hall, but there were still more images, and the last one before the pattern repeated disturbed Odari greatly. Latias quickly caught up with her, and turned her attention to the final image as well.

The final image in the pattern once again depicted the three drawings that seemed to represent the ruby, sapphire, and emerald, and they were again arranged in a triangle formation. Only this time, each also had six small spheres circling around it. Odari took a quick look back and noticed a few of the images before this one had depicted the gems in various combinations, but always with six spheres. This image, however, depicted a demonic looking figure near each gem, with a much larger demonic figure above them as if it was watching over everything.

"Demons...?" Odari said in bewilderment.

"No such thing!" Latias said to her. "Now come on, we came here for that dragon, not a bunch of pictures carved in stone."

"You're right." Odari said with a nod. "Lets get going."

The two of them started down the hall again, but Odari couldn't shake the image from her mind. She wondered if her trials as the leader of the Hoenn tribe, as well as the trials of Haruka and Aisha, were just beginning. Odari was too lost in thought to notice, however, that as she got closer to the end of the corridor, her emerald began to glow. She didn't notice until they had reached the end of the corridor, when the emerald was at the point where it could almost be used as a light.

_"Its glowing..."_ Odari thought. _"I wonder if thats because of Rayquaza?"_

Odari looked ahead into the lighted room before her, which Latias was now entering. It almost looked like the room was open to the outside. Odari entered the room, and sure enough there was no ceiling. The top of the mountain was completely open and lead into the very large room that Odari and Latias were now standing in. They couldn't see Rayquaza anywhere, however there was a stairs before them, and they were unable to see past the top. The two of them walked up to the top of the stairs and once they reached the top they saw the body of the sky dragon Rayquaza curled up, looking like it was asleep.

"YIKES! That thing's huge!" Latias yelped in surprise upon seeing Rayquaza.

"Rayquaza..." Odari said under her breath, staring in awe at the great dragon before her. "We finally meet..."

"Ok, great, so we finally reached it...and its asleep. Now what?" Latias asked Odari.

"Wake him up?" Odari replied with a shrug. Odari took a few steps towards the sleeping Rayquaza, but as she got nearer the glow from her emerald seemed to be starting to cover her entire sword. The sword was then suddenly pulled from its sheath and flew past Rayquaza, sticking into the back wall of the room.

"My sword!" Odari cried out in surprise. The blade of the sword became buried in the wall up to the tip of the crystal, and Odari briefly wondered how her sword was suddenly able to penetrate stone. The emerald ceased its glowing just as Rayquaza began to open its eyes and fixed its gaze on Odari.

"Odari! Look out! I think its waking up!" Latias shouted, then began to quickly revert to her pokemon form so she would be ready to fight Rayquaza if necessary.

_"So, we meet again..."_ Odari heard a voice in her mind saying as Rayquaza began to rise up off the ground, and finally Odari could see just what she was dealing with. Rayquaza was simply massive, its head alone was at least as large as Latias was.

"Give me back my emerald!" Odari demanded, not backing down even a little despite facing a very large and powerful pokemon.

_"You may have your emerald back..."_ Odari heard the voice saying. _"But only if you prove yourself in a battle of pokemon."_

"Fine, I'll battle you with Latias and Rejisteel!" Odari replied.

_"Odari? What are you doing?"_ Latias asked telepathically, now fully transformed into her pokemon form.

"This thing is the reason my sword was taken away from me and it won't give it back unless I beat it in battle, so we're going to fight it!" Odari replied.

_"I was hoping you wouldn't say that..."_ Latias said to her with a telepathic sigh. _"How do you plan to summon Rejisteel without the emerald, anyway?" _Latias floated closer to Odari and hovered next to her.

"I'll manage...I don't really need the emerald anyway, it just takes longer without it." Odari took the capture jar from around her neck and placed it on the ground. She then began concentrating, focusing on releasing Rejisteel from its capture jar. Fortunately for her, she didn't have to worry about having to keep Rejisteel under control as it would follow her orders anyway. By focusing her own energy, Odari could release Rejisteel from its capture jar and cause it to reform. It was how her people used to control and capture pokemon before they discovered how to use various gems as aides. Odari was still taught the old method, however, and after several minutes of concentrating the capture jar split open and Rejisteel began to slowly form in front of her, ready and waiting for Odari to issue a command.

_"If you are ready, then lets begin."_ Odari heard the voice saying, though Latias didn't seem to be able to hear it. Because of their connection to the emerald, Rayquaza could communicate directly with Odari.

"Alright then." Odari replied, then looked over to Latias. "Latias, I have no idea what you're even capable of doing, so you'll have to fight on your own."

_"Alright."_ Latias replied telepathically. _"I sure hope you have a plan though, because I think we're going to need one..."_

"Err...sort of..." Odari replied, a bit unsure of herself. The only plan of attack she had at the moment involved using the same trick she used against Aisha and Haruka, having Rejisteel power up and use its Super Power and Metal Claw attacks.

"Alright, Rejisteel power up with Curse!" Odari commanded. Rejisteel's eyes lit up as it executed the command, and a dark aura formed around it, building up its physical power but at the same time making it more sluggish. Rayquaza responded to this by taking off into the sky through the open roof, where it'd have much more room to manuever its massive body.

"Kinda figured it'd go outside..." Odari commented, then looked at Latias who was still floating next to her.

"Well what are you waiting here for? Go after it!" Odari said to her.

_"Err...right! Sorry!" _Latias said apologetically before taking off through the roof after Rayquaza. Once outside, she scanned around for the green dragon, but despite its large size it was nowhere to be seen.

_"Where did that thing go?"_ Latias wondered. She soon got her answer, though, as Rayquaza descended from the sky with its claw outstretched and attacked Latias from behind, slashing her with its claws. The force of the attack send Latias crashing into the side of the mountain below in a cloud of dust.

_"Ow...that hurt slightly.."_ Latias thought while still dazed from the impact. She shook her head then glared up at Rayquaza.

_"Great, he's powerful, AND fights dirty..."_ Latias floated up off the ground as Rayquaza made a dive towards her, preparing to hit her with another Dragon Claw attack.

_"I can't believe I'm doing this...fighting Rayquaza...well, here goes nothing! I'll stop him this time with my Mist Ball!"_ Latias concentrated and a white ball of energy formed in front of her. She fired it at the incoming Rayquaza and the ball of energy exploded in a flash of light as it struck the incoming dragon. Latias immediately flew out of the way as Rayquaza came crashing down into the side of the mountain where she just was. When Latias looked back to see what effect her attack had, she saw Rayquaza already following behind her, having recovered before even hitting the mountain.

_"That hardly phased him at all..."_ Latias thought. _"Well, I seem to have a speed advantage over him, so I'll get further away from him and..."_ Latias's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when somethig slammed into her, sending her spiraling down towards the plains below, and Latias saw several blurred images of Rayquaza before being struck as if Rayquaza had suddenly moved unnaturally quickly to strike her. Latias plummeted towards the ground below, but managed to pull up before hitting.

"How did Rayquaza move that fast all of a sudden?!" Latias wondered, skimming across the ground while trying to figure out a plan of attack.

"Looks like I don't have a speed advantage afterall...the only way I'm going to beat Rayquaza is if I can get it to where Odari's Rejisteel can attack it..." Latias began to fly up the side of the mountain again, meanwhile Rayquaza was coming back around for another attack and was flying straight towards Latias as she was scaling the mountain, fangs bared and intent on using a Crunch attack on her. Latias wasn't keeping an eye on Rayquaza because she was too focused on trying to get to the top of the mountain in hopes of giving Odari a chance to attack.

Rayquaza was moving in for the attack, almost close enough to clamp down on Latias with its Crunch attack. Fortunately for Latias, however, a white beam of light struck Rayquaza from behind before it could attack and slammed it into the side of the mountain. Hearing the impact behind her, Latias came to a stop and turned around to see Rayquaza lying on the ground which had cracked open in several areas from the impact.

_"No one messes with my sister but me!" _Latias heard someone saying telepathically. Looking around, she spotted her brother Latios hovering in the distance.

_"Brother?!"_ Latias said in surprise. _"What are you doing here?"_

_"Certainly not fighting Rayquaza, because that'd just be stupid, even if it seemed like my sister needed help with it." _Latios replied sarcastically. _"I'm not even going to ask what you're doing here because it probably involves a certain human, in which case I really don't want to know."_

_"Well, if you're going to help, then we need to get Rayquaza to the top of the mountain so Odari can attack with Rejisteel. Between the three of us we should be able to beat him!" _

_"I'm going to assume there's a perfectly logical explanation behind this somewhere and go along with this crazy plan..." _Latios replied, moving over to where Latias was. The two of them then flew up the side of the mountain as Rayquaza finally got up from Latios's attack and chased after them. It was quite a long way behind them and wasn't really gaining any ground either by this point.

_"Think he's following us?" _Latios asked.

_"I'm not looking..."_ Latias replied. _"But I'm betting he is."_

The twin psychic pokemon continued their ascent up the side of the mountain, with Rayquaza trailing behind them. Rayquaza could have easily caught up with them at any moment using its Extreme Speed technique to attack them, but it risked hitting the ground if it tried that, which would hurt going at that speed. Rayquaza was also hoping to get all three of its opponent's together at this point to beat them all with one attack.

Latios and Latias quickly reached the top of the mountain and flew into the temple-like structure through the entrance in the roof. Odari was waiting patiently inside and looking quite bored when the two pokemon arrived and quickly floated to where Odari was standing. Odari watched the two pokemon enter the room, and raised an eyebrow when she saw Latios.

"Whats he doing here?" Odari inquired.

_"I'm certainly not here for your sake."_ Latios replied.telepathically.

_"You know, it wouldn't kill you to be nice to her for a change."_ Latias privately said to Latios.

"Right..." Odari replied dryly to Latios's comment, rolling her eyes. "So where's Rayquaza?"

_"He was right..."_ Latias started, but stopped when a shadow was cast around them. Looking up, they could see Rayquaza staring down at them. Latias and Latios quickly took up position next to Rejisteel, ready to battle Rayquaza.

_"It is time to end this..."_ Odari could hear Rayquaza saying. The great dragon then opened its mouth and began gathering energy from within itself as it prepared to use its most devastating attack, Hyper Beam. It fired the huge beam of energy towards the three pokemon, intent on taking them all down with one Hyper Beam attack. Latias and Latios watched in horror as the powerful blast, but Odari wasn't remotely worried.

"Rejisteel, counter that attack with Superpower!" Rejisteel raised its hands and unleased all the power it had gathered while Latias was fighting Rayquaza, firing a huge beam of ki-energy to counter Rayquaza's Hyper Beam attack. The two blasts collided mid-way between the two pokemon. Both Rejisteel and Rayquaza continued to pour their energy into their attacks, with neither side giving in.

Latios and Latias looked at each other and gave a nod and joined in the attack. Latias created a ball of light while Latios gathered energy in its mouth, then they both attacked with their respective signature techniques. Latias's Mist Ball attack and Latios's Luster Purge collided with Rayquaza's Hyper Beam. The combined strength of their attacks and Rejisteel's was enough to overpower Rayquaza, and all three attacks overwhelmed its Hyper Beam.

The three attacks struck Rayquaza and created a huge explosion of energy that immediately engulfed the huge dragon and shook the temple, causing rubble and debris to fall from the walls and ceiling. Rejisteel instinctively shielded Odari and Latias and Latios took cover behind it as well. A loud crash was heard and the temple shook violently, and when the dust and debris had finally settled everyone could see Rayquaza lying in a heap.

"Looks like we won..." Odari said, giving a sigh of relief.

"Latias, Latios, thanks." She then said, looking at the two pokemon beside her. "Without your help I never would have beaten him."

_"No problem!"_ Latias replied telepathically, smiling. _"Just...next time you need me to fight for you, promise me it won't be a god-like figure..." _The three of them laughed at Latias's last comment. They didn't notice Rayquaza starting to get up.

"-It appears...I have underestimated you...-" The weakened dragon stated in its own language, which all pokemon would have understood. Odari, however, seemed to be able to understand it as well, and the three of them turned to see Rayquaza getting up and immediately took up battle stances.

"-Because of your bond with Latias...you were able to defeat me. Odari...I hope you understand now...that the relationship between humans and pokemon should not be master and slave...but one of friendship...humans and pokemon can become stronger together...and I hope that someday your kind will understand that...-" Rayquaza began to move up off the ground, and floated just a few feet over the debris and rubble. At that moment, Odari's sword pulled itself out of the wall and floated over to her. Odari grabbed it in her hand and looked it over.

"-I understand my power over the weather has been causing trouble for your tribe, and that is why you came...-" Rayquaza continued. "-My very prescence blocks out the weather. However, I will remove that power from myself and place it into your emerald so that it will cause no harm. However, there will come a time when you will need my powers, and when that time arrives you may use the emerald to summon me. Now, hold out your sword.-"

Odari looked at the emerald embedded in her sword, then held it out towards Rayquaza in both her hands. Rayquaza closed its eyes and began to channel its own power into the emerald. A green burst of energy erupted from all over Rayquaza's body and entered the emerald on Odari's sword.

"Thank you, Rayquaza..." Odari said, giving a bow.

"-Now go...I must rest...I am weary from our battle.-" Rayquaza said to them, before falling to the ground with another loud crash. It closed its eyes and immediately went to sleep.

_"Well, I'm out of here then..."_ Latios stated.

"Why's that?" Odari asked with a smirk. "Stay a while, maybe we could get to know each other...become friends..."

_"Friends? With a human? Not a chance!" _Latios flew off through the hole in the roof. He paused for a moment and gave a nod to Latias before flying off into the distance.

_"My brother can be so stubborn sometimes..."_ Latias said, shaking her head. _"Well, if we're finished here, then lets return to your tribe."_

"Yeah, I'm sure the elders are waiting to hear what happened anyway." Odari pointed her sword at Rejisteel.

"Rejisteel, return!" Rejisteel reverted to an energy-like form and was drawn into the capture jar behind Odari. Odari then sheathed her sword and picked up her capture jar, placing it around her neck. She climbed onto Latias's back and the two of them left through the roof as a gentle rain began to fall from the skies. Rain clouds had quickly moved in once Rayquaza had given up its power over the weather.

_"Finally...rain after all this time."_ Odari thought. _"Though I wonder...what did Rayquaza mean when it said I'd need its powers eventually? Is it referring to the other two titans? And does friendship between pokemon really make us stronger?" _Latias flew off towards the Hoenn tribe village with Odari on her back, but Odari couldn't help but continue wondering about Rayquaza's words to her about friendship between pokemon and eventually needing his powers.

**Author's Notes:** Sorry about the late update, thought I would have this up sooner. Anyway, probably only one more history chapter after this. Don't know when I'll post it though. Will probably be more than 8 chapters this time since there's a certain point in the story I want to post it around.


	34. Chapter 25: The Mistake

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Twenty Five**

**The Mistake**

"You sure you're ok to walk?" Alex asked May.

"Why wouldn't I-ACK!" May nearly tripped over a rock jutting out of the ground, but managed to stop herself from falling.

"Maybe because you were lying in bed for the past week?" Alex replied with a shrug, avoiding commenting on May nearly falling.

The two trainers were once again on their way through the world of pokemon, after several mishaps while passing through Mauville City. The two trainers were on their way to the ferry dock that would take them across the strait and on their way to Fortree City. Wynaut was following along on foot behind them, trying its hardest to keep up on its short legs.

"So Alex, why did it seem you conveniently disappeared when my parents showed up?" May inquired.

"It just felt a bit awkward, running into your parents while your injured like that. Your father probably would have said something about me protecting you."

"He did say that, actually..." May admitted, a bit embarassed.

"Well at least I wasn't there to hear it..." Alex muttered. "He can be a bit hard to deal with as a guy..."

"Yeah, too bad you weren't a girl. Then my parents wouldn't think there's anything between us." May replied with a giggle.

"Heh, yeah...hey, there's the ferry!" Alex pointed ahead to where a large square-shaped boat with an open deck was docked. There were a few trainers standing around on the deck, and on one side of the boat was a small room with windows on all four sides where the ferry's controls were. It was a small ferry, but it was designed only to go back and forth across the strait.

"Alright! Lets get going then!" May cried excitedly, running off ahead of Alex with Wynaut trying to run to keep up with her. She ran all the way to where the ferry was docked before she looked back and realized Alex had stopped.

_"Come on...you can do this..."_ Alex thought. _"Its just a boat...you've been on boats before and nothing bad has happened...just get on the boat and its a quick and painless journey to the other side..."_

"Hey! Are you coming or not?!" May yelled to him, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, err, I'll be there in a bit, May! Just enjoying the view of the water!" Alex called back.

"Enjoying the view?! The ferry isn't going to wait around forever for him, and if it leaves we'll have to wait an hour for the next one!" May walked back to where Alex was standing and grabbed him by the ear, then started dragging him towards the ferry.

"Ow! Hey! Leggo! I was going to go on my own! Cut that out!" Alex struggled against May's grasp, but found it especially difficult and painful with her dragging him by the ear. May finally let go of his ear when she pulled him onto the deck of the ship.

"What the hell was that for?!" Alex demanded, rubbing his sore ear.

"For stalling." May replied. "I don't see what was so interesting that you wouldn't be able to see from the ferry anyway!" At that moment, the ship lurched and began to pull away from the dock and slowly moved through the water towards the other side. Alex hadn't realized that May had pulled him onto the ferry, and as the realization finally sank in Alex felt his blood run cold.

"I uh...I'm...I'm going to go sit down..." Alex said nervously, sitting down on the deck of the ship near the control booth.

_"Whats his problem?" _May wondered. _"He looks like he's afraid of something..." _May pondered over Alex's behaviour for a moment, but decided it wasn't worth asking about. She assumed she wouldn't get an answer or Alex would just try to avoid the question. She leaned against the ship's railing and looked out over the water as the ferry sailed to the other side of the strait.

Despite being a 30 minute boat ride, he ferry had absolutely nothing for the trainers riding it to do during the entire ride. It was a relatively large ferry, easily big enough to be used as a battlefield for a pokemon battle but battles were forbidden while riding the ferry. The space was sometimes used for the odd verhicle or such that might be going across on the ferry. The ferry was mostly used by trainers travelling around Hoenn, though.

May looked down at Wynaut, who had stayed by May's side the entire time.

"You can go and explore the ship if you want, Wynaut. I doubt you could get into any trouble on this ferry." May said to it. Wynaut gave a nod, then ran off across the ship. There wasn't much for it to see, but Wynaut was interested in all the different trainers on the ship. Since Wynaut rarely left May's side, it didn't get much of a chance to meet new people and took this opportunity to curiosuly examine the various trainers on the ship. Among the trainers was none other than Vito Winstrate.

_"Hmm...a Wynaut...Wynaut evolves into Wobbuffet...a very difficult pokemon to beat indeed..."_ Vito thought to himself. He took a pokenav out of his pocket and scanned Wynaut.

_"Wild too...it would make a powerful addition to my already unbeatable team."_ Vito smirked and put his pokenav away, then retrieved an empty pokeball. He tossed the pokeball towards Wynaut, and Wynaut turned around just in time for the pokeball to hit him square in the forehead. Wynaut was drawn into the pokeball, and the pokeball fell to the deck of the ship. The ball began to roll around as Wynaut tried to break out, then finally shattered before it could lock shut. Wynaut, unsure of what had just happened to it, fled in fear back to where May was leaning against the side of the ship.

"Hmm...guess that puny Wynaut is tougher than it looks..." Vito said to himself, taking out another empty pokeball. "Guess I'll just have to track it down and try again. Maybe actually weaken it with my pokemon when we get to shore..."

After escaping being nearly captured by Vito, Wynaut ran back to May and hid behind her leg.

"Huh? Wynaut? Whats gotten into you all of a sudden?" May asked it. Wynaut peeked out from behind her leg to see if whatever attacked it was gone.

"Everyone's acting so strange today..." May glanced over at Alex, who seemed to be muttering to himself, then back down at the cowering Wynaut.

"Looks like this is going to be another of those days that makes you realize, 'Hey! I'm a pokemon trainer now!'." May sighed, looking back out over the water. Suddenly the scenery didn't seem nearly as interesting, though.

It was another 25 minutes before the ferry reached the east side of the strait. The small crowd of trainers disembarked from the ship, and Alex was all too eager to get off. He was among the first to get off the ship and quickly ran to the shore where he stopped and waited for May. While waiting, Alex saw Vito step off the ferry then stand next to it as if he was waiting for something.

_"Vito? Whats he doing here?"_ Alex wondered. He wasn't overly excited to see him either, he could still remember how easily Vito was able to beat him and he had no doubt Vito would brag about it as well.

Eventually, May stepped off the ferry carrying a nervous looking Wynaut in her arms. Alex could see a look of disappointment on Vito's face as he saw May step off the ferry, and Alex could see he was looking more at Wynaut then at May.

"Well someone was eager to get off the boat!" May teasingly said to Alex as she approached him.

"Huh? Oh, I'm uh...just eager to get to Fortree, thats all!" Alex replied with a nervous laugh. He was paying more attention to Vito than he was to May though. Vito was still glaring at May and Wynaut as he walked towards the shore. A smirk crossed his lips as he noticed Alex with her.

"Whats a trainer like you doing all the way out here?" Vito taunted. "You'd think you'd still be trying to get your first badge!" May turned around to see who was talking to them.

"We're on our way to Fortree to get our sixth badge." Alex replied, glaring at Vito. "Not that its any of your business."

_"Who is this guy?"_ May wondered. _"Alex sure doesn't seem to like him for some reason..."_

"Sixth badge? You?" Vito said with a laugh. "Norman must be getting soft in his old age."

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" May yelled, startling Wynaut and almost dropping him as she pointed angrily at Vito. "MY DAD IS ONE OF THE BEST TRAINERS IN HOENN AND HE'D MOP THE FLOOR WITH YOU!"

"Oh would he?" Vito reached into his pocket and pulled out his trainers card, showing it to May. "This badge would suggest otherwise." May looked at Vito's trainer card, which was stamped with all eight badges of Hoenn including her father's. She also noticed the name Vito Winstrate.

"YOU'RE Vito Winstrate? I can't believe Alex or my dad would lose to a jerk like you!" May snapped.

"So I'm a jerk am I?" Vito said, giving a flick of his hair. "I guess some people just can't accept that I'm just that much better than they are."

Alex kept to himself while this was going on. May, however, didn't have the patience to put up with Vito any longer and punched him in the stomach. Vito stumbled backwards and fell off the side of the dock and into the water. Vito quickly sat up as he hit the sandy bottom of the shallow water and glared at May.

_"Wow, chalk one up for May..."_ Alex thought. _"I'm glad I'm on her side."_

"You're going to pay for that you little brat!" Vito said angrily, shaking his fist at May.

"I suggest you leave them alone..." Came a voice from behind Alex and May. The two looked back and saw Steven Stone standing behind him, looking somewhat annoyed.

"Steven?" The two of them asked in surprise.

"These two happen to be friends of mine." Steven continued.

"Figures...well I don't mess with wimps in large numbers..." Vito muttered as he stood up. "I'm better than any of you anyway." Vito then boarded the ferry again, complaining that he had to go home to get a change of clothes now instead of visiting the berry master.

"He sure changed his mind in a hurry..." May commented.

"Many trainers like him don't want to deal with the possibility of being shown up." Steven stated.

"What brings you out here anyway, Steven?" Alex asked.

"Just the usual." Steven replied with a calm demeanour. "Travelling around Hoenn, searching for rare stones. What about you two? You're not already after your sixth badge are you?"

"We sure are!" May replied enthusiastically. "Three more, then we'll be ready for the pokemon league."

"You kids sure travel fast these days." Steven said with a laugh. "Feels like just yesterday I ran into you both in Dewford, I never would have expected to find you travelling together though. You were at least a day ahead of her, Alex, what happened?"

"Good question..." Alex replied, folding his arms over his chest and looking at May. "How DID you manage to catch up to me?"

"I guess my ship was faster than the ferry you took." May replied.

"Obviously you two knew each other before then." Steven stated.

"We met in Littleroot, and we both got our first pokemon at the same time." Alex said to Steven.

"Technically, we met north of Littleroot." May added, giggling as she recalled their first encounter. "You were bitten by that Zigzagoon and were complaining about having had no problems getting from Petalburg to Littleroot until then."

"Oh? So you're from Petalburg, Alex?" Steven inquired.

"Oh, yeah, I'm from Petalburg..." Alex replied quietly, as if hoping not to draw attention to that fact.

"Well thats interesting. As I'm sure you know, my family lives in Petalburg. Whats your last name? Maybe I know your family.."

"Last name? Oh, its uh...Sky. Alex Sky." Alex replied. May shot him a look, upset that he gave Steven his last name so quickly but didn't tell her until just recently.

"Hmm...no, never heard of any 'Sky' in Petalburg. Funny name though...if you put the two together you get Aleksky."

"THATS IT!" May suddenly shouted triumphantly. "Thats why you said your name was embarassing!"

"Geez May, he got it right away..." Alex said, rolling his eyes.

"Just for that, I'm calling you Aleksky from now on." May said to Alex, sticking her tongue out at him.

"By the way May, might I ask why you're carrying that Wynaut around?" Steven asked, pointing at Wynaut.

"Wynaut hatched from an egg some old lady in Lavaridge gave me, but I don't want to put him in a pokeball yet. It might scare him..."

"Probably a good idea." Steven said to her. "Baby pokemon might not like being in a pokeball much. Sometimes even fully grown pokemon don't particularly like it." Steven glanced at his watch, checking the time, then looked back to Alex and May.

"Well, I should really be going. I'm sure we'll meet up again sometime though. See you two around." Steven gave a wave, then walked down the dock towards the waiting ferry.

"Bye Steven!" Alex and May called out behind him. They stood by the dock for a while and watched the ferry depart. Once the ferry had left the dockside, May turned to Alex.

"So just why did you tell Steven your last name after holding out on me for so long?" May asked, glaring at him. Alex smirked and gave a slightly shrug.

"I told you when you asked didn't I?"

"But...you...ugh!" May couldn't really think of anything to say to Alex, because technically he was right. "Lets just go already! We've wasted enough time here!"

The two of them left the dock, heading on their way north towards Fortree. Stormclouds were gathered overhead in the distance, which wasn't really uncommon for that particular area of Hoenn. Even when it wasn't raining there, it was rarely sunny. It wasn't raining at the moment, but it would be obvious it was going to. Alex, May, and Wynaut were walking straight towards the storm clouds, not realizing that they had forgotten something back in Mauville. Something that was going to cause them quite a bit of trouble in the near future.

The two trainers were walking for some time, walking through the extremely tall grass that grew there because of the constant rain. They managed to avoid the gaze of several trainers hiding in the grass, as neither Alex nor May were particularly interested in battling at the time. They had a long way to go and needed to be sure their pokemon would be capable of fighting if the need arose. After walking for about two hours, the group stopped for lunch at the top of a hill and the two trainers released all of their pokemon to feed them and let them get some exercise.

"I'm going off to see if there's any pokemon around to catch." May said to Alex after her pokemon had all eatten. "You don't mind looking after Wynaut for me, do you?"

"I think I can handle Wynaut..." Alex said, sitting up on the blanket they had laid out on the grass. "Just remember, we're not stopping for very long..."

"Well I'm going to look anyway." May looked over to where Combusken was doing some pushups. Before leaving Mauville, she had switched her Gardevoir and Roselia for Combusken and Crawdaunt.

"Lets go, Combusken! We're going to go look for pokemon!" May called out to it. Combusken immediately hopped up on its feet and flexed its muscles. The two of them then took off down the hill to look for wild pokemon.

"She won't find anything." Alex said to himself, taking his notepad out of his backpack. "Of course, last time I said that I ended up catching a Skarmory..." Alex took a brief glance over the most recent entry, but had to take a second look when he saw that it was over a week ago, which would suggest he hadn't taken inventory at all while in Mauville. Alex always took inventory whenever he was shopping, though, as it had become a habit for him to see what he had and what he'd need to get when he had the chance. That would mean that Alex didn't do any shopping while in Mauville.

"Uh oh..."

"I know I saw that herd of...whatever that pokemon was...in this direction." May said to Combusken. She spotted a herd of long-necked pokemon earlier, but didn't say anything to Alex because she knew they'd be stopping to take a break and intended to track down the herd then. May found herself once again walking through some extremely high grass, only this time she had Combusken moving ahead of her and cutting through the grass with its sharp claws. The grass eventually shortened in length, and May and Combusken crouched down in the grass as they could see several large pokemon gathered in the clearing before them.

"There they are!" May whispered in excitement. The pokemon that had gathered in the area stood at over six and a half feet tall for the largest in the group. They almost looked like long-necked dinosaurs only without tails. Their bodies were mostly brown, with a section of their torso covered in large green leaves just below their necks. Protruding from those leaves were four very large leaves that almost looked like they could be wings, except that one would think such large creatures wouldn't be capable of flying with such flimsy-looking wings. The head of these creatures also had leaves covering the top of them, and just under the base of their head on most of the creatures was a kind of fruit resembling bananas. May took out her pokedex to identify the pokemon.

"Tropius, the Fruit Pokemon." The pokedex read. "It flies by flapping its broad leaves. The bunch of fruit that grows around its neck is deliciously sweet. In spring, it scatters pollen from its neck." May looked up from her pokedex to the large leafy pokemon before her.

"Those things can really fly?" May whispered. Combusken gave a low chirp, indicating it was equally confused by that fact.

"If I catch one of these I wouldn't have to fly on Alex's Skarmory anymore!" May said, smiling to herself. "Though...which one should I go for? And what if the rest of the herd tries to help the one I choose? Wonder what they're doing anyway..."

The Tropius seemed to be gathered around two other Tropius in the group, who looked as though they were facing off and preparing to fight. The two pokemon then suddenly gave a loud roar and began flapping their wings, kicking up a fair bit of wind as each of them were using a Gust attack. To May, it seemed as though they were each trying to overpower each other with their Gust attacks, but as for why she couldn't really tell. The two Tropius continued flapping their wings, creating stronger and stronger gusts. A whirlwind formed between them, and May and Combusken were starting to feel the wind from where they were watching the group. The whirlwind moved back and forth between the two pokemon as each tried to exert their power over it, until finally the whirlwind blew into one of the two Tropius, knocking it back about a foot.

Though it was clear the Tropius that had been struck by the whirlwind was still fully capable of fighting, the pokemon hung its head in shame as though it were defeated. The opposing Tropius snorted at it, then walked away with the rest of the herd following behind it, leaving the losing Tropius behind. It didn't take May long to figure out what had just happened. The two Tropius were clearly having some sort of competition for leadership of the herd by using their Gust attacks on each other, and the one that was hit by the attack was declared the loser.

"I feel kinda sorry for that poor pokemon...I'm going to go talk to it..." May said, getting up and approaching the defeated Tropius. Combusken stared at her in shock for a moment, not understanding why May would want to get so close to such a large and powerful pokemon. It quickly got up and followed behind her, ready to protect its trainer if the Tropius attacked.

"Hey, are you ok?" May asked the Tropius. It lazily lifted its head to look at her, and May could see the look of sadness in its eyes. Combusken warily kept its eye on the large grass pokemon.

"I bet you want to get stronger so you can beat that guy, huh?" May asked it. Tropius looked at her for a moment, then gave a slight nod.

"Well, why don't you come with me! Pokemon usually get stronger when they're with a trainer afterall!" May said to it, smiling brightly. Tropius considered this for a moment, then smiled and gave a nod, standing up to its full height.

_"Wow! That was easy!" _May thought taking out a pokeball.

"Alright, lets go then." May said to the Tropius, holding up the pokeball. But Tropius just shook its head, then looked over at Combusken. May looked at Tropius, then at Combusken, trying to figure out what was going on.

"I don't get it, are you trying to say something?" May wondered out loud. Tropius backed up, keeping focused on May's confused Combusken, and took up the same stance it had earlier when it was facing off with the other Tropius.

"Oh! Now I get it, you want to battle first!" May said to it. The Tropius nodded.

"Well if its a battle you want, you'll get one! Ready, Combusken?" Combusken gave a squawk, then moved between May and the wild Tropius, preparing for battle.

"Alright! Lets start this off with a Flamethrower, Combusken!" May called out. Combusken opened its mouth and unleashed a blast of intensely hot flames towards Tropius, but before the flames reached the grass pokemon it gave a flap of its large leaves and lifted itself up into the air and above the Flamethrower attack. It flew the short distance between it and Combusken then suddenly dropped down hard on top of it. Combusken cried out loudly in pain and struggled to lift the heavy pokemon off it from its pinned position but to no avail.

"Combusken! Use Bulk Up then Double Kick!" Combusken focused its strength and its muscles bulged slightly. It then brought its two legs up and slammed them into Tropius underside with as much force as it could muster, which was enough to knock the Tropius off of him. Combusken then immediately jumped back up on its feet, gasping for air. It didn't have long to rest, however, as Tropius flew up and attempted to crush Combusken with another drop. This time, however, Combusken was ready for it and jumped to the side before Tropius could land on it.

"Now's your chance! Flamethrower!" Combusken didn't waste a second in attempting to deliver another Flamethrower attack. It opened its beak and spewed out another blast of flames towards Tropius. This time, the attack hit its mark, catching the wild Tropius before it had a chance to fly up out of the way. May thought for sure she had Tropius down now, but then the flames started blowing back and revealed a charred Tropius flapping its leaves to produce a powerful gust to keep the flames away from it.

_"Wow, its pretty good for a wild pokemon..."_ May thought. _"Losing to that other Tropius must have hurt its pride a bit..."_

Combusken tried as hard as it could to put more power into its Flamethrower attack, but Tropius continued to hold its ground until it was eventually able to fly up and out of the way of Combusken's Flamethrower. Tropius gave one hard flap of its wings in mid-air, sending a barrage of leaves towards Combusken that seemed to home in on it. Four leaves struck the fire pokemon, each one knocking it further off balance until it fell backwards. With Combusken down on the ground, Tropius tried for another Stomp attack from above and came down towards Combusken. Combusken managed to roll to the side to get out of the way, but just barely. May could tell that Combusken's fire attacks weren't working too well on Tropius, and decided to change tactics.

"Combusken, attack with Scratch!" Combusken immediately hopped up onto its feet at May's command and lashed out at the Tropius with claws, slashing it across the side. Tropius growled in pain as Combusken attacked it, but then retaliated by flapping its broad leaves and battering Combusken with powerful gusts of wind. Combusken braced itself against the wind but was slowly being pushed backwards.

"Get behind it with Quick Attack and use Flamethrower!" Combusken realized what May's plan was, and leapt forward in a sudden burst of speed, moving with enough force to overcome the strength of Tropius gust attack. It didn't have the usual speed with its Quick Attack, though, because of the extra resistance. Combusken managed to land behind Tropius from its technique, then spewed out a blast of flames from behind. The Flamethrower attack completely enveloped the wild Tropius, and this time it was facing the wrong direction for a Gust attack.

May waited for a moment before taking a pokeball out of her pocket, and Combusken backed off its attack just as she tossed the pokeball at Tropius. The ball split open on contact and Tropius was pulled inside. The pokeball then dropped to the ground and began shaking as Tropius tried to break out. May and Combusken watched the pokeball anxiously, until finally they heard a click as the pokeball locked tight with the Tropius inside.

"Alright! We caught a Tropius!" May cried out, picking up the pokeball and raising it into the air triumphantly, just before the pokeball disappeared in a white light. Combusken also raised its hand and gave a cheer.

"Come on, lets hurry back!" May said to Combusken. "I can't wait to tell Alex I caught a Tropius!" Combusken nodded, and the two of them ran back to where they had temporarily set up for their break. Overhead, the clouds were beginning to darken and lightning rumbled in the distance.

When May and Combusken got back to where Alex and the rest of the pokemon were, all the pokemon seemed to be gathered around Alex and watching him curiously. The two of them slowed down as they approached, curiously examining the scene but unable to really see much past the pokemon. When May got closer, she could see Alex had the contents of his backpack scattered out on the blanket and was frantically searching through everything and writing down what they had.

"Uh...Alex? Is everything ok?" May asked him.

"No..." Alex replied without even looking up at her. "I don't think we'll have enough supplies to make it to Fortree..."

"Huh?" May reached back and felt the pouches of her fannypack. It did seem a bit lighter than usual to her, and when she checked her pokeball pouch she realized she used her last pokeball to catch Tropius because she now had none left even though she usually kept a healthy supply of them. She figured she must have wasted more than she thought on failed capture attempts.

"Wait a minute, didn't we stock up just before leaving Mauville?" May asked him.

"Apparently not...I can't believe I let this slip my mind!" Alex grumbled in frustration. "Even worse, it looks like its going to rain soon and we don't have raincoats or umbrellas!"

"Maybe I should count out what I have left too?" May suggested.

"No, what we need right now is to find shelter..." Alex said to her. He put down his notebook and briefly looked to the sky before starting to pack up all his stuff. "Its going to start raining soon and we'll get soaked without anything to protect us, and we'll likely get sick if we're walking around in wet clothes. We need to find somewhere to wait out the rain."

May began looking around, but all she could see was grass, hills, and a large stream nearby that ran all the way to the ocean. Aside from building their own shelter, she couldn't see anywhere that they might find one. For a moment, she almost envied her pokemon, since they'd all be able to seek refuge inside their pokeballs. Well, except for Wynaut anyway. Even if she wanted to, though, she couldn't put Wynaut inside a pokeball because she didn't have any left.

"I don't think we'll find anywhere to set up shelter, Alex..." May said to him, sounding disappointed. Alex stopped what he was doing for a moment and took a quick glance around as well, then looked to each of their pokemon.

_"We'll probably have to dig a cave..." _Alex thought. _"Lets see, Anorith probably has the best digging capabilities out of my pokemon...Numel has its Magnitude technique but I don't think that'd help much. Except for Swablu, looks like most of May's pokemon would be pretty good for digging." _Alex's six pokemon includded Skarmory, Azumarill, Numel, Swellow, Anorith, and Magnemite. He never actually switched his pokemon at all in the past week. May had with her Swablu, who's wings were fully healed now and the bandages removed, Crawdaunt, Combusken, Electrike, Trapinch, and Lombre.

"We'll dig into this hill here." Alex finally said to her, indicating the hill they had set up on. "Take your pokemon to the bottom of the hill and dig into it, most of your pokemon seem capable of digging. Or at least better than mine are." May nodded in agreement, then went to the bottom of the hill with the rest of her pokemon except for Wynaut following behind her. Wynaut just stayed next to Alex, staring at him.

"Aren't you going to go with May?" Alex said to Wynaut. Wynaut didn't seem to respond in anyway, then suddenly jumped up and brought both its arms down on Alex's head and pushed him face first into the dirt, then ran off after May making a sound similar to laughing. Alex lifted his head up off the ground and glared at Wynaut as it ran off.

"Think your real funny, don't ya?" Alex grumbled. "Baby pokemon...they're as bad as human children sometimes..." Alex blinked in surprise as he heard what seemed to be snickering from his own pokemon.

"Figures..." Alex sat up and went back to putting away his meager belongings, ignoring the snickering of his pokemon. May, meanwhile, had Combusken and Trapinch positioned at the bottom of the hill and ready to start digging.

"Allright! Combusken and Trapinch, I want you two to start digging at that hill. We need to work fast so we can get a large enough hole dug out before the rain starts falling." Combusken and Trapinch nodded, then started digging away at the hillside. Combusken slashed away at it with its large, sharp claws and removing quite a bit of dirt with each swipe while Trapinch used its large jaw as a scoop, not seeming to mind the taste of the dirt in its mouth as it scooped up a large pile of dirt then tossed it to the side. The two pokemon were going at it much faster than a human with a shovel would be able to, but May still wondered if they'd be done in time.

Several minutes after May's pokemon had begun digging, Alex came down the steps that had been carved into the side of the hill with Anorith trailing behind him. He had recalled the rest of his pokemon before joining May at the bottom of the steep hill.

"Anorith, help those two dig." Alex commanded. Anorith gave a nod, then crawled over to the part of the hill Combusken and Trapinch were digging out then started swiping away at the dirt with its claws.

"This is going to take a while..." May said with a sigh.

"Probably...but maybe if we get lucky we'll find a hollowed out cave or something on the inside. There's supposed to be a few around here. Trainers like to use them for hideouts, someplace to call their own while they're away from home."

"What do you think the chances we'll manage to find one are, though?" May asked him. Before Alex could answer, however, one last swipe from Combusken at the side of the hill seemed to punch a hole into the hill that lead into larger opening inside. Combusken stared in shock for a moment, before giving it a hard punch and causing much of the dirt around the hole to collapse, widening it. The two trainers stared at the hole, unable to comprehend their sudden luck in finding one of those caves Alex had mentioned.

"Well...there's your answer..." Alex finally said.

"Guess that means we're finished digging." May said, turning to the rest of her pokemon with their pokeballs in hand.

"Alright, we're finished here so you guys can rest in your pokeballs for a while." May's pokemon nodded, and then May began to recall them one by one. Once the hole had been widened and the dirt cleared away she recalled Combusken and Trapinch as well, and Alex recalled Anorith. Once all their pokemon had been recalled, the entered the cave. May was the first to crawl in through the small opening, followed by Wynaut. Alex took the time to grab his flashlight before going into the cave. Inside, it was almost impossible to see as the only light was coming from the hole they had used as an entrance.

When Alex turned on his flashlight, they could see the entire inside of the cave. The walls, ceiling, and floor of the cave were relatively smooth. In fact, they were too smooth for the cave to have been carved out by any natural processes, and Alex immediately realized someone must have dug this cave out at some point but then burried it. The cave was about five feet wide and about as tall, May and Alex almost stood as tall as the cave. It went in about 30 feet, then split off to the right and seemed to keep going for a while before turning again.

"Well its big enough that we could release our pokemon in here anyway." Alex commented.

"So, how long do you think we'll be in here?" May asked. Just then, there was a flash of lightning and thunder could be heard outside. Rain could be heard spalshing against the ground, and it was pouring pretty hard.

"Until the storm settles, so I'd say we'll at least be here overnight..."

Author's Notes: Sorry about the lack of updates, I was sans a computer for a while and had to get a new one, then had to track down a program compatable with Word for Windows 6.0 files because apparently newer word processors can't use them. All my files are in rtf format now though, don't know if it'll appear any different. Font's probably different, if anything.


	35. Chapter 26: The Cave

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Twenty Six**

**The Cave**

"So, between the two of us we have one trail ration, one chocolate bar, a blanket, two bags of pokemon food, and some berries, not including our training gear. Don't even have a tent or sleeping bags..." Alex grumbled. The whole ordeal was starting to wear on him, and he felt as though it was entirely his fault. Up until now, he had always planned ahead and was prepared for anything. He couldn't understand how he had managed to slip up this time.

"Well at least we have enough food to get us through the rest of the day." May said, trying to sound positive. She was a bit upset that they were so unprepared, but wasn't particularly worried. To her, it felt like something that many trainers would likely go through at some point.

"I still don't get how you can call junk food a meal."

"Well I don't get how you can call those...things you eat food, so I guess we're even."

"Hey, they may taste like cardboard, but they're full of nutrients and energy and..." Alex stopped as Wynaut made an attempt to grab one of the berries, but May put her hand between Wynaut and the berries.

"Wynaut! You're not getting anymore berries, you just ate!" May scolded the baby pokemon, who responded by trying to play innocent then wandering off away from the two trainers, though really Wynaut was biding his time to make another pass at the berries. The two trainers were sitting facing each other, with the contents of their various travel bags spilled out between them.

"Well...anyway...hopefully the rain will be gone by tomorrow, cause we don't have much to eat. Plenty of food for our pokemon though, assuming Wynaut doesn't eat it all behind our backs..." Alex glanced over to Wynaut was watching them.

"He better not, or I won't buy anymore berries for him and he'll have to eat pokemon food." May replied, though at the same time she seemed to be addressing Wynaut. Wynaut quickly lost interest in trying to steal anymore berries.

"As for our food, we should probably save what we have left until tomorrow morning."

"Well then, to make up for our starving perhaps someone with an unusual amount of money for his age should treat us to an all-you-can-eat buffet once we get to Fortree!" May said to Alex, grinning widely. Alex narrowed his eyes at her.

"You're referring to me, aren't you?" Alex asked her. May kept the grin on her face and nodded. "...Alright, fine. Guess this is mostly my fault anyway. Think I know a decent place to eat in Fortree. So the only issue left is sleeping arrangements since we didn't think to bring our sleeping bags or tents with us and this cave isn't exactly warm. All we have is that blanket you brought..."

"Well I refuse to sleep in the dirt...I'd rather catch a cold."

"There's still one other option..." Alex said to her, then the two of them stared in silence for a moment before May glared at him.

"Not. A. Chance." May replied sternly.

"Was just throwing it out there..." Alex said with a shrug. "We could also try to build a fire though, if we could find something to burn."

"Maybe there's something further in this cave?" May suggested.

"Was thinking the same thing actually. I'll leave my pokemon here and go check it out, might as well let our pokemon out since we're not going anywhere for a while."

"Hey! If you're going off with the flashlight what am I going to use for light?!"

"Magnemite should be able to provide enough illumination for you. " Alex stood up, then took off his belt of pokeballs and placed it on the ground in front of May.

"Why aren't you taking any of your pokemon with you?" May asked.

"I think I can manage to find firewood on my own, assuming there's any in this cave..." Alex replied. "Anyway, I should be back soon unless this is one really long cave." Alex started on his way down the path and soon rounded the bend and was out of sight. May immediately turned her attention to the pokeballs in front of her, but before letting any pokemon out of their pokeballs May decided to gather up all the supplies scattered on the ground and stuffed it all into her fannypack, even Alex's stuff. She then set to releasing all six of her pokemon and Alex's from their pokeball. The cave immediately started to seem a bit crowded with the twelve of their pokemon standing in the narrow but long cave.

"Well guys, this is where we're spending the night apparently." May said to the group of pokemon, though most of them already knew that. A few of the pokemon began looking around, wondering where Alex is.

"Alex went off into the cave to try to find something to make a fire with, just incase any of you are wondering. Anyway, you guys can all relax or whatever...assuming you can manage that in such a narrow cave." The pokemon all gave a nod, then separated to give each other some space and to go do their own thing.

May's Swablu was quick to take its usual seat on May's head. Trapinch dug a small hole in the wall of the cave, just big enough for it to crawl into and curl up in. Lombre quickly headed for the cave entrance, and was able to crawl through the narrow opening and relax in the pouring rain outside the cave. Electrike followed Lombre out of the cave, drawn out by the flashes of lightning and sat next to Lombre, looking up at the clouds. Combusken sat by the wall of the cave, looking bored. Its usual sparring partner wasning present and Crawdaunt scuttled off by itself, casting a glare at the rest of the pokemon around it.

Alex's Swellow seemed a bit uncomfortable in the cave, and didn't quite know what to do so it simply stood to the side and looked around. Numel was more than comfortable in the cave and curled up in the corner, far away from the entrance however. Skarmory didn't seem to care one way or the other and squatted down near the wall so it didn't take up as much space. It kept a watchful eye on May, however, as it still wasn't overly fond of her. Anorith was still getting used to the faces of the two trainer's pokemon, and wandered around the cave observing them all. Azumarill joined May's Lombre outside in the rain and began splashing around in some puddles that had formed, and Magnemite hovered around the cave producing small sparks to provide illumination.

May didn't really have much to do at all, so she decided to spread her blanket out next to Combusken and sat down next to him. She took out her pokedex and decided to read over a few of the entries. She never read all of her pokemon's entries, in fact she usually only read them the odd time when she caught a new pokemon. She read over a few of the pokemon that she didn't read about over the course of her journey. Combusken glanced over, interested in the pokdex readings as well.

After about ten to twenty minutes of reading pokedex entries, May had read them all, some several times, and was pretty sure she knew all her pokedex could tell her about her pokemon. She even checked out a few of Alex's since she had them from when he uploaded them to her pokedex. She lost interest in it, however, and found herself with nothing to do but think about how unprepared she and Alex were for their journey. It was a big surprise to her that Alex would manage to forget to make his usual preparations, and he had an entire week to remember.

_"Or is that why he forgot..."_ May thought. _"Usually he has everyday planned out, but I guess taking a week off training threw him off...or something..." _May looked around the cave at all their pokemon. Lombre, Electrike, and Azumarill were back inside now and all of their pokemon seemed content to just relax. Except for Skarmory, who was being pestered by Wynaut and for some reason enduring it rather than striking back. Though May reasoned that with its metal hide it probably didn't even take notice of Wynaut hitting it with its weak arms.

"...Alex has been gone awfully long." May said to herself. "Either this cave is really long or Alex is just taking his time. I think I'll go see whats taking him so long." May reached up and gently plucked Swablu off her head. The bird pokemon had gotten so bored sitting there that it had fallen asleep, and it didn't even wake up when May picked it up. She placed it on the ground next to Combusken, being careful not to wake it up.

"Combusken, I'm going to go find Alex. Keep an eye on the rest of the pokemon for me." Combusken squawked quietly, giving May a salute as it stood up. Knowing Combusken would keep an eye on their pokemon, May set off down the tunnel with Magnemite floating behind her. Eventually, though, she stopped and turned around to look at it.

"Magnemite, could you stay with the other pokemon? I should be fine without any light and Alex has a flashlight with him anyway." Magnemite moved its body up and down as if nodding and gave a beep, then floated back to the rest of the pokemon and leaving May to wander the cave in the dark.

May couldn't see a thing once she was around the corner. Behind her, she could see the dim glow from Magnemite but ahead of her was nothing but darkness. She followed the cave along the wall, walking slowly since she couldn't really tell which direction she was going and could only follow the wall until it reached a dead end. She didn't know how far into the cave Alex went, but she was partially expecting him to be on his way back when she finally found him. That didn't seem to hold true, though, as she rounded the bend and still saw nothing but darkness.

"I wonder where he is..." May said to herself as she walked through the dark corridors, blindly going along. She continued on for what seemed like forever before she could finally see a light around another bend in the cave. May quietly crept closer and peaked around the bend, and could see the cave finally came to an end. Alex was sitting in the corner with his flashlight lying on the ground beside him. Rather than approaching him, May stayed hidden around the corner to find out why Alex had stopped. She could hear him talking to himself.

"I was doing fine on my own..." Alex said to himself. He had managed to find a few sticks lying around and was absent mindedly drawing something in the dirt with one of them.

"Up until I started travelling with May I didn't have any setbacks...in fact, I'm pretty sure all my problems related to her somehow...heck, if I hadn't met her Dirk might not have even been following me around."

_"He's blaming me for all this?! That jerk!"_ May thought, balling her hands into fists.

"And yet...even knowing all this would happen I probably would still travel with her..." May's expression changed from being angry to one of curiosity as she listened in on Alex's private conversation.

"Even with all these setbacks...Team Aqua and Team Magma don't seem to be any closer to their goals...and we've probably slowed them down a bit too."

_"Huh? What do their goals have to do with anything?"_ May wondered. _"Its almost as if he knows something about them..."_

"Definitely more interesting travelling with someone else at least...I guess if anything I'm lucky to have met her..." Alex paused for a moment, looking down at the image he had drawn in the dirt, barely visable in the dim light from the flashlight. May couldn't really tell what it was from where she was standing but she noticed Alex's face turn red and he immediately stood up and scraped his foot over it to erase it.

"Gah! What the heck am I thinking!" Alex shook his head as if trying to erase a thought from his mind. "...Whatever, I should probably get back with these sticks. I've been gone a bit longer than I should have been..." Alex gathered up the sticks and picked up his flashlight. May realized Alex was about to head back and froze, not knowing what to do. If she ran back, Alex would probably hear her running. And if she walked she probably wouldn't get very far away. Before she could come to a solution, though, Alex came around the corner and spotted her.

"M-May?"

"Oh...uh...hi Alex..."

"How...how much of that did you hear?" Alex asked her.

"I kinda showed up around the part where you said you were doing fine on your own..."

"...Oh." Was all Alex could say. _"Well, could have been worse..."_ He then thought._ "She could have heard me verbally beating myself up earlier followed by my rant about her..."_

"Alex, what were you saying about Team Magma and Team Aqua?" May inquired. "You...sounded like you knew something about them." Alex was quiet for a moment, trying to think of a response. Eventually, he decided to just tell her the truth.

"...You know, I didn't always want to be a trainer." Alex said to her.

"You didn't?" Alex shook his head.

"No...and thats part of the reason I started late...Team Aqua and Team Magma were the reason I changed my mind. I found out what they were up to...and I wanted to try to stop them. Becoming a trainer seemed to be the only way to do it."

"So...you became a trainer because of Team Aqua and Team Magma?" May asked. "But...why?"

"Because they're both trying to resurrect powerful ancient pokemon to reshape Hoenn, Groudon and Kyogre. Team Aqua plans to use Kyogre to expand the sea, while Team Magma plans to use Groudon to expand the land. Neither of them seem to realize the impact this will have on Hoenn." May was silent for a moment, wondering if Alex was serious. Even with what she knew about Team Aqua and Team Magma, it seemed incredibly farfetched.

"Ok, I'm not even sure I can believe that...and even if it was true how did you find this out on your own?"

"Well..." Alex thought for a moment. _"...No, I don't think I'm quite ready to tell her everything yet...some things she might be better off not knowing..."_

"I have my sources, just trust me. Team Aqua's prescence at the museum in Slateport and Team Magma's activities at Mount Chimney are both likely related to this goal. I think its possible that Groudon is sleeping underneath Mount Chimney and Team Aqua is probably trying to get their hands on submarine technology to get to the bottom of the sea floor to get to Kyogre."

"I guess that kinda sounds logical..." May admitted. "But if thats the reason you're a trainer then why even bother collecting badges?"

"Because Archie and Maxie, the leaders of Team Aqua and Team Magma, are very powerful trainers. I figure by challenging the gyms I'll eventually be on the same level they are. Remember when we fought Team Magma back on Mount Chimney?" May nodded. "Well I fought Maxie then, but my Azumarill couldn't land a hit on his Crobat at all. Thats why I targetted the machine he was using to try to erupt Mount Chimney instead. I'd say their pokemon are stronger even than some of the higher ranking gym leaders."

"So why exactly are you just telling me all this now?" May asked, glaring at him.

"Well...I guess I just consider it a secret mission of sorts..." Alex said with a shrug.

"Hmm...well if you're on a secret mission that makes you a secret agent...and every secret agent needs a female sidekick thats better than him in every way!" May said with a playful grin.

"I'm not a secret agent, just someone who thought he could take on two evil organizations alone. And we're at least equal when it comes to pokemon training...though I'll admit I'm a bit miffed at that since I actually studied but you didn't actually have any experience to begin with..."

"I guess I'm just that much better than you then, aren't I?" May said to him, sticking her tongue out and pulling down her left eyelid, mocking him.

_"Why couldn't I just lie to her?"_ Alex thought, rubbing the back of his head in embarassment. _"Oh well, at least I got that much off my back...I didn't want to get anyone else involved in this, but I guess it was almost fated to happen. She was dealing with Team Aqua before we even began travelling together, and between the two of us we've actually foiled several of their plots."_

"By the way..." May started, snapping Alex out of his thoughts. "What was it you drew on the ground before?"

"Err...n-nothing! Wasn't even an actual drawing just some scribbles in the dirt!" Alex replied, hoping May couldn't see his embarassment in the dim light from the flashlight, either now or then.

"Hmm...if you say so..." May said to him, not sounding convinced by his answer. "Well lets head back already..."

"Uh...right. Guess I'll lead the way since I have the flashlight." Alex started off down the cave back to where their pokemon waited. Neither could be prepared for what they'd find upon their return, however.

_"At last..."_ Crawdaunt thought shortly after May left. _"The trainers are gone, now I can finally teach that bird brain a lesson and take his spot as May's top pokemon!" _Crawdaunt glared over toward's Combusken, who was still relaxing against the wall.

"-HEY! YOU!-" Crawdaunt called out, pointing one of its large pincers at Combusken and startling the rest of the pokemon. "-I challenge you to a battle!-"

"-Huh-?" Combusken sat up and looked across the cave at Crawdaunt. "-You're challenging me to a battle?-"

"-Thats right! Without May here to protect you I'll beat you and become her top pokemon!-"

"-I don't see how that'd work out...-" Combusken said with a shrug. "-Besides, there's not enough room here for a proper fight.-"

"-ENOUGH! We battle now! Take this!-" Crawdaunt opened the claw it was pointing at Combusken and fired a steady stream of bubbles in the form of its Bubblebeam attack. The rest of the pokemon scattered and Combusken didn't have time to leap out of the way of the attack in the narrow confines of the cave. Combusken wasn't about to take the attack lying down, however, and rolled out of the way soon after, causing the attack to hit the wall and turn it into mud.

"-Alright buddy, you asked for it!-" Combusken quickly got up and leapt across the cave to Crawdaunt to deliver a powerful kick to the face, followed by another kick, both pounding Crawdaunt against the wall. Combusken prepared to deliver another round of attacks, but Crawdaunt managed to grab its foot with its pincer as Combusken tried to kick again. Crawdaunt then unleashed another Bubblebeam attack from its other claw, hitting Combusken hard with a powerful spray of bubbles while Combusken was nearly helpless to try to get away.

Combusken wasn't entirely helpless, however, and while under the barrage of Crawdaunt's Bubblebeam attack it managed to use its Bulk Up technique to increase its strength, and with its increased strength it managed to slam Crawdaunt into the wall with the leg it was holding onto. It was enough for Crawdaunt to let up on its Bubblebeam attack, but it still had a tight grip on Combusken's leg with its Vice Grip attack.

"-Thats enough you two!-" Alex's Swellow squawked, flying past the two pokemon and hitting them both with a Wing Attack and causing Crawdaunt to finally release its grip on Combusken's leg. Combusken was sent sprawling to the ground while Crawdaunt was pushed back towards the wall again slightly. Swellow had to land after passing the two pokemon, though, as there wasn't enough room for it to turn around.

"-Mind your own business, bird-brain!-" Crawdaunt yelled, pointing its pincer at Swellow and firing another of its Bubblebeam attacks at it, pinning Swellow to the ground.

"-Hey! This is between me and you!-" Combusken jumped up on its feet and delivered another swift kick, hitting Crawdaunt in the direction of the cave entrance this time. Wynaut and Swablu scrambled to get out of the way of the skidding Crawdaunt, neither wanting to get involved in the impromptu battle. No longer pinned by Crawdaunt's attack, Swellow got up and turned around to face it again. By this point, Combusken was starting to look a bit exhausted from Crawdaunt's Bubblebeam attacks, and it hadn't gotten much time to rest since fighting Tropius earlier that day or digging into the cave.

Crawdaunt slowly got back up on its feet, but by the time it was standing again Combusken has closed the distance between the two of them and delivered a second kick. This sent Crawdaunt flying again, however Combusken wasn't paying attention to where he was kicking the crab-like pokemon and Crawdaunt ended up slamming into a sleeping Skarmory. Skarmory barely moved from the impact, however it was enough to wake it up. Skarmory opened its eyes and cast a menacing glare at Combusken and Crawdaunt.

"-You two are going to PAY for waking me up...-" Skarmory immediately got up and struck Crawdaunt with one of its metal wings, sending it back towards Combusken and causing it to collide with its rival. Skarmory didn't stop there, however, and brought both its wings together, forcing air between them to form a v-shaped blade, then fired it at the two pokemon who had disrupted its sleep. The blade of air struck the two pokemon, and both cried out in pain as it slashed them then vanished upon contact with the ground.

"-Don't get it my way, metal head!-" Crawdaunt demanded, getting up and firing its Bubblebeam attack at Skarmory. The stream of bubbles struck the steel bird but seemed to have little effect. Combusken was having a bit more trouble getting up as the strain of the day's activities began to wear on him.

_"I promised May I'd keep an eye on everyone..."_ Combusken thought. _"But everything's just turning into one big mess...all because that jerk Crawdaunt wanted to fight me..."_

"-Metal head?! I'll make you eat those words!-" Skarmory charged towards Crawdaunt to make another attack, but Crawdaunt was ready for it. Skarmory brought one of its wings forward as it ran to strike Crawdaunt with its Steel Wing attack. Before it could land the attack, however, Crawdaunt managed to grab its wing in its Vice Grip attack and clamped down hard. Skarmory barely seemed to notice, however, and instead began furiously pecking and scratching Crawdaunt.

Combusken watched the two of them fight, sitting on the cave floor only inches away and trying to conserve its strength before attacking again. Skarmory seemed to be providing it with a short break from Crawdaunt's onslaught. It still had to end the fighting somehow, though, and it was getting too weak to be able to fight on its own.

Swellow decided to rejoin the effort as well, flying by and stiking Skarmory and Crawdaunt with a Wing Attack. It had little effect on Skarmory, however, and only hit Crawdaunt lightly as well. Both pokemon then simultaneously retaliated by firing their attacks at Swellow. Skarmory attacked with its Air Cutter, firing a blade of air towards the bird pokemon, while Crawdaunt unleashed yet another of its Bubblebeam attacks. The two attacks had Swellow temporarily pinned.

_"Now's my chance..."_ Combusken thought, reaching deep inside itself for a power that rose whenever it was in a weakened condition. Its body gave off a red glow as it activated its Blaze ability. There were no other pokemon in the way, so Combusken planned on using a powerful Flamethrower attack. If nothing else, it was hoping to bring down Skarmory. Combusken turned towards Skarmory and Crawdaunt and unleashed a blast of intensely hot flames that filled the entire width of the cave and engulfed both Skarmory and Crawdaunt.

Combusken kept up its attack for as long as it could, but when the flames finally dispersed both Skarmory and Crawdaunt were still standing. Both were charred, and Skarmory's metal exterior was giving off a slight red glow from the heat. Both of them looked pretty mad, and Combusken didn't feel like it had the energy for another Flamethrower attack at the moment. Swellow was back on its feet again and was soaring towards the group for another attack. Combusken didn't know what to do now, but fortunately it didn't have to figure anything out.

A blue beam suddenly struck the group of quarelling pokemon, and all four pokemon were caught off guard by the attack and quickly encased in a block of ice. Azumarill gave a triumphant cry, proud of itself for stopping the fighting. The rest of the pokemon stared at the block of ice for a moment, before returning to lounging around the cave, satisfied that the fighting had ceased. Swablu flapped over to Azumarill and landed on its head, between its two large ears, and peered down at him.

"-That was a neat trick! Think you could teach me?-" Swablu said to Azumarill.

"-I dunno...maybe...I'm not entirely sure how I do it though..." Azumarill replied, sounding a bit puzzled.

"-Oh good grief...-" Came Swablu's exasperated reply.

"What...happened...here?" May asked, staring in shock at the scene before her. Skarmory, Swellow, Combusken, and Crawdaunt were all frozen in a block of ice looking like they were in the middle of a battle. Swablu and Azumarill were at one end of the cave, which was covered in quite a bit of ice, and the rest of the pokemon were gathered near where Alex and May stood.

"...See, now, this could have been avoided if you stayed here and waited." Alex said indignantly. May shot him a look.

"I left Combusken in charge though, everything should have been fine."

"Well, doesn't matter now I guess..." Alex said, taking out two pokeballs and recalling the frozen Skarmory and Swellow. "We'll just have to sleep away from all this ice..."

May recalled her two frozen pokemon as well, and then the two of them moved a bit further into the cave with all their stuff. They set up the blanket to sit on again, and managed to get a small fire going with the sticks that Alex had found lying around. It was a small fire but it provided a little bit of warmth. Once the fire was started, the two trainers recalled the rest of their pokemon. With nothing better to do, they ate the last of their food then fell asleep on the blanket, hoping for better weather when they woke up.

Author's Notes: Short chapter, took me way longer than it should have, sorry about that.


	36. Chapter 27: Weather Station Trouble

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Twenty Seven**

**Trouble at the Weather Station**

May rolled over in her sleep, hitting the wall of the cave and jolting awake. She slowly sat up on the blanket, grumbling a bit.

"I hate this cave..." She muttered. "It better not be raining tomorrow..." She then paused for a moment, listening to the silence around her.

"...I don't hear any rain now, maybe its already stopped?" May reached around in the darkness, trying to find the flashlight Alex had set down earlier. It was nowhere to be found, however, and the fire had long since gone out.

"Where is that stupid thing..." May continued trying to find it, until she heard a crack of thunder and a flash of lightning briefly illuminated the inside of the cave. May shrieked in surprise, the sudden burst of lightning outside startling her. She quickly covered her mouth, hoping she didn't wake Alex, but she quickly realized she was alone in the cave. Alex wasn't there, and she realized he must have taken the flashlight as well.

"Did Alex ditch me?" May wondered. She thought back to her discussion with him earlier though, and shook her head.

"No, he wouldn't do that...but where is he?" May got up, and slowly made her way around the corner of the cave. She knew the general direction of the cave's entrance, and when she reached the end of the cave she felt around for the small hole that served as the entrance. She then got down on her hands and knees and crawled out. When she got out of the cave she could see Alex standing nearby, and his Magnemite was floating quite a distance a way. Alex had his back to her, and May could see he had already gathered all his stuff together.

"Well, I suppose thats enough for now..." Alex said to Magnemite. "I didn't really think you'd be able to use that attack though..." Magnemite beeped its response.

"I'm tired of waiting now anyway. If she's not awake yet, I'm waking her up. Even if its probably just going to get me punched again..."

"Well of course I'd punch you, how would you feel if you were woken up in the middle of the night?" May yelled to Alex, starling him.

"Geez!" Alex quickly turned around. "Hey, it might be the middle of the night, but you've been asleep for a good ten hours now! We went to sleep early, remember?"

"So thats why you're up so early..."

"Well its not raining now, and we've both gotten a full night's sleep, so we might as well move on. There's a weather station only a few hours walk from here, and with a bit of luck we might be able to get something to eat there..."

"Thats all I needed to hear!" May replied excitedly. "I'll go get my stuff."

Alex tossed May his flashlight, and she went back into the cave with it. A few minutes later she re-emerged from the cave with her fanny pack and all her pokeballs on her belt. The two trainers released their pokemon to feed them, and Skarmory, Swellow, Combusken, and Crawdaunt had thawed out overnight but all four of them were thoroughly exhausted from their fight. Skarmory and Crawdaunt cast angry glares towards Azumarill as they ate their food, plotting how to get back at him for freezing them. After they had eatten, the pokemon all stretched their legs and wings a bit before finally being recalled. May picked up Wynaut to carry it in her arms, and then the three of them set off for the weather station.

As the two of them went on their way to the weather station, the sun began to rise. However, they were unable to see the sunrise. Although the storm had seemed to pass, there was still a dark cloud hanging overhead. The two trainers decided it best to hurry so they wouldn't get caught in the rain. If they reached the weather station they'd at least have shelter from the storm.

They were lucky enough to make it to the weather station without incident. After a few hours of walking, they could see the weather station up ahead. With the weather station in sight, the two of them broke into a run. They stopped, though, when they were close enough to see two men wearing blue bandanas and black and white striped shirts standing in front of the entrance. They recognized the two as members of Team Aqua, and took cover in some nearby tall grass to avoid being seen.

"Team Aqua? What are they doing here?" May wondered out loud.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good. We need to get past those two somehow..."

"I think I might have a way..." May took a pokeball off her belt, and held it low in front of her.

"Swablu, come on out!" She whispered. The pokeball opened up and released a red beam of energy in front of her, which formed into the small blue bird pokemon, Swablu. Swablu chirped happily as it was released from its pokeball.

"Swablu, see those two men there?" May said to it, pointing at the two Team Aqua members. Swablu flapped its wings and hopped up on May's head to get a better look.

"Think you could use your Sing attack to put those two to sleep?" Swablu gave a nod, then gave a hop and flapped its wings. It quietly flew over towards the weather center, landing in front of the two guards who immediately noticed it.

"Huh? Is that a Swablu?" The first guard asked.

"I think it is..." Answered the second. "But what would a Swablu be doing all the way out here...?"

Swablu opened its small beak and began to sing a lullaby, and Alex, May, and Wynaut quickly plugged their ears. The two Team Aqua men briefly had a look of shock on their face as they realized what was happening, but didn't have much of a chance to react before they felt their eyelids grow heavy and slumped over onto the ground, fast asleep. When Swablu was sure they were asleep, it stopped singing.

"Good work, Swablu!" May shouted. Her and Alex quickly got up and approached Swablu, who was chriping happily at its success.

"Now we can get into the weather station and put a stop to whatever it is Team Aqua is doing..." Alex said.

"Right! And we can hopefully get some breakfast too!" May added. She then held up Swablu's pokeball.

"Thanks for the help, Swablu. Return!" May recalled Swablu, and placed its pokeball back on her belt.

"Alright, lets go." May said, and the two of them entered the weather station through the front door. Upon entering, however, they found four more members of Team Aqua in the lobby, and all four noticed them enter.

"Hey! How did you two get past the guards?!" One of the men demanded as all four approached May and Alex.

"Well so much for the subtle approach..." Alex grumbled. He and May each reached for a pokeball, but before May could call out her pokemon Wynaut hopped out in front of her.

"Wynaut! Get back here!" May said to it. "You're not ready for a battle yet!"

"Anorith! Go!" Alex called out as he threw out the pokeball, aiming in front of Wynaut. The pokeball landed, releasing Anorith between Wynaut and the advancing Team Aqua members. Each of them then called out their own pokemon, consisting of two Poochyena and two Zubat.

"Poochyena, Tackle attack!" Two of the Team Aqua Members called out.

"Zubat, use Wing Attack!" The other two called out.

"Anorith, Protect!" Another held out its claws sideways, forming a protective bubble around itself. The Poochyena and Zubat rushed towards it, but the Poochyena ended up slamming into the bubble and the Zubats were deflected off to the side as they tried to use Wing Attack. Wynaut remained where it was, looking determined to get involved in the fight.

"Attack again!" One of the Team Aqua members commanded. "That thing's protection won't last against another attack!"

One of the Poochyena rushed towards Anorith to try to tackle it again, but this time Wynaut ran in front of Anorith. As Poochyena was about to attack, Wynaut intercepted with its tail and sent the Poochyena rolling across the floor and into its trainer. The impact left the Poochyena in a daze.

"Useless pokemon..." The Team Aqua member grumbled, recalling his Poochyena.

"Wow...maybe Wynaut is ready for battling..." May said to herself. She recalled Wynaut using a similar tactic against Raikou back in the power plant, in which Wynaut used its own attack against it.

"Wynaut must be discovering its powers." Alex commented. "Alright, use Sword Dance Anorith!" Anorith focused its power, and a blue aura formed around it in the shape of several swords. As Anorith was powering up, one of the Zubats came in for another attack. Wynaut was quick to intercept its attack as well, however, and the Zubat's wing met with Wynaut's tail, taking the full impact of Wynaut's Counter attack to its wing. Zubat was sent spinning into the leg of a nearby tail and was immediately knocked unconcious. Its Team Aqua trainer recalled it.

"Damn it! We're getting our asses kicked by a pair of runts!" One of the two Team Aqua members who still had a pokemon left grumbled.

"Lets both attack that Wynaut at the same time!" The other suggested.

"Alright then...Poochyena, Tackle attack!"

"Zubat, Wing Attack!" The two pokemon closed in on Wynaut, and Wynaut quickly looked between the two of them, trying to figure out which one to counter as it could only take one of them at a time. Fortunately, it didn't have to worry about it.

"These two are all your's, Anorith! Metal Claw!" Anorith's claws took on a silverish appearance as it suddenly leapt over Wynaut's head, slashing down at the Zubat as it moved in to attack Wynaut. Anorith then landed in front of Wynaut and swiped at the charging Poochyena. The injured Zubat fell to the ground behind Poochyena, who was then knocked on top of it from the power of Anorith's attack, both pokemon unconcious. Their trainers returned them.

"Damn it! We got to warn the others!" One of the Team Aqua members said, and all four of them rushed upstairs.

"Wynaut! You were great out there!" May exclaimed, picking up Wynaut and hugging him close to her. Wynaut hugged her as well, happy with its victory.

"Wynaut must have learned a bit about fighting from watching your battles, May." Alex commented. "It must have been looking for a chance to try its hand at battling ever since that incident with Raikou."

"I wonder if he's learned all his attacks yet..." May said, examining Wynaut to see if he's been injured in the battle. Despite blocking two attacks, though, it seemed to be ok.

"Well he obviously knows Counter and Mirror Coat, which is good enough for him to fight with. I'm pretty sure Wynaut that learn all their attacks tend to evolve into Wobbuffet though. Or at the very least, all Wynaut that evolve have learned all their techniques before evolving."

"He's kinda young to be evolving already isn't he?" May asked.

"Who knows? There was never actually any research done into pokemon age and evolution as far as I know..." Alex said with a shrug. "Anyway, enough about that. Those Team Aqua members have probably alerted the others by now, we need to get a move on!"

"Right!" May said in agreement. "Ready for another fight, Wynaut?" Wynaut gave an enthusiastic nod, looking forward to another battle.

"Alright, lets go Anorith." The two trainers and Anorith made for the stairs to go up to the next floor. Alex ended up carrying Anorith, since its legs were too small for it to climb up on its own. When they got to the top, there were two more Team Aqua members waiting for them. Alex and May set their pokemon down on the floor in preparation for battle. The two Team Aqua members, one male and one female, had already sent out their own pokemon, two Corphish.

"You two aren't going any further!" A female Team Aqua member claimed.

"There's no way you're getting past us!" The male said.

"We just beat four of you downstairs and now you expect to beat us with half that many?" May questioned them, folding her arms over her chest.

"Well, they do have better pokemon...I mean the others were using Poochyena and Zubat, these two have Corphish. So they're already ahead." Alex said to May.

"I guess you're right..." May said in agreement. "But still, they're just lowly grunts, right? So their pokemon are still probably pretty weak..."

"Grr...you two are asking for it!" The male exclaimed in rage. "Corphish, use Crabhammer on that Anorith!"

"You too, Corphella! Attack Wynaut!" The female Team Aqua member commanded, calling her pokemon by its nickname. The two Corphish charged towards Wynaut and Anorith, claws raised as they prepared to attack.

"Wynaut, use Counter!" May commanded.

"Anorith, Protect!" Anorith held out its claws as it prepared a defensive barrier against the incoming attack. The Corphish attacking Anorith found its claw bouncing off a bubble of protection around Anorith, while the other Corphish met with Wynaut's tail. The resulting counterattack knocked both pokemon back, Wynaut from the force of Corphish's attack and Corphella from the power of Wynaut's counter. Both pokemon were looking pretty banged up from the attacks.

"Wynaut! Are you ok?" May asked, suddenly she wondered if it was a good idea to send Wynaut into battle like that, especially since she couldn't return it to its pokeball. Wynaut slowly got back on its feet, and looked as though it was having second thoughts itself.

"May, you might want to call Wynaut back." Alex suggested. May nodded in agreement, picking up Wynaut while reaching for a pokeball.

"Sorry Wynaut, but I think these pokemon might be a bit too tough for you." Wynaut nodded, looking a bit upset though. "Alright then, your turn Crawdaunt!" May called out, releasing her Crawdaunt from its pokeball. Crawdaunt appeared in front of the opposing Corphish, and scoffed slightly as it looked down at its opponent. The Corphish, however, didn't back off an inch from its evolved opponent.

"Corphish, attack that Anorith with Crabhammer again!"

"Push it back with a Water Gun attack, Anorith!" The male Team Aqua member's Corphish raised its claw to attack, but was quickly met by a jet of water from Anorith. Though the attack did little to the Corphish, it did push it back out of attack range.

"Corphella, attack with Vice Grip!"

"Crawdaunt, counter with a Vice Grip attack of your own!" May's Crawdaunt and the female Team Aqua member's Corphish both attempting to use Vice Grip on each other, and ended up gripping onto each other's claws. The two pokemon clamped down hard, each seeming to be determined to crush the other pokemon's claws.

_"Anorith's holding its own defensively..."_ Alex thought, analyzing his current situation. _"But offensively, Anorith doesn't have much that'd be effective against a Corphish...better switch pokemon."_

"Anorith, you've done enough now! Return!" Alex recalled Anorith, placing the pokeball back on his belt and retrieving another.

"Magnemite, go!" Alex pushed the button on the front of the pokeball and tossed it. As it hit the ground, it split open and released a red beam of energy that formed into Alex's Magnemite.

"Magnemite, attack with Thunderbolt!" Magnemite immediately released a blast of electricity towards the opposing Corphish. The electricity struck the pokemon and it was lit up as the electricity coursed through its body. When the attack finished, the Corphish collapsed in defeat and its trainer recalled it. Meanwhile, May's Crawdaunt was beginning to win over its Corphish opponent in the Vice Grip match. Corphella was suddenly unable to maintain its grip as Crawdaunt began to overpower it.

"Good work, Crawdaunt! Now finish it with a Knock Off!" Crawdaunt released its grip with one of its claws, then proceeded to smack Corphella. Resisting the attack drained the last of Corphella's strength, and it collapsed as well. The female trainer recalled her pokemon.

"Damn it! We lost too?" The male trainer grumbled.

"Heh...wusses..." Came a gruff male voice behind them. The two team aqua members stepped aside, and a much larger man came forward.

"So it is you." The man said, looking at Alex and May. "The boss had a feeling one of you would show up, thats why he sent me. I'm Matt, a Team Aqua admin. You won't brush me aside like you did those grunts. And once I'm finished with your pokemon I'm dragging you both back to the base. Archie is interested in meeting you two again, especially you Alex..." Matt grinned evilly.

"Well for your sake, I hope your pokemon are much tougher than your teammate's. Otherwise you'll be eatting those words." Alex said, smirking slightly.

"May, you go on ahead, I'll keep this guy busy..."

"You sure about that, Alex?" May asked him.

"Yeah, I'm sure. How tough could he be? Besides, no point in both of us battling him..." May nodded in agreement, then ran off ahead with Crawdaunt and Wynaut, leaving Alex to face the Team Aqua admin, Matt.

"Heh...you have no idea what you're up against, kid." Matt said as he retrieved a pokeball from his belt.

"You're right, I don't...but I'm willing to bet you don't either." Alex said with a smirk. "So are we going to start, or what?"

"Impatient, aren't ya? Not even the least bit curious as to why Archie wants me to bring you two to see him?" Matt grinned again, chuckling to himself.

"Well I highly doubt he's inviting us over for dinner, or wants to show off his pokemon collection..." Matt twitched noticeably at Alex's taunting. "If it makes you happy, then why don't you explain? While you're at it you can tell me what Team Aqua has planned, and in particular what you're doing here, since you're probably just going to catch us and leave us in a cell of some sort in your hidden base from which we can easily escape through some flaw in the cell itself. Then we can expose all of Team Aqua for what they really are and give the location of your base to the authorities."

"Why you insolent brat!" Matt growled and raised his fist, looking like he was about to attack Alex, but Magnemite suddenly lit up with sparks. Matt snorted at the electric pokemon and lowered his fist.

"You're lucky you have your pokemon with you...but it'll only take me a few minutes to fix that..." Matt held up the pokeball, and finally released his pokemon to start the battle.

"Crawdaunt, go! Crush that twerp's pokemon!" Matt released his Crawdaunt, which appeared to be slightly larger than May's and much more menacing in appearance. Its shell was slightly darker as well, almost making it seem evil.

"Crawdaunt, attack with Ice Beam!"

"Magnemite, use Thunderbolt!" The two pokemon immediately went on the offensive and launched their attacks. Magnemite's magnets sparked with electricity before firing off its Thunderbolt attack towards Crawdaunt, meanwhile Crawdaunt pointed its claw at Magnemite and fired an icy-blue beam. The two attacks met, passing through each other without any effect, then struck their respective targets.

Magnemite became encased in ice as the Ice Beam attack struck it, but the ice soon shattered and Magnemite was freed though slightly weakened by the attack. Crawdaunt, on the other hand, took a much greater effect from Magnemite's Thunderbolt attack, growling in pain as the electricity struck it and coursed through its especially conductive body. Crawdaunt was obviously heavily injured by the attack when the electricity subsided, and small wisps of smoke rose from its shocked and charred body.

"You know, you guys should really invest in a more varied team of pokemon..." Alex said to Matt, a smirk crossing his lips. "I mean, really, Magnemite here could probably take on the rest of your pokemon as well...aside from water-type pokemon, all you people ever use is Zubat or Poochyena. Or their evolved forms."

"Don't assume that you'll win just because you have a type advantage, kid. We're just getting started here...Crawdaunt, use Brick Break!" Crawdaunt moved forward towards Alex's Magnemite as fast as its small legs could carry it then hit Magnemite with its claws as if it was punching it. Magnemite was sent reeling from the sheer force of the impact. It was still concious, but barely.

"Magnemite, use Thunderbolt again!" Magnemite shook off the impact from Cawdaunt's Brick Break, and fired off another blast of electricity as a counter attack. This second blast was more than the injured Crawdaunt could handle, and it immediately fell unconcious. Despite his Crawdaunt's defeat, Matt was grinning as he recalled it.

"Your Magnemite looks like its in pretty rough shape. It wouldn't take much for me to finish it off now. Your days of messing with Team Aqua are about to come to an end, girl."

"Girl? Not only are you delusional, you're blind. I've got five pokemon left on me after Magnemite, and Magnemite's not down yet."

"You may look like a boy with your hair cut short like that, but Archie has it all figured out..." Matt snickered. "There's only one person who would know as much about Archie and Team Aqua's goals as you do...and that person is Melany Stone."

_"Damn it!"_ Alex, or rather Melany, thought._ "This is what I get for running my mouth..."_

"So you figured me out..." 'Alex' muttered. "What does he want now? A medal?"

"He wants to put an end to you and your friend's meddling. You just can't seem to see the beauty of Archie's plan..." By this time, Matt was reaching for his next pokemon. "And since you can't see things our way, you're just going to have to be locked up until we're finished...then everyone will see the glory of Team Aqua."

"You really are delusional..."

"Not quite, but you'll see soon enough..." Matt grabbed the pokeball he was reaching for and released his next pokemon, "Mightyena, go!" A red beam of energy released from the pokeball, and took the form of a black furred wolf-like pokemon in front of Matt.

"Mightyena, attack with Shadow Ball!"

"Magnemite, use Thunderbolt!" Matt's Mightyena formed a dark orb of energy in front of it, then launched the ball at Magnemite. At the same time, Magnemite fired off a blast of electricity from the magnets on each side of its body. The two attacks collided, and the impact of the Thunderbolt attack and Shadowball resulted in a burst of electricity and shadowstuff that didn't reach either pokemon.

"Mightyena, now! Use Take Down!" Mightyena charged towards Magnemite, quickly closing the short distance between them, and slammed into it in a full body tackle that knocked both pokemon to the ground. Mightyena quickly stood up and shook off the impact, but the attack was more than Magnemite could stand at this point and it collapsed. Alex recalled his Magnemite.

"There goes your electric pokemon, kid...still think you stand a chance?" Matt taunted Melany, snickering to himself.

"Well unless you have some secret weapon up your sleeve, I still have the advantage...I have more pokemon than you do, and you obviously don't outmatch me enough that I have no hope of winning." Melany placed Magnemite's pokeball back on her belt and drew another. "Numel, go!"

Melany released the pokeball from her grip after pressing the button, and when the pokeball hit the floor, it split open and released Numel. The fire-type pokemon looked around lazily, but upon realizing it was in a battle it suddenly appeared to be more serious and had a look of determination in its eyes.

"Whats this now? You're using a fire-type pokemon now? Against Team Aqua?" Matt snickered. "Thats the last mistake you'll ever make!"

"You don't have any water pokemon left and you know it..." Melany stated.

"Ha! What makes you so sure?" Matt questioned her.

"Well, you have three pokeballs on you. One is Crawdaunt, who's down for the count. The other is Mightyena's. Since the only other water pokemon you Team Aqua seem to use are useless on land, then if you actually intend to use pokemon number three it can't be a water type." Matt growled angrily. Although he acted as though he had Melany right where he wanted her, the truth was he was expecting the grunts would have at least worn their pokemon down. He also didn't expect to have to deal with both Melany and May.

"Even if that is the case..." Matt grumbled. "I don't intend to back down, kid. Mightyena, use Take Down!"

"Didn't think you would...Numel, Ember!" Mightyena took a leap backwards, putting some distance between itself and Numel, then began to charge forward. It didn't get very far, however, before it was hit in the face by a small fireball from Numel. Though the damage seemed minimal, it did distract Mightyena temporarily.

"Now, use Take Down Numel!" Numel charged forward towards Mightyena and hit it with a full body tackle attack. The force of the impact knocked Mightyena onto its side and sent it sliding to its master's feet. Numel shook its head after the impact, shaking off the dizziness it felt from it. Mightyena slowly got back up on its feet and glared at Numel.

"You know, I bet your friend has met up with Shelly by now..." Matt said, grinning widely.

"Shelly?"

"Another Team Aqua admin, originally sent here to overseer Team Aqua's inquiry into this station's study on rain. By now, she's probably mopped the floor with that girl!" Matt snickered.

"Oh really?" Melany replied. "I hope Shelly's better than you are then, because May's at least as good as I am."

May didn't have any trouble moving around to find what Team Aqua was after, as all but one Team Aqua member was watching Alex and the admin Matt battle. May had reached the far end of the room, where a door lead into the station's laboratory. Standing in her way, however, was the last Team Aqua member. A woman with long, curly red hair stood in the doorway with her back to May. Whoever it was seemed to be overseeing Team Aqua's operations on the other side of the door.

"Hey, you!" May called out to the woman. "Either turn around and get ready for a pokemon battle or get out of my way!" The woman slowly turned around to face May and glared at her, clearly unhappy with her intrusion.

"And who do you think you are to challenge Team Aqua?" The woman asked.

"I'm May Maple, and I'm going to..." May was interrupted when the woman suddenly burst into a fit of laughter.

"You're May Maple? You're the one my boss said to watch out for? I suppose you're going to be battling me with that, too?" The woman pointed at Wynaut and laughed some more, much to Wynaut's displeasure, but then her expression changed to a more sinister one. "If you've come here to try to stop us, you've got another thought coming. I'm the Team Aqua Admin Shelly, and I'm not a pushover like those grunts you beat downstairs!"

"Funny, thats what that Matt guy said...so which one of you IS the admin?" May asked curiously.

"Oh, well, you see...there's actually more than one admin because..." Shelly paused for a moment. "Wait a minute, what the heck am I telling you for?!" Shelly quickly grabbed a pokeball off her belt, which contained three pokeballs just like the other admin.

"So you want to challenge me? Lets see what you're made of then, brat! Mightyena, go!" Shelly was wasting no time sending out a pokemon to battle with, and released her Mightyena from its pokeball. The pokemon appeared before her and growled menacingly. May responded by reaching for a pokeball as well after placing Wynaut on the floor.

"Electrike, this ones your's!" May called out, holding up the pokeball and releasing her pokemon. "Go!" The pokeball opened up, releasing Electrike. The green electric pokemon appeared in front of May, looking ready to fight although it appeared to be a bit intimidated at first by the Mightyena's prescence.

"Mightyena, use Bite attack!" Mightyena quickly moved forward with its head low to the ground, then snapped its powerful jaws down hard on Electrike's body. Electrike yelped in pain as Mightyena bit into it.

"Your Mightyena just bit off more then it can chew!" May said smugly. "Electrike, use Thunderbolt now!" Electrike's body sparked with electricity, paralyzing Mightyena and preventing it from letting go. Electrike then channeled its powerful electric attack directly from its body and into Mightyena. Sparks danced all over Mightyena's body as the electricity flowed through it, and its eyes widened in both surprise and pain. It didn't take long for Mightyena to collapse from the powerful electric attack. Shelly grumbled as she recalled her pokemon.

"That was an amateur mistake..." Shelly grumbled to herself. "Well I won't make the same mistake twice." Shelly smirked as she placed Mightyena's pokeball on her belt and took another one.

"I doubt you've ever seen a pokemon like this one before, kid..." Shelly said as she prepared to release her next pokemon. "Castform, go!" The pokeball opened, releasing a pokemon that was unfamiliar to May...and surprisingly cute. The pokemon that appeared was a very small white pokemon that looked like an upside down raindrop floating on a cloud that grew out from the bottom of its body. She was actually surprised to see a Team Aqua member such as Shelly using such a cute pokemon.

"I snatched this little one from the lab here...not only does it have the power to control weather, but it also changes with the weather!"

"A pokemon that changes with the weather...?" May wondered aloud.

"Just watch...and I hope you brought a parka! Castform, use Hail!" Castform paused for a moment, seeming to be confused by the lady giving it commands, but thought it better not disobey her. Castform concentrated, and the room seemed to grow cold. Small flakes of snow began to form in the air, then turned into ice crystals. Soon enough small hailstones were being tossed about in an area surrounding both Castform and Electrike, but not the two trainers.

Just as odd as the indoor hailstorm, however, was the sudden changes to Castform's body. The cloud below it seemed to form into a whirlwind around it, though Castform's body could still be seen through the whirlwind. Castform's body also changed slightly, turning a dark shade of blue with a lighter blue around its eyes.

"Whoa! This is crazy!" May said to herself. Electrike braced itself against the driving hail, which pounded on it relentlessly. Castform seemed unaffected by the hail though. May regained her composure, however, and glared at Shelly through the storm.

"Stealing pokemon is wrong! You can't win with a pokemon you've stolen!" May yelled to Shelly. Shelly just laughed.

"Is that so? We'll just see about that then, won't we?" Shelly raised her finger and pointed at Electrike. "Castform, attack with Weather Ball!" Castform against hesitated with its attack for a brief moment, but followed its orders in the end. The hail storm seemed to form into a ball of ice in front of Castform, which was then hurled at Electrike. The ball of ice landed on top of Electrike then shattered into several shards which were scattered into the storm. Electrike struggled back to its feet after being crushed by the ice ball, and the hail hitting it wasn't helping any.

_"Not looking good out there for Electrike..."_ May thought. _"I should switch pokemon...to what though?"_ May thought for a moment, trying to figure out what pokemon would be best to fight Castform with. She then suddenly had an idea.

"Electrike, good job! Now return!" May recalled Electrike, relieving it from the stress of the hail storm. She then got ready to release her next pokemon.

"Lombre, go!" May released her Lombre, which hadn't actually seen a battle in a while. The water and grass trickster appeared in front of her, in the hail storm. It was immediately battered by the hail and tried to defend itself.

"Lombre, use Rain Dance!" Lombre stood up on two legs, despite the persistant hail, and began to dance around a bit. As it did, the hail began to subside and was replaced by a gentle rain. Lombre continued its odd dance and the rain intensified.

The change in weather had an effect on both pokemon. The rain falling on Lombre actually seemed to be refreshing it as it absorbed the falling water, and Castform's body once again changed. This time its body bore more resemblance to its initial form. The cloud part of it became a larger and darker cloud, while its body turned blue and seemed to be encased in a large, blue, transparent raindrop. Shelly seemed to find something about this strategy funny, however.

"Thats not going to help you at all." Shelly finally stated. "Or did you forget that Castform also changes with the weather?"

"I didn't forget...in fact, that was my intention all along! Afterall, Lombre may be a water-type pokemon...but its also a grass-type! Lombre, use Absorb!" Shelly's eyes widened as she suddenly realized what had happened, and Castform winced in pain as Lombre stretched out its hands towards it. A green burst of energy then suddenly erupted from Castform and flowed into Lombre.

"Nice trick..." Shelly muttered. "But that won't help you for long. Castform, use Sunny Day!" Castform's body began to glow as heat energy began to build up. The energy then seemed to lift from its body, turning into a sphere. The ball of heat then rose up to the ceiling and exploded, creating the illusion of immense sunlight indoor and quickly driving away the rainstorm that Lombre had created.

Once again, the change in the weather brought about a change in Castform's appearance. The bubble around its body grew larger and turned orange, and protrusions grew out all around it, making it look like the sun when drawn by a child. Castform's body became red, and the patch around its eyes became yellow. The cloud under it changed very little, but was now white instead of gray.

_"It changed again..."_ May thought. _"But I have a pretty good idea of what it is."_

"Lombre, use Water Sport!" Lombre looked up, then started spraying water upwards. The water fell down around and on it, covering itself in water in addition to the water on it from the rain.

"That pathetic move won't help you at all...Castform, us Weather Ball!" Castform seemed to concentrate, and a ball of fire began to form in front of it. The flaming sphere continued to grow, seeming to be empowered by the artificial sunlight it had created previously. The sphere grew larger than castform before it was finally tossed at Lombre. The ball of fire landed on top of it, and Lombre winced in pain as the flames burned it. It was able to hang on, though, because the attack was weakened by the water covering it. The sphere of fire then dissipitated into the air.

_"Just as I thought...when weather-duplicating attacks like Rain Dance, Hail, or Sunny Day are used...Castform changes into different pokemon types. Its Weather Ball attack seems to change too. Lombre still has the type advantage, but the heat from Sunny Day makes fire attacks stronger and water attacks weaker...I think my best bet is to take this battle to Castform!" _

"Lombre, use Fury Swipes!" May commanded. Lombre ran towards Castform, quickly closing the distance between the two pokemon and unleashing a fury of slashes on it with its claws. Castform cried out at each strike from Lombre's claws, and seemed unable to make an attack of its own.

"Now! Use Water Gun while you have the chance!" Lombre took a small hop back, then sprayed a powerful burst of water at Castform. The sunlight did little to weaken the attack from such close range, subjecting the currently fire-type Castform to a near full strength Water Gun attack at close range. The pressure from the water drove Castform back into the wall next to the door. Castform was knocked out upon impact, and fell to the floor. Shelly grumbled and recalled the stolen Castform.

"Worthless pokemon..." She muttered. "Its power isn't even worth our time..." Shelly gave a 'hmph' and tossed the pokeball carelessly behind her. She then looked up and glared at May.

"Don't think you've won yet, little girl...I still have one pokemon left." Shelly reached for her last pokeball, but as she did she heard a beeping from a communicator she had in her ear. She reached up and tapped on the device, and a small microphone extended down from her headband to her mouth.

"This better be important...I'm busy with one of our targets here." She said into the microphone.

_"Targets? What does she mean by that?"_ May wondered. Shelly was listening to whoever was speaking through the ear communicator.

"I see. Understood sir. We will withdraw immediately." Shelly tapped her communicator again, and the microphone went back up into her bandana.

"Looks like you get lucky this time." She said to May. "But I'm sure we'll meet again." Shelly moved out of the doorway and walked past May and Lombre without another word. Two more members of Team Aqua came out of the other room and followed behind her.

"Huh? What just happened?" May wondered out loud. Lombre shrugged, not really understanding the situation.

"Well, whatever! You did great out there, Lombre! Return!" May held up Lombre's pokeball and recalled it, then placed the pokeball on her belt. She then picked up Wynaut off the floor and held him at eye level.

"Well I guess now we should check on Alex, huh?" Wynaut nodded in agreement.

"Right." May smiled. "But somehow, I don't think he had any trouble..."

"It doesn't matter if she's as good as you are, because you're going to lose to me anyway!" Matt claimed.

"We'll see about that! Time to unleash Numel's most powerful attack...now! Numel, use Overheat!"

"What?! No way! Mightyena, get away from it!" Mightyena followed its master's orders, and quickly distanced itself from Numel to stand in front of Matt. They both waited for Numel's attack...but Numel didn't appear to be doing anything.

"And that, my friend..." Melany began. "Is what you call a 'bluff'. Now attack with Ember, Numel! Give it all you've got and don't stop!" Numel opened its mouth and fired a small ball of fire at Mightyena, striking it in the face. Mightyena shook it off and growled.

"Why you little...! Mightyena, Take Down attack!" Mightyena charged forward, but didn't get very far before it was distracted by another Ember attack, and the second fireball struck it in its front left leg, brining it down. By the time it got back up, another fireball had struck it in the opposite leg, bringing it down again.

"Alright, good! Now finish it off with Take Down!" Numel charged towards Mightyena as it was getting up from its last Ember attack, and as soon as Mightyena was standing again it was bowled over by a full body tackle from Numel. Mightyena was knocked backwards, landing at its trainer's feet unconcious.

"I didn't expect someone like you to fight dirty..." Matt grumbled.

"I'll reserve playing by the rules for real pokemon battles." Melany stated. "Not for battles with criminals."

"I've heard just about enough from you..." Matt recalled his Mightyena, then reached for his last pokeball. As he did, however, a woman grabbed his hand from behind.

"Thats enough, Matt. We're withdrawing. Archie's orders." The woman, Team Aqua Admin Shelly, said to him. Matt glanced back at her, then looked back to Melany and muttered something under his breath.

"Fine. Catching the brats will just have to wait I guess." Shelly and the rest of Team Aqua left down the stairs behind Melany. Matt followed behind, glaring at her one last time before leaving.

"I wonder what that was all about?" Melany thought for a moment, then shrugged and looked to Numel. "Well, I'm sure May must have figured out what they were up to by now. Anyway, you did a good job against that Mightyena, Numel. You deserve a rest." Melany recalled Numel and returned its pokeball to her belt. By that time, May had met up with her again.

"Hey, Alex! Looks like Team Aqua's leaving." May said to Melany.

_"Alex..."_ Melany thought. _"Team Aqua's figured out who I am, maybe I should just tell May the truth? ...No, I think its best I keep it a secret still, at least for now."_

"Alex! Are you even listening to me?" Melany suddenly noticed May was standing right in front of her, glaring at her.

"Eh heh...sorry, was kinda lost in thought there for a moment, what were you saying?" May hmphed and placed her hands on her hips.

"I said we could talk to someone about getting food now..."

"Right." Melany said, nodding in agreement. "I'm kinda curious what Team Aqua was after here though..."

"I think they were interested in a pokemon they had here that can control the weather..." May replied. "I guess it wasn't what they expected though because they left it behind. Anyway, I guess everyone in the weather station would be in the room up ahead that Team Aqua had blocked off..."

"Alright then, lead the way." May lead Melany to the other side of the building where she had been fighting Shelly earlier, passing many small offices and cubicles along the way which were all empty. When they had reached the door that Shelly was blocking earlier, Melany paused and looked around.

"Wow...this place is a mess..." She commented, looking at the floor around her. There was a large circular area that seemed like it was wet then quickly dried up. Just outside that area it was wet and there was small piles of slush in some areas.

"This is where I battled Shelly, and she was using a pokemon called Castform. There was a lot of indoor weather here..."

"Castform? ...I've heard of that pokemon, but don't know much about it. Its a very rare pokemon with no known habitats in Hoenn. I know its type changes with the weather though."

"Fire-type with intense sunlight, water type with heavy rain, ice type with a hail storm." May said, nodding in agreement.

The two trainers continued into the next room, where the weather station's scientists seemed to be busy cleaning up. There were a few Castforms floating about the room as well, and some of the scientists were tending to them. There were papers all over the place, and the room looked like it had been ransacked. As soon as May and Melany entered the room, all the scientists immediately turned to them.

"You're not one of them...are you?" One of the scientists asked. "No, you couldn't be...you're not wearing their uniform..."

"Nope, we're just the ones that fought them off!" May said to the scientist. "I'm May Maple, and this is Alex."

"Don't pay any attention to her." Melany said, keeping with the guise of 'Alex'. "We didn't fight them off, they left of their own accord while we were battling them." May quickly shot her a look.

"Ah...well thanks for your help anyway." The scientist replied. "It seems they were looking for pokemon to make it rain for some reason, and tried to take our Castform. It seems that at the very least you delayed them from doing that...we need to thank you in some way."

"Umm...you have any food around here...?" May asked sheepishly.

"And raincoats..." Melany added. The scientist blinked and looked at them oddly for a moment.

"Well of course we do..."

The scientists working at the weather station were more than happy to share some of their food with the two trainers, and provide them with a raincoat each since they had a few spares. While eatting, May and Melany explained what had happened to them on their way to Fortree. May also went into great detail about her battle with Castform, and Melany took a few notes from May's story to help understand Castform's abilities.

"So you're the daughter of Norman, the gym leader then." The head scientist, Bill stated. He was the one who had addressed them when they entered the lab earlier, and was still with them while the two trainers ate some waffles. Wynaut had managed to get a berry out of the deal.

"So what about Alex, then? Who's he?" Bill asked.

"Him? He's a nobody." May stated, causing Melany to nearly choke on a mouthful of waffle.

"I see...well its a good thing you two came along when you did, in any case. If you hadn't, then they might have very well made off with all our Castform."

"Oh we deal with Team Aqua and Team Magma a lot anyway..." May said before taking another large bite from a waffle coated in way too much syrup. She chewed it for a moment and swallowed.

"Its kinda funny but it seems like we're often in the right place at the right time to stop them from doing something..."

"You mean they've both been causing trouble?" Bill asked, perplexed by this information. "I've only ever heard of Team Aqua doing such things, but supposedly its only rogue..."

"Thats a bunch of lies!" Melany suddenly blurted out, slamming her hands on the table and startling May, Wynaut, and Bill. Wynaut and May both stopped eatting and just stared at her in surprise. Melany realized she caused a bit of a scene with her sudden outburst, and quickly calmed herself.

"What I meant is...its not just rogue Team Aqua members. Thats just a coverup by their boss to make it look like they're the good guys. Team Magma, on the other hand, just doesn't get caught when they're breaking the law so no one ever thinks they're up to anything."

"They didn't seem to be making any attempt to cover this one up, however." Bill stated.

"Its possible they didn't think they'd be able to. When we were in Mauville, they tried one of their propeganda tricks there, making it look like they were helping out with a Sharpedo problem when really the Sharpedo were their's."

"He wouldn't have been able to beat them if he didn't have my pokemon with him." May added, nodding to herself. Wynaut also nodded in agreement with her. Melany muttered something under her breath.

"You seem to be quite the accomplished trainer, miss May." Bill said to May. "I believe that Castform you fought would do well with a trainer like you, so I would like for you to take it with you."

"You really think so?" May asked. She didn't really think trainers should simply give their pokemon away to someone else.

"Of course, we only use our Castforms for research. I think it would do well with a trainer though, and you said you're working on a pokedex, right?"

"Thats true I guess...ok, I'll take Castform with me."

"Very well, if you just give me your pokedex for a moment I'll transfer Castform to your id." May handed her pokedex over to Bill, who went off with it into one of the laboratories. May and Melany finished their waffles, then waited by the building's exit. Eventually, Bill returned and handed May her pokedex back.

"The transfer is complete, but since you already have six pokemon with you it was sent to your pc as soon as it was registered to you." May flipped open her pokedex and scrolled through it until she found Castform's entry, just to make sure it was there.

"Great, thanks Bill!"

"Your quite welcome, miss May. I hope you'll take good care of it."

With their business at the weather station finished, the two trainers continued on their way to Fortree City for their next gym badge. It was raining when they left, but with the raincoats they were given they made it to Fortree without anymore incidents.

**Author's Notes:** Yep, secret's finally out. I think in the next chapter I'll go back to referring to her as 'Alex' though, seems easier to write that way, at least until she's no longer pretending to be Alex.


	37. Chapter 28: Mirror Match!

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Twenty Eight**

**Mirror Match! May Vs. Winona!**

"Two passes to the all-you-can-eat buffet and...do you have any berries?" Alex was speaking with a waiter inside the Early Swellow Diner. It had been about an hour since he and May arrived in Fortree, and booked rooms at a nearby hotel. After that, as promised, Alex was treating May to an all-you-can-eat buffet. After which, May would be challenging Fortree's gym leader, Winona. There was only really enough time in the day for one of them to challenge the gym leader, and May was challenging her first.

"Berries...sir?" The waiter asked, slightly perplexed at first until he noticed Wynaut standing behind May. "We do carry berries, sir, our chefs use them in many dessert dishes."

"What do you have thats made with oran berries?" May asked.

"We have various desserts made with oran berries, and we have menus ready at each table..."

"Well then I guess we should just find somewhere to sit already." Alex said to him. The waiter gave a nod, then lead the two trainers and Wynaut to a table for two. He then brought a high chair meant for children to the table for Wynaut, which May placed him in. Once the waiter was gone, May took a look around the restaurant and realized that she and Alex were the youngest people there. They were probably the poorest-looking people there as well.

"Alex...I appreciate the gesture and all but...don't you feel kinda out of place here?" May asked him.

"Well, its one of the few places around here with an all-you-can-eat buffet." Alex replied while looking over a menu.

"Its kinda expensive, though, isn't it?"

"Well, I suppose it is. However its generally cheaper to get into a buffet than it is to actually order something. Go figure. Just pick out something for Wynaut and we can eat." Alex handed the menu to May, open to the dessert section. May took the menu and began reading it over.

"Wow...these sound good..." May commented while reading the menu. "I wonder if a pokemon should be eatting this stuff though..."

"At the worst he'd probably get a stomach ache, safest bet though would probably be to get something simple. Maybe order a slice of berry pie of some sort? Leppa pie is pretty good if you ask me, but I'm not a pokemon so I have no idea how Wynaut would feel about it."

"Leppa pie? I guess I could order that...that sound good to you, Wynaut?" Wynaut nodded its head excitedly, eagerly anticipating its berry pie.

"Looks like its settled then." Alex stated. "We'll place an order for a slice of Leppa pie, then we can eat."

"Well only one of us needs to place the order...so if you don't mind, I'll be at the buffet table!" May quickly got up from the table and made her way to the buffet set up in the middle of the diner. She grabbed a plate and began immediately piling various foods onto it.

_"I wonder if taking her here was such a good idea..."_ Alex wondered, recalling the repeated incidents at the cafe in Mauville. _"Ah well, who cares. Even if something does happen, I doubt I'll come here again. Or at least, I won't come here looking like this..."_

May eventually returned to the table with a mountain of food piled up on her plate, most of which consisted of various kinds of pasta she managed to find at the buffet table.

"This place is great!" May exclaimed as she put her hefty plate of food down on the table. "So much pasta, and I can have as much as I want too!" Alex stared at the pile of food on her plate for a moment, while May sat down in her seat and immediately began eatting the pasta in large mouthfuls.

"Mmm! This delicious!" May said inbetween mouthfuls of various noodles.

"Wow...did you leave any pasta for the rest of the customers? And try to remember to breathe while you're eatting that..." Alex remarked as he watched May chow down on her plate full of pasta. He was amazed by her eatting habits when pasta was involved, so much so that he didn't even notice the waiter that had approached him.

"Excusez moi, sir!" The waiter finally said in a firm voice. "Are you ready to place your order?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry about that...yeah, a slice of leppa pie, thanks."

"Will that be all, sir?"

"Yeah, thats it." The waiter wrote down the order, then gave a slight bow.

"Very good, sir. It will be ready shortly." The waiter left their table and went into the kitchen to prepare the order.

"Well, now that thats taken care of I guess I'll..." As Alex started to get up from his seat, May finished off the last of her pasta. She quickly stood up and grabbed her plate.

"That was great! I'm going to get more!" May quickly made for the buffet table again, leaving Alex stunned.

"M...more?! Yeesh! I'm glad this is all-you-can-eat! Though I kinda feel sorry for the diner..." Alex made for the buffet table as well, and picked up a plate from the end of the table. May was already going around to the various pots of pasta set up around the table and piling a large amount of food onto her plate again.

_"That girl barely eats anything the entire trip...and now she's eatting enough for at least two families. She must really like pasta..." _Alex thought to himself. He looked over the buffet table for a moment, looking for anything he might like to try. He eventually put together a modest plate with a salad with ranch dressing, a small steak, and potato wedges.

By the time he returned to the table, May was already chowing down on her pasta and Wynaut was messily eatting its slice of leppa pie, which it seemed to be enjoying. He took his seat and began calmly eatting his food, though he still couldn't help but watch May eat. It didn't take her long to finish off her second heaping plate of pasta.

"That was great..." May said, giving a contented sigh and slouching back in her seat. Wynaut had finished its meal as well, and was licking its plate clean.

"How would you know? I bet you didn't even taste it you were eatting it so fast..." Alex remarked sarcastically, still going through his own plate of food.

"I just wish I knew what all those different pastas were called..." May lifted her head up and looked at Alex, as if expecting a moment. Alex paused when he realized May was staring at him.

"...You're asking the wrong person, sorry."

"What? So Mister Know-It-All doesn't know what pasta's what?" May asked.

"I could rhyme off facts about Chimecho or Absol, but the only pasta I know is spaghetti. Only because its the most common."

"Hmm...guess you don't know everything afterall..."

"Never claimed I did, you were the one that started calling me that."

"Well thats because you seem to know everything about pokemon..."

"Not quite everything..." Alex quickly finished off the rest of his meal before replying. "But I have studied all known data on the pokemon found around Hoenn from information I found on the internet."

"Isn't the internet just full of false information and lies though?" May asked curiously. Alex shook his head.

"Naw, not if you use trusted sites anyway. Plus, I used encyclopedias as well. As far as pokemon battling goes, its relatively easy information to find. Studying it all though took a bit of time. By the way, do you know about the 'mirage pokemon' of Hoenn?"

"Mirage pokemon?"

"Yeah, legendary pokemon in other words. Their existance isn't entirely confirmed, though there's evidence to suggest they exist. Kinda like Raikou in Johto, even though that one inexplicably ended up here in Hoenn..."

"Every region probably has legendary pokemon like that...in the Kanto region next to Johto there's rumored to be a trio of flying beasts, one of fire, one of ice, and one of electricity." May said, sounding a bit uninterested. "But who knows how many of those legendary pokemon actually exist..."

"Well here in Hoenn there's a lot of those kind of pokemon rumored to exist. I found rumors of at least nine such pokemon while looking for pokemon native to Hoenn..."

"Wow...I know of six in Johto...they're all pretty popular though. In Johto there's a legend of two large bird-like pokemon, and three beasts that serves under one of those birds. The two birds are Ho-Oh and Lugia, and the beasts are Raikou, Suicune, and Entei. There's also a legend about a time-travelling pokemon named Celebi, but that seems kinda farfetched even for a pokemon if you ask me..."

"Have you heard about any legends around here yet?" May shook her head.

"I guess I haven't been around long enough..."

"Well, the biggest legend you'll hear around here is about the creation of Hoenn, some believe these two pokemon may have even shaped the world itself. Kyogre, the titan of the seas, and Groudon, the titan of the land. Its believed that Kyogre shaped the seas and Groudon shaped the continents. There's a third one as well, the sky titan Rayquaza, that supposedly keeps the balance between the two."

"You mentioned Kyogre and Groudon before..." May said, recalling Alex's talk of Team Aqua and Team Magma's goals. "But...if pokemon like that existed...wouldn't we have found them by now? I mean, where could such powerful pokemon hide?"

"Well, would we actually want to find such a powerful pokemon?" Alex replied, though his tone sounded a bit more serious all of a sudden. "If pokemon as powerful as they are were taken control of somehow by someone careless or with ill intent...the results would be catastrophic."

"And thats why you want to stop them, isn't it? You think if the legends are true, then Team Aqua and Team Magma might do something terrible...but no one would ever believe something like that..."

"Well...do you believe it?" May paused for a moment, having to think about her answer to that question.

"...I don't know, but I guess its better to be safe than sorry, huh?"

"Yeah, it is..." Alex replied. _"Though...I know they exist..."_ He then thought to himself. _"Ancient humans had a quarrel with these titans...but they survived by calling Rayquaza to save them...I doubt such an event would have been recorded in those ruins unless it actually happened. Well, it won't matter. I probably have plenty of time for my pokemon to get strong enough to beat Team Aqua and Team Magma into submission before they're anywhere near close to awakening Kyogre and Groudon." _Alex looked across the table at May for a moment.

_"Plus...May's willing to help me. Between the two of us we can easily take out Team Aqua and Team Magma. I just...I just wish I could tell her the truth about who I am. How would she react though? She'd probably hate me for not telling her in the first place."_

"Alex? You okay? You kinda zoned out there..." May's voice snapped Alex out of his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh...sorry about that. Was just uh...thinking about our upcoming battles with Winona."

"Well don't keep me in suspense! What are we up against?" May asked, smiling.

"Well, like I said before, Winona has five pokemon but only fights three on three, so even trainers like me who know what pokemon she has can never fully be ready." Alex said to her. "She also opens the roof of her gym during battle, giving her pokemon an aerial advantage."

"Hmm...well I guess I'll have to come up with a strategy by tomorrow then. Though I think I have an idea...one that you'd probably be jealous of!" May grinned widely when she finished speaking.

"Oh? So whats your strategy?" Alex asked.

"You'll have to wait and see!" May said with a wink.

The two were sitting there for a few minutes longer before the waiter noticed they were finished their meal, took their dishes, and left a bill for the slice of pie. Alex paid for the pie, and then they went back to their hotels for the night. It was already decided that May would be battling the gym leader first, and would do so first thing in the morning. They returned to their separate rooms, each with a lot on their mind.

"Do you think Alex meant anything by that? Taking me to that restaurant, I mean?" May asked Wynaut, though not really expecting an answer. Wynaut didn't really seem to take notice of her question either, too preoccupied bouncing on the bed. May had already set her stuff down on a dresser next to the bed, and was talking mostly to herself while she took a shower.

"...No, definitely not. I mean, its Alex. He doesn't seem like the type to make a romantic gesture, and I don't think he's ever really shown interest in me except as a friend." May turned the water off, and stood in the shower for a moment, letting the water drip from her hair and staring at the tap as if deep in thought.

"But that place couldn't have been cheap...and it definitely seemed like the kind of place you'd take a girl if you're trying to impress her...but I don't think Alex is really the type to try to impress a girl like that...and he wasn't acting any different than usual...it was as if it was nothing to him. That slice of pie he paid for, Wynaut? You could get a whole pie at a bakery for that much. It must be nice to have money..." May giggled quietly to herself at her comment, but then sighed.

"Well...I guess its nothing to dwell on in any case. Though I wonder if I could get him to take me to places like that more often? I mean, this is only the second time I've had pasta since becoming a trainer!" May stepped out of the shower and dried off, then slipped into a white t-shirt and pair of shorts that she had in the bathroom with her. She planned to wash her clothes the next morning and didn't want to wear dirty clothes to bed, so she was wearing her spare clothes instead.

"I can't wait until my gym match tomorrow, Wynaut!" May said as she came out of the bathroom. "I have the perfect strategy! To battle Winona's team of flying pokemon...I'll use all flying pokemon too, taking away Winona's aerial advantage!"

_"Wow! Mommy's so smart!" _Wynaut thought, still bouncing on May's bed.

"You know, I'm going to need that bed sometime tonight..."

Meanwhile, in Alex's room, Alex was standing in front of a mirror after having removed his hat and looking at his reflection.

_"Hair's starting to grow back a bit.."_ Alex thought. _"Wonder if I should cut it again, or just wear my hat all the time. I'll leave it alone for now I guess..."_ Alex reached back, running his fingers through his hair.

_"Well, guess I should get ready for bed. Want to be fully rested for my gym match tomorrow, and I doubt May would let me sleep through her's..."_ Alex went to his bed and took a change of clothes out of his backpack so he could take a shower. He also planned on washing his clothes in the morning, and didn't want to wear dirty clothes to bed.

"Now that I think about it...I wonder what May's strategy is? She usually doesn't plan ahead much, instead she just seems to go with the flow of the battle...which has gotten her this far, I guess. Only strategy she ever really uses is type alignments, to an extent. It'll be interesting to see what she does."

Alex went into the bathroom, taking his change of clothes with him. He quickly undressed, placing his clothes in a bag to take them to be washed in the morning, and got in the shower. When his shower was finished, he put on his clothes consisting of a pair of white boxers and a matching shirt. Once he was ready for bed, he got out his notebook and quickly made a list of things to buy when he and May went shopping after her gym match. Once the list was finished, he went to sleep.

The next day, Alex and May met up in the hotel laundry room. To save a bit of money and time they put their clothes in the same machine. Once their laundry was done they returned to their rooms to change into their usual outfits, then went out to grab a quick breakfast. After feeding their pokemon as well, May stopped by the pokecenter to switch her team around.

She deposited her Combusken, Crawdaunt, and Lombre in exchange for her Pelipper, Tropius, and Slugma. Pelipper and Tropius were part of her strategy for her upcoming battle, while Slugma she was withdrawing to give Combusken a break. With her team ready, she immediately went to the Fortree Gym to challenge Winona.

"I'm here to challenge the gym leader!" May announced as she walked through the gym's double doors. Upon entering the gym she was immediately face to face with surprised-looking purple haired woman.

"Trainers are coming by earlier and earlier every day...I just unlocked the doors too..."

"Huh?" May checked the time on her pokenav. "9:01...I guess I am kinda early...sorry about that..." May replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head in embarassment.

"Told you we should have waited..." Alex muttered, walking in behind May.

"In any case, I'm Winona, the gym leader her." The woman finally stated. "And as the gym leader of Fortree Gym, I accept your challenge." The two trainers immediately took up position on either side of the battlefield in preparation for their battle.

"We will use three pokemon each, to be selected before the battle begins." Winona stated, outlining the rules for their battle. "Also, pokemon must be within visual range throughout the battle." As if to add reasoning for the second ruling, Winona activated the gym's roof. The grinding of gears could be heard as the roof begin to open up, splitting across the center and moving out until the area directly above the designated battlefield consisted of open sky.

Once the gym was ready for battle, Winona took three pokeballs from her belt, and May did the same. May had already decided that she was going to use Tropius, Pelipper, and Swablu in her upcoming battle. She had no idea what pokemon Winona was going to use, though. In fact, Alex never actually told her what five pokemon Winona has.

"Now that the gym is ready and our pokemon are selected, we will begin the battle!"

_"You know, come to think of it, gym matches oughta have referees..."_ Alex thought. He was sitting on a bench off to the side with Wynaut sitting beside him. _"Any tournaments would have them anyway, so why not something as important as a gym battle?"_

"Tropius, go!" Winona and May called out simultaneously, throwing their respective pokeballs out onto the battlefield. The pokeballs both opened, each releasing a leafy dinosaur-like pokemon. The two identical-looking pokemon stared each other down from opposite ends of the gym.

_"We both sent out the same pokemon?!" _May thought in surprise.

_"Tropius? Do I even want to know what strategy she thought up that involved using a grass pokemon in a flying gym?"_ Alex wondered.

"Tropius, take to the skies!" Winona commanded. Her Tropius gave a flap of its four giant leaves, then took off into the skies above the gym. Tropius turned its long neck to look at May, who simply nodded to it. Her Tropius then also took off into the skies after Winona's Tropius. Although this was May's plan from the beginning, to go for air-to-air combat with Winona, she quickly realized there was a flaw in her plan.

_"Tropius won't be able to hear me from in here...and the same would go for Winona as well...I guess that means the outcome of this battle is entirely up to our pokemon. Well Tropius put up a pretty good fight when I tried to catch it with Combusken, and I know it'll do its best now..."_

Meanwhile, in the air, the aerial battle was getting underway. May's Tropius, realizing it wouldn't be getting any orders from May, started off the battle by firing a barrage of sharp leaves at its opponent. Winona's Tropius, who was at a higher altitude, swiftly evaded the attack.

Winona's Tropius then dove down towards May's Tropius, quickly gaining speed on its descent, its four leaf wings held level, then angling at the last moment to pull up just as it was striking May's Tropius. May's Tropius started to plummet as it was knocked out of the skies, but regained a stable flight before falling into the gym.

_"That, if I'm not mistaken, would be Aerial Ace..."_ Alex thought, as he, May, and Winona all watched the battle from within the gym. Wynaut seemed to lose interest after the two pokemon had left through the roof. Out of boredom, Wynaut curled one of its arms as if making a fist and hit Alex, then tried to feign innocence. Alex decided to ignore him for the most part.

_"Baby pokemon...they can be as annoying as baby humans..."_ Alex kept his attention on the battle above them, despite Wynaut taking the odd shot at him.

_"Come on Tropius...I know you can do it!"_ May mentally urged her pokemon on, though she felt like a spectator in her own battle. Winona, on the other hand, was taking the battle in stride. She had been a gym leader long enough to be used to this kind of thing.

Winona's Tropius came back around for another Aerial Ace attack, diving down towards May's Tropius again and using the speed of its dive to attack May's Tropius. May's Tropius was ready this time, however, and began flapping its wings rapidly to create powerful gusts of wind. Winona's Tropius was forced to abort its attack run as it encountered the winds, veering off to the side and putting it below May's Tropius.

May's Tropius took the opportunity to dive down toward's Winona's Tropius for an aerial attack of its own, coming down on top of it to stomp it in midair. The force of the impact sent Winona's Tropius spiraling downwards into the gym, where it crashed into the floor. Wynaut became much more interested in the battle at this point, and finally stopped hitting Alex.

_"Wow...May's Tropius actually seems to be pretty strong for a wild pokemon she just caught..."_ Alex thought. At that moment, May's Tropius finally came down through the roof just as Winona's was starting to get up. May's Tropius dove down toward's Winona's again, hitting it with another stomp attack before pulling up and flying over towards May. It then suddenly stopped and turned around while still in the air, hovering in front of its trainer.

"You're doing great out there, Tropius!" May cheered it on as Winona's Tropius started to get back on its feet again, trying to shake off the attack. It had taken some pretty powerful blows by this point.

"Now, attack with Magical Leaf!" May called out.

"Tropius, counter with your own Magical Leaf!" Winona commanded. The two Tropius simultaneously launched their attacks, sending a barrage of sharp leaves at each other. The leaves fired by May's Tropius seemed to home in on Winona's Tropius, while the leaves fired by Winona's Tropius homed in on its opponent's leaves. The two attacks met in the middle of the gym, and each leaf became shredded as they collided, creating a green confetti in the middle of the gym.

"Tropius, Stomp attack!" May's Tropius flew over to where Winona's Tropius was, preparing to drop on it with another aerial stomp attack.

"Block it with Whirlwind!" Winona commanded. Her Tropius then began flapping its four large leaves, kicking up a strong wind to block its opponent's attack. May's Tropius flew into the wind storm and seemed to be held still only a few feet away from its target. It flapped its wings hard, pushing against the wind with all its might.

May's Tropius continued to relentlessly push against the Whirlwind attack, but Winona's Tropius was able to maintain a strong enough wind to keep it at bay. Just as May's Tropius was ready to give up, it recalled its gust-fight with the wild Tropius just days earlier. It remembered how the other Tropius managed to beat him, and gain leadership over his herd.

With a renewed fury, Tropius fought back against the wind with everything it had. Winona's Tropius was just beginning to feel the strain from maintaining the whirlwind, and May's Tropius was finally able to break through and land on top of its opponent with a powerful Stomp attack. Winona's Tropius bellowed in pain before collapsing under the crushing might of its opponent.

"I'm surprised..." Winona began as she recalled her pokemon. Tropius jumped backwards, using its wings to aide it as the other Tropius disappeared below it, and landed in the middle of the gym.

"I never would have expected someone to be able to beat me using the same strategy, let alone the same pokemon...but don't expect the same strategy to work twice. You may be a tough trainer, being able to make it this far, but when it comes to aerial combat...no one bests me!" Winona placed Tropius pokeball back on her belt, then moved one of her remaining two pokeballs to her freehand.

"Pelipper, come on out! Lets show her how its done!" Winona called out, releasing her Pelipper from its pokeball. As soon as the pelican pokemon appeared on the battlefield, it took off into the air but stopped near the roof of the gym.

_"We both chose to use Pelipper too? I wonder what the chances are that we'd have two of the same pokemon..."_ May looked at her Tropius opponent, quickly trying to analyze the best strategy for this opponent. _"Pelipper will almost definitely outspeed Tropius in the air...I think I'll have to try fighting this one from the ground."_

"Pelipper, use Wing Attack!"

"Tropius, stay down and use Magical Leaf!" Pelipper dove down towards Tropius, while Tropius gave a flap of its large leaves and fired off a barrage of sharp leaves towards Pelipper. Pelipper moved to the side to dodge the attack, but the leaves immediately turned and followed behind it as Winona's Pelipper struck Tropius with its wings.

The Magical Leaf attack continued to follow Pelipper as it flew by Tropius, narrowly missing the pokemon that had launched the attack in the first place. Pelipper continued trying to outrun the attack, circling around the gym.

"Tropius, fire another Magical Leaf attack!" Tropius turned and launched another barrage of leaves towards Pelipper. The pokemon saw the attack coming and slowed down to try to turn away, but as it did the initial volley of leaves struck it from behind. The attack knocked it off its course slightly, giving the second attack a chance to strike as well. Pelipper was sent spiraling to the floor of the gym after enduring the double whamee.

_"Alright! That was a good hit!"_ May thought. Pelipper was a bit slow to get back up from the impact, but eventually managed to get back up off the ground despite being in considerable pain. _"I'm starting off with a quite the advantage...I should be able to win this one easy, leaving me with three pokemon against her last."_

"Pelipper, fly above it and use Aerial Ace!"

"Tropius, use Magical Leaf again!" Winona's Pelipper quickly flew up above Tropius in preparation for its Aerial Ace attack. At the same time, Tropius fired off another barrage of razor sharp leaves that immediately homed in on Pelipper.

Pelipper dove down towards Tropius at incredible speeds as the Magical Leaf attack went straight for it. The two collided, but because of Pelipper's speed it actually shredded the leaves as it flew through them and was unharmed by the attack. It slashed Tropius along its side with its beak as it flew by, then pulled up before hitting the floor and using its momentum to fly back up to the ceiling.

_"It survived the attack? But how?" May wondered. "Was it really moving that fast? If thats the case, I'm lucky I was able to get that first attack in...but I don't think her Pelipper will be making a mistake like that again..."_

"Now, attack with Aerial Ace again!" Winona commanded. Pelipper dove down towards May's Tropius, going in for another attack.

"Tropius, use Gust!" May commanded, remembering how her Tropius had managed to block an Aerial Ace attack earlier with Gust.

Tropius began flapping its broad leaves to create powerful gusts of wind, but it was barely ready with its attack when Pelipper slashed across Tropius's right side again with its beak, once again using its remaining momentum to gain altitude. Tropius bellowed in pain, its right leg almost giving out from underneath him.

_"Tropius looks like its in pretty bad shape..." _May thought. _"If I could just land one more attack, that should be enough to finish off her Pelipper at least..."_

"Tropius, try using Gust again!" Tropius turned around as quickly as it could in its condition and began flapping its leaves to create gusts of wind.

"Pelipper, finish it off with another Aerial Ace!" Pelipper dove down towards Tropius, quickly gaining speed for its attack, though slowing down once it flew into the wind being created by Tropius. The winds stalled it enough that it had to break off its attack or risk further injury, forcing Pelipper to veer to the side of Tropius.

"Alright! It worked! Now attack with Magical Leaf again!" Tropius quickly turned to face its opponent again, firing off its Magical Leaf attack is it turned around.

"Pelipper, use Wing Attack!" Pelipper turned towards Tropius, moving in for another attack. The leaves Tropius fired just barely missed Pelipper as it flew towards Tropius, but they immediately circled around and followed behind Pelipper, slowly gaining on it. Pelipper's wings clipped Tropius as it passed by on the left side, but the impact slowed it down enough for the Magical Leaf attack to strike it from behind.

Tropius finally collapsed from Pelipper's last attack, falling over on its side and losing conciousness. Pelipper was likewise knocked out, the Magical Leaf attack that struck it send it crashing into the floor of the gym. Pelipper, in its weakened state, used its wings to try to lift itself up, but collapsed. It no longer had the strength to fight. Both trainers recalled their pokemon.

_"Interesting...that one ended in a draw..."_ Alex thought. _"So that leaves May with two pokemon to Winona's one. Well for starting out with a flawed strategy she's not doing too badly..."_

"Don't think you've won yet, May..." Winona stated calmly, a smirk crossing her lips as she held up her last pokeball. "I've saved my best for last. Altaria, go!" Winona threw the pokeball, which split open as it flew through the air. The pokemon that was released from it appeared to have the neck, head, and feet of a bird with blue feathers, while its main body and wings seemed to consist of clouds.

_"What pokemon is that...?"_ May wondered aloud. She looked to Alex, as if expecting an answer.

"May, all I'm going to tell you at this point is its the evolved form of one of your pokemon." Alex said to her from the bench.

"Evolved form of one of my pokemon?" May looked at Altaria again, noting the blue feathers and the cloud-like body and wings. _"Swablu's evolved form then...? Well if its Swablu's evolved form, Swablu doesn't stand much of a chance against it, so I'll send out Pelipper..."_

"Pelipper, I choose you!" May called out as she released her Pelipper. Pelipper gave a loud cry as it appeared over the side of the battlefield closest to May. May's Pelipper had green feather's where Winona's previously defeated pelipper had blue.

"Altaria, attack with Dragon Breath!" Winona commanded, not wasting time in getting the battle started with her last pokemon.

"Pelipper, dodge and use Steel Wing!" Winona's Altaria let loose with a stream of blue flames from its mouth, but May's Pelipper swiftly dodged to the side as it flew towards its target, wings stretched out as if it were going to use Wing Attack but taking on an almost silverish appearance to strike Altaria with steel-hard wings. Altaria was knocked back a bit but managed to keep from losing any altitude.

"Strike back with Dragon Claw!" Winona commanded. Altaria wasted no time, giving a flap of its cloud-like wings to quickly close the distance between itself and Pelipper, then gave it a hard rake with its clawed feet. Pelipper dropped down a bit from the impact but stayed airborn.

"Pelipper, use Steel Wing again!" Pelipper's wings seemed to harden again in preparation for its attack. It aimed a strike upward, but Altaria managed to grab Pelipper's wing in its claws to block the attack.

Pelipper tried a second strike with its other wing, not needing to flap its wings to fly with Altaria holding on to it, but Altaria blocked Pelipper's second attack in a similar manner. Altaria then let go of Pelipper's wings, and Pelipper had to flap to stay airborne again.

"Use Dragon Breath, Altaria!"

"Pelipper, Protect!" Altaria breathed out another stream of blue flames, with little distance between itself and Pelipper for it to try to dodge. Pelipper was able to get its protective barrier up in time, however, and the attack was blocked by it entirely. Pelipper managed to hold its barrier until Altaria ceased its attack.

"Now, use Mist!" Pelipper opened its large mouth, and a thick white mist began to billow out and quickly surrounded the two pokemon and concealed much of the battlefield from view. Neither pokemon were able to see each other through the thick mist.

"Altaria, fly up above the mist!" Winona commanded. Shortly afterwards Altaria burst forth from the top of the mist, flying upwards through the roof of the gym. This is exactly what May had planned for, however. While Altaria's view wasn't being obstructed by the mist anymore, it couldn't see Pelipper in the mist either.

"Pelipper! Now! Use Water Gun!" No sooner had May issued the command before a stream of water erupted from the mist below Altaria, striking it from below and briefly stopping it in its tracks as it had to put more effort into flying. The water did little to hurt Altaria when it hit, though it was now weighing the pokemon down a bit.

"Now! Use Steel Wing!" Pelipper came up out of the mist, which was starting to slowly dissipitate now, from the same spot the water just came from. Its wings took on a metallic appearance as it flew upwards and struck Altaria as it passed by. With its increased weight, the attack caused Altaria to plummet towards the gym.

Pelipper wasn't through yet, however, and flipped over in the air to begin a dive. It flew down towards Altaria, picking up speed in its dive, and struck it again with its wing as it passed by. Altaria cried out in pain, and its rate of decline increased from the impact. Altaria crashed into the gym floor below, and seemed to stop moving. Pelipper leveled off as it approached the gym floor, turning towards May and coming to a stop in front of her.

_"Looks like I've won!"_ May thought, already getting excited over the thought of obtaining another badge. However, Winona didn't recall her pokemon, and soon enough it managed to finally get up even though it seemed to be in a great deal of pain.

_"What?! There's no way her Altaria can still be ready to fight!"_ May thought, though her surprised expression gave away what she was thinking.

"Altaria is capable of taking more punishment than you'd think." Winona replied calmly. "Altaria, strike back now with Dragon Breath!"

Altaria quickly raised its head and blasted Pelipper with another of its Dragon Breath attacks, only this time the attack managed to catch Pelipper off guard and hit it dead on. The blue breath attack completely eneveloped Pelipper upon impact, and Pelipper collapsed to the floor of the gym as the fumes rendered it paralyzed. At the same time, the injured Altaria gave a flap of its wings to lift itself off the floor.

"May dropped her guard..." Alex said to himself, analyzing the battle. "Because of that, the tide may have turned in Altaria's favor. In its current condition, Pelipper can't..." Alex was swiftly interruped by a punch to the side of the head from Wynaut. Alex glared at Wynaut, who was glaring at him as well.

"What?! I'm just stating the facts!" Wynaut seemed to snort at him before turning his attention back to the battle at hand, fuming. May, meanwhile, realized the predicament she was in and was trying to come up with a solution.

_"There's no way Pelipper will be able to keep up with Altaria now..."_ She thought. _"I thought for sure I had it too...but even so, it shouldn't be able to take much more. I wonder if Swablu would be able to beat it at this point..."_

"Pelipper, return!" May called out as she returned Pelipper to its pokeball. She then held up Swablu's pokeball and paused for a moment to reflect on what just happened.

_"I'm lucky I still have one pokemon left...if Pelipper was my last pokemon that might have cost me the match." _May gave a sigh, then held Swablu's pokeball out in front of her.

"Swablu, lets go!" May pressed the button on the front of the pokeball, causing it to split open and release the pokemon contained inside in the form of a red beam which materialized to become Swablu, ready for its first actual battle since injuring its wing. Swablu seemed a bit surprised to be facing off against its evolved form.who

"Tropius...Pelipper...and Swablu." Alex scratched the back of his head, somewhat perplexed. "May not only chose to use Winona's strategy but she chose almost the exact same pokemon...what are the chances of that?"

"Interesting..." Winona stated in mild amusement. "Though your Swablu clearly has an advantage over my injured Altaria, I wonder if its still strong enough to beat its evolved form? I suppose we'll find out...Altaria, use Dragon Breath!"

"Swablu, Safeguard!" Swablu shimmered brightly just before being engulfed in a cloud of blue flames Altaria was spewing from its mouth. Though the attack had managed to hit, the effect of its Safeguard technique allowed it to resist the paralysis easily. Swablu hardly even seemed affected by the attack when the flames dispersed.

"Great! Now attack with Take Down!"

"Dodge it, Altaria!" Swablu started flapping its wings rapidly and started on a collision course with Altaria. Despite its larger size and injuries, though, Altaria proved itself to be faster than the small Swablu and swiftly dodged to the side. Swablu came to a stop on the other side of the gym once it realized it had missed its target.

"Altaria, use Mist!" Altaria turned around to face Swablu, then began flapping its wings and releasing a mist from its body to conceal the battlefield. Soon most of the gym was once again shrouded in mist, but this time Winona planned to have Altaria stay in the mist.

"Now use Rest!" Winona commanded. May couldn't see what was happening in the mist, though, or even if anything was happening.

_"Rest?"_ May wondered. _"Whats that supposed to do? Wait, didn't Alex mention that technique once?"_ May thought back, trying to remember when Alex told her about the Rest technique.

_"...I was able to win the first match I was in easily enough. Only used one pokemon for the entire match." The two trainers, at that time, were on their way to Verdanturf. Alex was excited about getting to enter another battle tent and was bragging to May about his win from the Slateport battle tent. May was only partially paying attention._

_"The pokemon all only knew four attacks. Spinda, the pokemon I used, knew Dizzy Punch, Psybeam, Rest, and Hypnosis. With Hypnosis I kept my opponent's pokemon asleep and hit them hard with Dizzy Punch and Psybeam. Rest I was able to use too good effect too." _

_"The Rest technique allows a pokemon to immediately restore to full health, but they go to sleep for a while. Spinda, however, had a Chesto berry which it reflexively ate as soon as it fell asleep. So as soon as Spinda went to sleep it ate the berry to wake up again, and was instantly ready for battle. It was my main pokemon through the entire battle tent because of it."_

_"You're making me want to go to sleep..." May replied dryly. It was then that she noticed a single rose standing in a patch of grass._

_"Huh? That seems kinda odd doesn't it?" May said to Alex, pointing at the rose._

_"You're right...that is odd..." Alex approached the rose, and reached out to pick it up..._

May giggled to herself, remembering how the rose turned out to be the Roselia she caught. She then remembered, though, that she was in the middle of a battle and now she realized what Winona was up to.

_"Her Altaria's healed itself! And with that mist its harder to take advantage of it being asleep..."_

"Swablu!" May called out into the mist. "You have to find Altaria and hit it with everything you've got before it wakes up!" Swablu heard May's command and immediately began searching for its opponent. May and Winona could only wait for the mist to clear to find out what the result would be.

As the mist cleared, however, both trainers could see that Swablu was nowhere near Altaria. Altaria was sleeping on the floor of the gym while Swablu was searching the air above it, and by this time Altaria was just starting to wake up from its nap.

_"This isn't good..."_ May thought. _"Swablu doesn't have any techniques that will do much to Altaria..."_

Swablu, however, was about to prove May wrong. Finally spotting its opponent slowly lifting itself off the floor, and carrying out its last command, Swablu turned towards Altaria and opened its mouth. A blue orb briefly formed in its beak before firing out in an icy blue beam. The attack struck Altaria, freezing it in a solid block of ice on contact. Though it immediately broke free, everyone was stunned by the sudden turn of events.

"Swablu! When did you learn Ice Beam?!" May asked it in shock.

"It must have learned it from Azumarill!" Alex recalled when they were in the cave, and Alex and May returned to where their pokemon were to find the cave covered in ice.

_"Altaria is classified as a dragon and flying type pokemon..."_ Winona thought to herself, analyzing this sudden turn of events. _"Even fully restored, it won't last long against an Ice Beam attack. I didn't expect her Swablu to know such a technique...but then again, apparently neither did she. I'll have to be careful."_

"Altaria, use Sing and put it asleep!" Winona commanded, then immediately plugged her ears so she wouldn't be put to sleep by her own pokemon. Altaria struggled to shake off the effects of Swablu's attack. Although it was in better condition than before, suddenly being struck by an Ice Beam attack left quite an effect on it. Altaria managed to regain its focus though, and began to sing.

"Altaria can still make a comeback if it puts Swablu asleep..." May realized, she knew she had to act fast if she was going to win. To her surprise, however, Swablu didn't seem to be falling asleep.

_"Wait a second..."_ May thought. _"Swablu's still under the effect of Safeguard! Winona must have forgotten about that!"_

"Swablu, attack with Ice Beam one more time!" Swablu once again formed a small blue orb in its mouth, and fired its Ice Beam attack at Altaria. Altaria seemed to be in immense pain as the beam struck it and ice began to coat its body. It fell to the ground and was literally out cold. Altaria had been defeated.

"That was an amateur mistake..." Winona stated with a sigh, raising Altaria's pokeball and recalling her pokemon. "Still...that was an intense battle. Congratulations, May. You've won."

"Alright! We did it Swablu!" May cried out triumphantly. Swablu chirped happily and landed on May's head. As it did though, a white light enveloped it and it began to evolve.

Swablu's cloud-like wings seemed to grow and surround its head, while its head grew longer and its beak larger. As the evolution completed, May had a fully evolved Altaria resting on her head. The weight was a bit too much for her to handle, though, and she fell flat on her face with Altaria landing on top of her.

"Altaria...I'm glad you evolved..." May mumbled, lifting her face from the floor. "But I think you're too heavy to rest on my head now..." Altaria looked a bit disappointed at this, but hopped off its trainer so she could get up. Alex and Winona approached her, Alex carrying a sleeping Wynaut with him.

"You REALLY lucked out there, May. If Swablu hadn't learned Ice Beam without you knowing, you probably would have lost." Alex said to her as he approached. May stuck her tongue out at him, but before she could say anything Winona interrupted.

"Even if she did have a bit of luck on her side, May is truly a gifted trainer." Winona stated. "She beat my first two pokemon quite handily. I'm sure she would have managed to beat my Altaria in the end one way or another. I imagine we'll be seeing if you're anywhere near as good as your friend here later though, won't we?"

"I'm plenty good, and I won't need luck to beat you either." Alex said to her.

"We'll just see about that when the time comes, won't we?" Winona held out a badge and a TM disc to May. "In any case, May, here's your Aerial Ace TM and Feather Badge. Proof of your victory here today."

"Thanks!" May replied as she took the TM and badge from Winona. "That was a great battle, Winona." May took her trainer card out of her pocket and placed her new badge on it, and put her new TM away.

Once May recalled her newly evolved Altaria and took Wynaut from Alex, the two trainers left the gym. Once she was alone, Winona gave a loud sigh.

"Too early in the morning for a pokemon battle...I bet my coffee is cold by now..."

Author's Notes: I must be getting slow and easily distracted in my old age...started off at a pretty good pace writing this one and thought I'd actually have it done within two weeks after the last chapter. Slowed down to a crawl in the middle of the battle though, so hope it was worth the wait! (Only 20, btw)


	38. Chapter 29: More Sky High Battles!

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Twenty Nine**

**More Sky High Battles!**

"I don't get it...you've hardly had the time to spend money, and yet you're broke?"

"I've kinda...been spending more than I should have...I guess..." May replied timidly. "Buying berries for Wynaut as well as pokemon food hasn't been helping much either..."

"Fine..." Alex grumbled. "I'll pay for your stuff this time...but you're going to have keep better tabs on you're spending money. Like I do."

"Thanks..." May replied, breathing a sigh of relief. The two trainers were standing just inside the Fortree Pokemart. Both of them were in desperate need of supplies, and would be spending quite a bit of money stocking up.

"You seem to have a lot of money though. I mean, you are quite the big spender you know..."

"Just because I have a lot, doesn't mean its infinite. Though I admit even at the rate I'm going I probably won't run out before my journey's over." Alex said with a slight grin.

"Show off..." May muttered.

"What can I say? I like to plan ahead." Alex stated, giving a slight shrug. "By the way...where's Wynaut?" May blinked, then looked around her. Before they started talking, Wynaut was standing next to her. Now he was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh no...where could he have gotten to?"

"He has to be somewhere in the store...the berry aisle maybe?" The two of them immediately went to the berry aisle, passing by an old woman speaking to one of the store hands about a pokemon loose in the store. Sure enough, when they walked into the berry aisle they found Wynaut trying to pull a pecha berry out of one of the displays.

"Wynaut...there you are..." May gave a sigh of relief and picked Wynaut up off the floor. Wynaut desparately struggled to grasp the berry as he was hoisted into the air.

"You can't go running off like that Wynaut...you'll get your berries but I have to buy them first." Wynaut ignored May completely, still trying to wriggle its way out of her arms and get its berry.

"Maybe you should wait outside with Wynaut and let me get the stuff?" Alex suggested. "I'm paying for both our stuff anyway..."

"I couldn't agree more." Alex and May looked back and saw the old woman and the store hand standing behind them.

"If you're not going to put that pokemon in its pokeball, then I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The man continued. May was more than surprised by this.

"Wait, whats wrong with..." May began, but Alex put his hand over her mouth to stop her.

"We don't want any trouble...just wait outside and I'll get the stuff." May looked to Alex, then to the store hand, and sighed in defeat.

"...Fine, I'll wait outside." May quietly left the store without another word, carrying Wynaut with her. The matter taken care of, the store hand went off to another aisle to stock shelves and the old lady went back to her shopping.

_"You'd think a pokemart wouldn't mind people having a small pokemon like a baby Wynaut out of its pokeball."_ Alex thought. _"Sure, Wynaut can be troublesome at times, but its just a baby." _Alex quickly glanced up and down the aisle.

"Well, since I'm here I might as well get those berries first...Wynaut seemed interested in the pecha berry so I'll grab a few of those." Alex grabbed several pecha berries, then grabbed a basket to put them in. He then went about the store gathering up various supplies including pokefood, pokeballs, and packaged food called 'trainer rations. In the pokeball section, Alex found ultra balls for sale and grabbed several of them for both himself and May.

Once Alex had gathered up everything he and May needed, he went to the front counter to pay for everything and had his stuff and May's stuff put into separate bags. When Alex left the pokemart, May was waiting outside and still carrying Wynaut.

"I can't believe they wouldn't let me stay in there with Wynaut! Its not like he was causing trouble! And its a pokemart! A POKEmart!" May's sudden outburst startled Wynaut, who instinctively wrapped its arms around its face for protection.

"Glad to see you're taking it well...been waiting long to rant about it?"

"Don't you think its unfair though?" May continued in a more calm manner. Wynaut cautiously unwrapped itself and relaxed.

"Have to agree there." Alex replied. "I only suggested you wait outside because Wynaut was acting childish. I don't see what their problem with him was, or with people having a pokemon with them while shopping. Anyway, are you going to take your stuff or am I supposed to stand here holding this all day?"

May set Wynaut down on the ground so she could take her bag from Alex. She looked through the bag briefly to make sure Alex had gotten everything she'd need.

"Wow! You got ultra balls?" May said as she pulled one of the yellow and black pokeballs out of her bag of stuff.

"They had them there, so I wasn't going to get basic pokeballs...though its not like I'm likely to use them anyway."

"Well I'll certainly put them to good use." May put the ultra ball back in the bag, then retrieved a pecha berry and handed it to Wynaut, who happily gobbled it down in a single bite.

"I'm going to head back to my hotel room and sort this stuff out. Then I'll be heading to the gym for my battle with Winona." Alex said to May.

"I'll meet you in the hotel lobby then, I have some...things I want to take care of."

"Alright, see you around then." Alex started on his way back to the hotel, and May watched him until he was out of sight.

"I think I have enough money left for one small purchase..." May said, mostly to herself. She scooped up Wynaut in her arms, then went across town to a small general store. Once she got there, the placed Wynaut on the ground and took a pokeball off her belt.

"Trapinch, come on out!" May pointed the pokeball at the ground next to Wynaut as it opened up and released May's Trapinch.

"Trapinch, I want you to stay here and keep an eye on Wynaut for me, ok? Make sure he doesn't go anywhere." Trapinch took a moment to take in this information, then gave a nod of its large head. May then went into the store, leaving her bag of stuff with Trapinch as well. Wynaut tried to follow, but Trapinch grabbed Wynaut's tail as gently as it could with its powerful jaws.

Once inside the store, it didn't take May long to track down what she was looking for. A small, simple notepad similar to the one Alex kept with him. She paid for the notepad, then left the store. Wynaut and Trapinch were still waiting for her when she got outside, with Trapinch patiently withstanding a beating from an enraged Wynaut.

"Wynaut! Cut that out!" May quickly grabbed Wynaut and pulled him away from Trapinch.

"Sorry about that, Trapinch...are you ok?" Trapinch gave a nod, it was relatively unharmed by Wynaut's attacks.

"Thats a relief. Thanks for watching Wynaut for me, you can return to your pokeball now." May held up Trapinch's pokeball, holding Wynaut in her other arm, and recalled her pokemon.

"And as for you, Wynaut..." May held out Wynaut in front of her as she spoke to it. "If you keep misbehaving, you won't get anymore berries and will have to eat pokemon food like the rest of my pokemon. Now are you going to be good?" Wynaut nodded slowly. Wynaut didn't like having May mad at him, and he especially didn't want to lose his berries.

"Good..." May placed Wynaut on the ground, then went to sit down at a nearby bench under one of the many trees scattered around Fortree.

Fotree City was known for the large trees, which grew to be as big as they did because of the amount of rain in the region. About half the city itself was actually constructed in the trees, with rope bridges going between them and wooden ladders to climb up to the treehouses. Almost all the businesses in Fortree were on the ground level, with the houses in the trees.

May spread out the things Alex had bought for her on the bench, and emptied her fanny pack as well. She then made a list of every item she had and how many of each she had, similar to what Alex usually did.

"I can't ever let Alex see me doing this..." May thought to herself while making the list. "If he did, he'd just rub it in..."

Once May and Alex had finished their respective tasks of taking inventory, they met up at the lobby of the hotel they were staying at and from there went to the gym. The two entered the gym, and May took her seat on the bench with Wynaut as Alex prepared.

"I hope you don't think you'll have it as easy as your friend did!" Winona called out from the other side of the gym. "I've had my coffee now and I'm ready for battle!

"Well I'd be disappointed if it was that easy!" Alex shot back, taking three pokeballs from his belt. "Now lets get this started."

"After saying that, he better not lose." May said to Wynaut. "For his sake anyway...cause I wouldn't let him hear the end of it." Wynaut nodded its agreement.

"Skarmory, go!" Both trainers called out as they released their pokemon. Two identical birds covered head to talon in steel armor appeared on their respective sides of the gym's battlefield.

"I just had a major case of deja vu..." Alex grumbled, slapping his hand against his forehead. "What are the chances we'd both use and start off with a Skarmory? I guess I should have accounted for this, though. Afterall, she'd use as many different pokemon as she could."

"Again with using the same pokemon as me..." Winona said with a sigh. "You won't beat me that way...not this time..."

"I don't plan to...Skarmory, return!" Alex held up his pokeball, and the red beam fired out to recall Skarmory. Skarmory, however, had other plans and quickly hopped to the side to get out of the way, then flapped its wings to get off the floor of the gym while turning to face Alex.

"...Alright, fine. Have it your way then." Alex knew there was no point arguing with Skarmory, and he easily figure out why Skarmory didn't want to be recalled. To it, Winona's Skarmory was a possible rival and it wanted the opportunity to battle another Skarmory.

"Skarmory, get ready to attack with Sky Attack!" Winona commanded. Her Skarmory flew up to the top of the gym and focused carefully on its opponent in preparation for its attack.

"Skarmory, use Agility and dodge it!" Skarmory quickly turned around, then focused its mind in an attempt to move faster. It then took off towards the enemy Skarmory as its opponent dove towards it, having completed preparations for its attack.

The two Skarmory seemed to be set on a collision course, however at the last second Alex's Skarmory flipped over so it was flying upside down, legs tucked in against it's body. The two Skarmory passed by each other, Winona's Skarmory passing over Alex's Skarmory.

Winona's Skarmory slowed down once it realized it missed its target, and turned around as it neared the floor of the gym. Alex's Skarmory stopped at the roof of the gym, putting it now where Winona's Skarmory was previously.

"Now! Dive and use Steel Wing!" Skarmory quickly dove back down towards its opponent, moving at incredible speed and aiming to the side. It was moving far too fast for Winona's Skarmory to dodge.

"Skarmory, use Air Cutter!" Winona commanded, and as Alex's Skarmory turned sharply to strike at Winona's Skarmory from the side, Winona's Skarmory managed to fire its Air Cutter attack. The attack struck at point blank range as Alex's Skarmory flew by, striking out with its hard wings.

The Air Cutter hardly phased Skarmory and simply sent it veering off to the side slightly. Winona's Skarmory, however, was still dealt a harsh blow and sent sprawling across the gym floor until it slid to a stop near the edge of the gym, its body making a sort of grinding noise as it slid. Winona's Skarmory quickly got back up on its feet, however, and was still ready for more.

_"Definitely landed a good hit..."_ Alex thought. _"But its going to take a lot more than that. Both our Skarmory's are pretty durable, and neither have attacks that are particularly effective on each other. This might take a while..."_

"Skarmory, Steel Wing!" Winona commanded.

"Counter with your own Steel Wing attack, Skarmory!" The two Skarmory quickly closed the small gap between them, Alex's Skarmory landing in the process. Winona's Skarmory took a swipe at Alex's, but Skarmory was able to get its own wing up to block the attack. Their wings clashed together sounding a lot like two swords striking each other.

Alex's Skarmory then attempted to hit Winona's with its own Steel Wing attack from its other wing, aiming to strike at its opponent's beak. However, Winona's Skarmory managed to get its wing up in time to block the attack. The two Skarmory pressed on their attacks, each trying to push past their opponent's wings to strike at more vulnerable areas. Neither seemed to be gaining any ground.

"Wow...its like they're evenly matched with each other..." May commented, watching the two Skarmory grapple with each other.

_"Ok...think...how can I get an edge over Winona's Skarmory?"_ Alex closed his eyes, sinking deep into thought. _"They're equally matched...so Winona's Skarmory probably knows all the attacks mine does...plus her's at least knows Sky Attack and probably Aerial Ace. I have a speed advantage for the moment, while she has better techniques."_

_"Maybe what I need...is more speed. Its the only advantage I seem to have at the moment, so I can take advantage of that and have Skarmory increase its speed further. First things first though..."_

"Skarmory, use Peck!" Skarmory quickly jabbed at its opponent with its beak, managing to hit it square in the face. The sudden attack caused Winona's Skarmory to stumble backwards, and Alex's Skarmory quickly took the opportunity to slash it across the chest with a Steel Wing, leaving a slight gouge in its armor.

"Now, use Agility!"

"Skarmory, retalliate with Steel Wing and keep at it!" Alex's Skarmory focused its mind to increase its speed even further than what it was already. Meanwhile, Winona's had shaken off the hit to the face, and quickly attacked Alex's Skarmory with a Steel Wing attack.

Winona's Skarmory slashed at Skarmory's side, striking it with its wing. Alex's Skarmory was knocked off balance slightly, but it managed to stay on its feet. The attack did however cause it to momentarily loose focus of its Agility technique.

_"Winona's going to try to have her Skarmory use Agility at some point as well."_ Alex thought, formulating a strategy. _"She knows that because of its use of Agility, my Skarmory has the upper hand in an aerial battle. Thats why she's kept the battle on the ground. But with Skarmory's speed now, she'll have no choice but to try to catch up with it..."_

"Skarmory, use Agility now and try to avoid its attacks!" Winona commanded, exactly as Alex had predicted. Winona's Skarmory backed off from its opponent, then concentrated to increase its agility.

"Perfect...attack with Fury Attack, Skarmory!" Alex's Skarmory rushed forward in an attempt to slash Winona's Skarmory with its beak. Winona's Skarmory was able to dodge the lightning fast attack, but not the claw from its talons that followed up. The second attack created enough of a distraction for Skarmory to continue with an assault with its beak and talons.

"Skarmory, keep focused on your opponent and try to endure its attacks!"

"Whats she trying now?" Alex wondered silently to himself. "Well whatever it is, it won't work...my Skarmory has her's against the ropes now." Alex watched his Skarmory beat on Winona's for several moments longer, slowly backing it into the corner of the gym. Winona seemed content to watch as well, despite seeming to be at a disadvantage.

"Alright...thats enough of that. Hit it with a Steel Wing attack now, Skarmory!" Skarmory delivered one last peck to its opponent, then quickly brought its right wing forward and striked it across the chest, knocking its opponent off its feet. Winona still didn't seem to be concerned though. In fact, it looked to Alex as though she was smirking.

"Skarmory, now! Use Sky Attack!" Winona commanded. Her Skarmory quickly hopped back on its feet then flapped its wings and charged forward, skimming near the floor of the gym. Its body almost seemed to become enveloped in flames as it made its attack, slamming into Alex's Skarmory at nearly point-blank range because of the distance between the two.

Winona's Skarmory pushed Alex's Skarmory across the gym with the full force of its attack, then suddenly stopped and sent Skarmory bouncing across the gym floor before smashing into the far wall of the gym, causing several cracks to form and small bits of debris to fall from the wall as Skarmory collapsed to the floor. Despite taking such a pounding, Alex's Skarmory was still able to stand up and cast a glare at its opponent. The two pokemon were both pretty banged up by this point.

"Whoa! What a powerful attack!" May exclaimed, looking down at where Alex's Skarmory had hit the wall. "I can't believe Skarmory is still standing after that..." May then looked over at Alex, and noticed he seemed quite shocked as well. In fact, she had never seen Alex so shocked before.

"No way..." Alex stammered. "Her Skarmory was able to prepare for a Sky Attack through all that? With just one attack she's evened the playing field..."

"You look surprised." Winona commented, noticing Alex's expression. "My Skarmory's been trained for that kind of situation. Its capable of gathering its strength for a Sky Attack even while under the heaviest of assaults. Its something we've worked on together quite a bit, to give it an edge in mid-air combat where it would likely be slower than most aerial opponents."

"...Guess I should have expected something like that from a gym leader." Alex relaxed, regaining his composure and smiling slightly. "Though for a second there I thought I had you for sure. Even have you out of your element a bit, though I suppose thats something else you would have prepared for."

_"Skarmory seems to be handling this battle quite well..."_ Alex noted, looking over at his injured Skarmory. _"Even though I tried to call it back at first, its been following my instructions and only doing what I ask it to. After that battle with Norman's Slaking it must really think its better off this way now."_

"This battle isn't over yet. Skarmory, attack with Steel Wing!" Winona issued her command to her Skarmory, getting the battle underway once again.

"Right! Skarmory, use Air Cutter!" Winona's Skarmory raced toward's Alex's Skarmory on foot to deliver its attack, running straight into an Air Cutter attack about midway. The attack hardly phased it, seeming as if it was deflected off its steel armor.

"Now! Steel Wing!" Alex issued one more command to Skarmory, hoping with its speed advantage it could pull it off in time. Sure enough, as the distance between Winona's Skarmory and Alex's closed, the two Skarmory each had one wing raised to strike. The two pokemon clashed, Winona's Skarmory striking Alex's in the side as it ran by while Alex's Skarmory brought its wing down on its opponent's back.

Winona's Skarmory stumbled forward from the blow, then collapsed to the floor of the gym and was unconcious from the strike. Alex's Skarmory seemed fine at first, but then it suddenly collapsed onto the floor as well. Both pokemon were unconcious.

_"Fairly predictable outcome..."_ Alex thought as he recalled his Skarmory. Winona recalled her pokemon as well.

"Double knockout. Well I hope thats the last of anymore same pokemon matchups." Winona commented. She placed Skarmory's pokeball on her belt, then prepared to send out her next pokemon.

"I can be pretty sure our next pokemon isn't the same." Alex replied, likewise putting away his Skarmory's pokeball and readying another.

"Swellow, go!"

"Anorith, go!"

The two trainers simultaneously released their second pokemon. Alex's revived fossil pokemon appeared, looking slightly out of place when faced against its flying type opponent, Swellow. Anorith was a fairly small, rocky insect pokemon while Skarmory was a flying type with plenty of space to fly and avoid Anorith's attacks.

_"Alex is using his Anorith? How can his Anorith stand up to a flying type like Swellow?"_ May wondered, finding Alex's choice to be a bit off. _"It doesn't have any attacks that give it an offensive advantage, and defensively it doesn't have an advantage either. Especially considering its facing a Swellow. I wonder if Alex has a plan for Anorith?"_

May stared at Alex's Anorith, trying to figure out just what his strategy might be, but then another thought dawned on her.

_"I should get my Lileep out of the PC when this is over..."_

"Swellow! Fly up into the sky!" Winona commanded, starting off the round by having her Swellow get well out of range of any of Anorith's attacks. The pokemon flapped its wings and took off through the roof of the gym towards the cloudy sky above.

"She's setting up for an Aerial Ace, as expected..." Alex said to himself. "Alright, Anorith! Use Swords Dance!" Anorith focused on its inner strength, and a blue aura formed around it taking the shape of several swords as it powered up.

"Now! Use Aerial Ace!"

"Anorith! Protect!" Anorith stretched out its claws, creating a blue protective bubble around it. Then suddenly, almost appearing out of nowhere due to how fast it was moving, Winona's Swellow slammed full force into Anorith's protective barrier. The barrier actually shimmered on impact, but managed to hold against the attack and forced Swellow to back off and hover just in front of Anorith.

"Now attack with Metal Claw!" One of Anorith's claws suddenly seemed to be coated in metal. It then struck out at Winona's Swellow, who's guard was down after having its attack blocked. Anorith struck it will full force, clawing it across the chest. The impact caused Swellow to tumble backwards, landing hard on its back.

"Now I get what he's doing..." May said to Wynaut, finally realizing Alex's strategy. "He's going to force Winona to get her pokemon close to Anorith, where it would have an advantage because of its increased strength." May looked over at Wynaut, and noticed he seemed to be cheering and waving his arms around.

"I've never seen you get so excited during Alex's battles before Wynaut...its because he's using Anorith, isn't it?" Wynaut stopped its cheering long enough to nod to May, then began waving its arms around and making noises again.

_"Hmm...looks like I'll have to get past its shield if I'm going to make any attempt to attack..."_ Winona thought. _"Getting in close quarters with it is an option since that wouldn't give it time to form its shield, but thats exactly what he wants...he seems to be playing this battle out like a chess match."_

"Anorith, Harden!" Alex's command snapped Winona out of her thoughts of coming up with a strategy. Anorith's skin then began to harden slightly, becoming more resistant to physical attacks.

"Swellow, use Steel Wing now!" Winona's swellow flapped its wings to lift itself off the ground. One of its wings then took on a metallic appearance just before it darted across the short distance between itself and Anorith, then hammered down on Anorith's back with its wing.

"Anorith, use Metal Claw!"

"Swellow, Double Team!"

Alex's Anorith struck out at Swellow, who was still right in front of it. However, Swellow was quick enough in getting off its Double Team attack that the Swellow it struck was actually an illusionary copy. All the five remaining duplicates then flew up and surrounded Anorith in the air, circling around above it.

"Anorith, Swords Dance again!" Anorith called upon more of its inner strength, a blue aura forming around it as its power increased.

"Swellow, attack with another Steel Wing!" The five images of swellow each dove down, each looking as if they were coming in for an attack. Then all but one of them disappeared as the real Swellow slammed Anorith with a powerful Steel Wing attack from above, smashing it against the floor of the gym and weakening it greatly. It then flew back up above its target to avoid further counterattack.

_"Even with its increased defense, Anorith probably can't take another hit..."_ Alex thought. _"But with Anorith's power at this point, one hit is likely all I'll need as well. Its just a matter of figuring out a way to get that attack in without being attacked..."_

"Now finish it off with another Steel Wing!" Swellow's wing took on a metallic appearance again as it prepared to move in for the final attack, and dove down towards its target.

"Anorith, Water Gun! Propel yourself upwards!" Anorith performed what appeared to be a hand stand, positioning its body vertically and standing on its claws. It then sprayed out water from its small mouth. Though it wasn't much, the pressure from the Water Gun was enough to send Anorith into a backflip just as Winona's Swellow tried to attack. Swellow struck the floor with its wing as Anorith landed behind it.

"Now use Metal Claw!" Anorith quickly struck out at its opponent from behind, its small claw turning metallic just before striking Winona's Swellow. Though small, the power of its attack was obvious as Swellow as sent soaring through the air and into the wall of the gym. It smashed off the wall, then fell to the floor with a dazed look on its face. It was obviously unconcious.

"You did the best you could, Swellow...return!" Winona recalled her Swellow, and placed its pokeball back on her belt.

"Wow...looks like Anorith managed to pull it off afterall. You would almost think Alex knew what he was doing out there..." May commented, stifling a slight giggle. Her comment earned her a glare from Wynaut though.

"What?" May asked innocently, noticing Wynaut's glare. "Alex couldn't possibly have been able to anticipate Winona's attacks like that, even if he..." May fell silent as she suddenly realized something.

_"Or does he...? This is the first time Alex actually sat through one of my gym battles...he already knew her signature technique is Aerial Ace, and what pokemon she had, and from watching my battle with her he would have gotten to see just how she battles as well. He actually had a bit of an advantage going into this battle..."_

"Looks like I'm down to my last pokemon..." Winona stated. "But even though you have two left, don't think you've won just yet. Pelipper, lets show him!" Winona held up her last pokeball and released her Pelipper for its second battle that day. Her Pelipper appeared flying in front of her, looking more than ready for battle.

"Her last pokemon is Pelipper...alright then. Anorith, you did good out there. You can take a break now." Alex held up Anorith's pokeball and recalled his pokemon, then switched the pokeball with the pokeball of his third pokemon.

"Magnemite, lets go!" Alex pressed the button on the front of the pokeball he was holding to release Magnemite. The steel pokemon appeared hovering in front of him, a determined look forming in its single eye as it faced down Winona's Pelipper.

"Magnemite, use Thunderbolt!"

"Pelipper, Protect!" The magnets on both sides of Magnemite's body sparked up, then fired a pair of powerful bolts of electricity that formed into one as they approached Pelipper. By the time the attack reached Pelipper, though, it had set up a protective barrier and the lightning struck Pelipper's shield. All the energy of the attack was used up without any damage to Pelipper.

"Now! Use Water Gun!" Pelipper's shield faded as it opened its mouth and fired a powerful stream of water towards Magnemite. The stream of water struck Magnemite with little effect due to the distance between them, though it was moved back slightly by the attack. Of course, weakening Magnemite wasn't Winona's goal with that attack and both Alex and May knew it.

_"Thats the same technique I beat Wattson with..."_ May noted. _"Because of how it uses its attacks, Magnemite can't use any electric techniques now without risking damage to itself."_

_"_I could attack with Thunderbolt again now..." Alex said to Winona. _"_Afterall, your Pelipper can't guarantee its safety with Protect now. Thats exactly what you want me to do though..."

"Either way, it makes no difference." Winona replied. "Your pokemon is now deprived of using any of its more powerful techniques, and can't hope to take down my Pelipper before Pelipper beats it with water attacks."

"Not quite..." Alex's response caught Winona off guard. She was curious now as to what he meant.

"As I'm sure you're well aware, pokemon researchers have noticed certain traits among pokemon in terms of what attacks are more effective against them, and what aren't. They gave pokemon type classifications based on their weaknesses and strength, such as a water type seemingly taking more damage from an electric attack."

"However, with some pokemon, such as your Pelipper, its more complicated than that. They end up classified into two type categories, due to the relationships researches noticed. For example, your Pelipper is a flying and water type. Both types are documented as being weak to electricity, and a pokemon classified as both types has been noted to be even less tolerant to those types of attacks."

"These researchers also noted that pokemon are better able to use certain techniques, and these techniques are grouped in the same category as the pokemon. So a Thunderbolt from a Magnemite is more powerful than one from a Gardevoir because electric attacks come more naturally to Magnemite..."

"Wait, my Gardevoir can learn Thunderbolt!?" May shouted out in surprise, suddenly standing up from the bench. Alex and Winona both shot her a look, and she quickly sat down in embarassment.

"Anyway..." Alex continued. "My point is...I'll only need Magnemite to land one powerful electric attack to end this battle."

"I hate to rain on your parade...but your Magnemite is in no position to use any electric attacks right now." Winona replied.

"Thats what you think...in fact, 'rain' is just what Magnemite needs right now. Or rather...rain clouds. Magnemite!" Alex's voice snapped Magnemite out of its daze, having zoned out during Alex's speech. "Use Thunder!"

Magnemite extended its control over electricity to the stormclouds above the gym. A lightning bolt shot down from the sky, and a bright flash of light briefly blinded everyone in the gym followed by a crack of thunder as a column of electrical energy struck Pelipper from above.

When everyone could see again, Pelipper was lying on the floor of the gym on its side. Its feathers blackened and charred from the lightning strike. It was down and out, only managing to let out a weak squawk before slipping unconcious. Winona was stunned by the turn of events, and it was several moments before she finally recalled her Pelipper.

"I wasn't expecting a pokemon like Magnemite to know an attack like that..." Winona replied softly, looking at Pelipper's pokeball in her hand.

"Normally it wouldn't...but the trip to Fortree gave me plenty of opportunity to practice the technique with it, courtesy of the rainy weather in the region."

_"That must have been why he was out with Magnemite so early yesterday morning..."_ May thought, thinking back to that moment. _"That thunder and lightning couldn't have been from the clouds, because it was calm by the time I woke up. And Alex was saying something about not thinking his Magnemite would be able to use 'that attack'..."_

"Well it seems you've won against my last pokemon quite handily...this victory is your's." Winona walked across the gym floor to approach Alex, and Alex met her half way after recalling his Magnemite.

"In recognition of your victory, I give you the feather badge." Winona handed over the badge to Alex, as well as the Aerial Ace TM.

"Thanks. Only two more to go now..."

"Listen to him..." May muttered to Wynaut, pouting slightly. "And he's not even trying for the Pokemon League..." She scooped up Wynaut into her arms, walking over to Alex as Winona was leaving.

"I suppose you're going to gloat about how your choice of pokemon was better than mine now? Or about how much better your strategy was?"

"Naw..." Alex replied calmly. "If you're asking that, then there's no need for me to say a thing..." Alex started towards the gym's exit, leaving May to contemplate what he just said.

"...Hey! Wait up!"

Author's Notes: A bit shorter than usual, but not by much. Got it up relatively quickly too, at least compared to the last couple of chapters. Will hopefully keep up this pace with the next one. I thought I had something else to write here but if I did it couldn't have been overly important since I forgot about it...


	39. Chapter 30: Supernerd

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Thirty**

**Supernerd**

"This just figures...we actually buy rain coats before leaving Fortree...and it stops raining." Alex grumbled.

"Well at least we're getting to use our boots..." May replied, looking about the area. "The grounds all wet..."

The two trainers were once again travelling across Hoenn. This time their destination was Lilycove city. They were still in a particularly rainy route, however, even though it was currently just cloudy. It had just recently stopped raining, and there were puddles of water everywhere.

Despite the lack of rain at the moment, Alex and May were both wearing their raincoats over their usual outfits. The raincoats were the typical yellow variety that extended down to just above their knees. They had them on incase the weather decided to be fickle. They also thought to bring their tents and sleeping bags with them, since it would be a fairly long trip to Lilycove.

"I hope we run into some pokemon soon...I want to try out these ultra balls!"

"More pokemon? Don't you have enough already?" Alex retorted. "I mean, you can barely keep up with them all as it is...and you still have Wynaut to contend with." Alex gestured to the small blue pokemon who was splashing about in each of the puddles as they walked by.

"I bet there's people out there with more pokemon than me, and if they can handle it so can I!"

"You've never even met these people, what makes you think you'd be anything like them?"

"Hmph...you're just being negative because of the weather..." May shot back, folding her arms over her chest.

"Negative? Me? No, I just try to be realistic. If the reality of the situation just happens to be negative, then I'll be telling it as it is."

"Of course..." May rolled her eyes. "Anyway...when are we stopping for lunch?"

"Lunch? We just left Fortree, you couldn't possibly...oh, wait, let me guess, you're going to take off to hunt pokemon again?"

"Of course, you gave me these ultra balls afterall. I have to try to catch something with them. So when do we stop for lunch?"

"How about..." Alex checked the time on his pokenav. "In another three hours?"

"3 hours?!" May groaned. "3 hours seems like forever..."

"3 hours is hardly a long period of time in the grand scheme of things..." Alex replied. "And there will be many more interesting pokemon in the Safari Zone when we get there anyway..."

The two trainers continued to walk on their long journey towards Lilycove, not really saying much else to each other along the way aside from May periodically asking Alex if three hours had passed yet. The rain continued to hold off, much to Alex's dismary. Now that they had rain gear, Alex was practically challenging the clouds to do their worst.

By the time Alex and May had stopped to take a lunch break, they had removed their raincoats because they had found them to be too warm and May had to take the time to dry Wynaut off with a towel she happened to bring with her. Wynaut was less than co-operative, however. While May was drying off Wynaut, Alex had set up a blanket for them to sit and eat on. Alex then released his six pokemon, followed soon by May releasing her's.

"Skarmory! Numel! Anorith! Magnemite! Swellow! Golem! Come on out!" Once by one, Alex released his six pokemon in succession. He had recently added Golem to his team again, in exchange for Azumarill. He had decided that Golem would need more training out of the two, since it had little variety in terms of attacks.

"Alright! Gloom! Electrike! Plusle! Tropius! Slugma! Lileep!" May released all six of her pokemon as well. As usual, she made quite a few changes to her team. This time around she switched Pelipper, Trapinch, and Altaria for Gloom, Plusle, and Lileep. May immediately introduced herself to Lileep.

"Hi there, Lileep! I'm your trainer, May!" May said to the strange flower-like pokemon. Lileep was much like a sea urchin in appearance, with about seven orange tendrils on the top of its head. Its long neck and small body gave it the appearance of being attached to a rock.

Lileep seemed to observe May for several moments, moving closer to her ever so slowly before suddenly latching onto May's face with its tendrils and pulling her down towards it. Lileep seemed to be smiling at this point, though May didn't quite feel the same way it did.

"Hey! Let go of me, Lileep!" May's cries were muffled, and either Lileep didn't hear her or simply didn't plan to let go. Fortunately for May, it did let go in a hurry when Tropius picked it up in its mouth.

"Thanks Tropius..." May said, giving a sigh of relief after being freed from Lileep's grasp.

"I think it likes you." Alex said casually, busy putting out food for his pokemon.

"I hope it finds better ways of showing its affection then..." May set about feeding her pokemon as well, pouring bowels of food for all her pokemon but Wynaut. Wynaut got its berry for lunch as usual. Once her pokemon were fed, May sat down to eat her lunch as well, which consisted of the usual unhealthy chocolate bar.

"You know May, with all the pokemon you have, don't you think your team is getting weaker overall?" Alex asked May, making idle conversation while they ate. He wasn't taking inventory as he usually did.

"Huh? Why would my pokemon be getting weaker?"

"Well, not getting weaker exactly..." Alex stopped for a moment to think of how to put what he was saying into perspective.

"You have a large number of pokemon, and you keep switching out your stronger pokemon for weaker ones. Thus your team is usually weak and you're often using pokemon you recently caught. Right now you'd be in pretty bad shape if a trainer challenged you..."

"You do the same thing though!" May countered. "So why would my pokemon be weak and your's wouldn't?"

"I have less pokemon, so they tend to get more battle experience overall. Your pokemon are usually lucky to get two battles before being switched. You should probably try to make more time for training your pokemon so they'll get stronger..."

"Don't tell me how to raise my pokemon!" May shouted her reply. She then quickly stood up and recalled all of her pokemon and started to walk off without saying a thing.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Alex called out after her. May quickly turned around and glared at him.

"I'm going to catch MORE pokemon! And you're not going to stop me!" May then stomped off, intent on finding another pokemon.

"I think I managed to make her mad somehow. Again." Alex happened to glance to the side, and noticed a certain baby pokemon with tears welling up in its eyes.

"She'll be back, Wynaut. She's just going to catch more pokemon when she should really be training her pokemon instead." Alex's explanation of the situation didn't seem to help any. Wynaut began crying, then ran off to catch up with May.

"Or you could completely ignore my advice too. Must run in the 'family'." Alex shrugged slightly, then stood up and picked up his backpack.

"You guys wait here. I need to go...uh...take care of something..." Alex's pokemon all nodded. They were enjoying the chance to relax out of their pokeballs anyway. Alex then disappeared into some nearby bushes, taking his stuff with him.

Meanwhile, nearby, another trainer was trying her luck at catching a pokemon. One that Alex and May had encountered before.

"I don't know what brings you all the way to Hoenn..." The trainer said to herself, studying the pokemon from behind some bushes. "But I cannot allow an opportunity like this to pass me by."

The trainer was a girl with long, black hair, and was likely a few years older than Alex or May. She had on a pair of glasses and a white and black school uniform. Resting on the ground nearby was a backpack full of standard supplies for a trainer, as well as a laptop.

The pokemon she was observing was none other than Raikou, the legendary lightning pokemon from Johto that Alex and May had encountered near Mauville. The legendary pokemon had stopped in the clearing to rest, and didn't seem to be paying any attention to its surroundings.

"I know exactly which pokemon I'll use against Raikou..." The girl reached into a small pouch hanging at her side, which she used to store her pokemon, but before she had the chance to call out her pokemon someone else initiated battle with Raikou.

"Gloom! Use Sleep Powder!" The girl looked across the clearing Raikou was relaxing in and saw May standing with her Wynaut and Gloom. Gloom pointed the flower on its head towards Raikou and released a cloud of spores. Under attack, Raikou slowly got up on its feet. Though it seemed a bit drowsy, it managed to resist falling asleep.

"Thats May Maple..." The girl whispered to herself, recognizing the other trainer. "She's ruining my chance to catch Raikou, and I can't legally interfere at this point..."

Raikou snarled angrily, glaring at May and her Wynaut who was huddling against her legs.

_"Its that girl and her Wynaut again..."_ Raikou thought as it stared down its opponents. _"I still haven't fully recovered from my last encounter with them when that pipsqueak blasted me with my own attack...time for me to make a tactical retreat."_

Before May could issue another command to her Gloom and make another attempt at putting Raikou to sleep, the legendary pokemon took off at incredible speeds, running past May and heading in the direction of Fortree.

"It ran..." May sighed. "I guess that went better than my last encounter with Raikou, but I thought I might be able to try to catch it now that I have ultra balls. Then I could have rubbed it in Alex's face that I caught a legendary pokemon!"

"Thats not something I would have expected to hear from the daughter of Norman." The girl who was observing her said, stepping out of the bushes.

"Huh? Who are you?"

"My name is Jessica, and before you showed up I was going to catch Raikou. I would have been successful, as well. It was your intervention that threw off my calculations."

_"Calculations?"_ May thought. _"She sounds worse than Alex..."_

"What do your 'calculations' have to do with catching a pokemon anyway?" May countered. "There's no way you could possibly have accounted for everything Raikou would have done or even how strong it is for that matter!"

"Can and have." Jessica adjusted her glasses slightly. "I don't need to tell you my strategy though."

"Even Alex doesn't plot out a strategy for catching wild pokemon..." May grumbled. "I bet you've hardly managed to catch any pokemon if thats your approach."

"I've already caught over 80 different species of pokemon."

"E-e-eighty?!" May could hardly believe what she was hearing, that anyone, let alone Jessica, would be able to catch that many pokemon. May shook her head furiously to overcome the shock.

"Well thats still no way to handle a pokemon battle! And I'll prove it to you by battling you myself!"

"Fine then, this shouldn't take long anyway. We'll use two pokemon each."

"Fine!" May held up Gloom's pokeball. "You can sit this one out, Gloom. Return!" Gloom disappeared into its pokeball, and May placed the ball back on her belt. The two trainers then distanced themselves in preparation for battle.

"One of these days someone will think to put outhouses or rest stations or something along these routes..." Alex said to himself, picking up his backpack and slinging it over his shoulders. "Of course I probably shouldn't have had so much water before we left..can't believe that place didn't serve tea though..."

Alex had wandered off deep into the bushes and tall grass, evidently to relieve himself from all the water he drank earlier.

"Well I suppose now I'll have to wait for May to either catch a pokemon or give up so we can get moving again..." Alex was about to head back to where his pokemon were, but he heard a low growling noise behind him.

"I don't suppose there's any chance that noise isn't a wild pokemon..." Alex whispered nervously. Slowly, he turned his head to look back over his shoulder and saw a pokemon that looked much like a goat with a single black scythe-like blade on its head instead of horns.

"Couldn't even have just been a Linoone or something either..." Alex swallowed hard. It wasn't often he was afraid, aside from when he found himself facing a body of water, but this was one of those times. A wild Absol had managed to find him, while he was without any pokemon to fight it off with.

_"Ok...try to stay calm...no sudden movements...just slowly walk away and maybe it will leave you alone..." _Alex began to slowly walk away from the Absol, keeping his eyes on it the entire time. Unfortunately, the wild Absol decided to follow Alex and crept along behind him, continually growling at him.

"Why couldn't it be a friendly wild pokemon? No, I guess I wouldn't have run into an Absol like this if I was to have any good luck...well as long as he doesn't attack me before I can get to my pokemon I'll be fine..." Unfortunately for Alex, he was paying too much attention to Absol and too little attention to whats in front of him.

"Ow!" Alex had managed to walk into a low branch. Fortunately he was only walking slow, but the distraction was enough for Absol to take the opportunity to attack. It quickly gathered a dark ball of energy and fired it at Alex. Alex raised his arms defensively, but much to his surprise the attack passed through him with no effect.

_"...That was a Shadow Ball attack." _Alex thought. _"Guess this means ghost attacks don't affect humans. Looks like I still have some luck on my side at least."_

Having its attack do nothing, the wild Absol was confused and held off any further attacks at least temporarily. Alex grabbed the low branch he hit his head on and broke it off, then held it in front of him defensively as he continued to slowly back away. The Absol once again followed, unthreatened by the thin branch Alex was holding.

_"Why did I have to go so far into the undergrowth anyway? Oh, right, because I really didn't want anyone to see me..."_ Alex apparently had not learned from his last screw up that he should pay attention to where he was going and tripped backwards over a root, landing flat out on the ground.

Absol pounced, pinning Alex to the ground, then brought its scythe-like horn down on him. Alex was able to block its attack with the stick he grabbed then kicked Absol in the stomach. The kick was enough to stun Absol briefly, and Alex took the opportunity to punch it in the side of the face. Absol quickly backed off, giving Alex the chance to get back on his feet.

_"That was another close call..."_ Alex quickly reached back into is backpack and grabbed an ultra ball, which he had stored in a side pocket so it'd be well within reach. Absol was still being cautious in its attacks, choosing not to attack while Alex was on his feet.

_"I think throwing pokeballs at it might be my only chance to escape. If I manage to catch it, bonus. I can make some kind of attempt to train it later like I did with Skarmory." _Alex lobbed the yellow and black pokeball at Absol. The pokemon was drawn inside, and Alex quickly ran back to put some distance between himself and the pokeball and observed it.

The ultra ball rolled about on the ground, shaking as the Absol tried to break free. For a moment, Alex thought maybe he was lucky enough to catch it on his first try. To his dismay, however, the pokeball shattered at the last second. Acting quickly, Alex reached down and scooped up a handful of rocks.

Alex threw each rock at Absol, one by one. Each one managed to hit, but only succeeded in upsetting the wild Absol even more. After the fourth rock, Absol charged towards Alex again. Alex reached for another ultra ball and activated it, and held out out in front of him like a shield.

When Absol was about to ram into Alex, it hit the ultra ball first and was dragged inside it. Alex quickly dropped the ultra ball and ran, distancing himself from it again only this time moving even further back and grabbing another, thicker stick once he was at a safe distance.

Alex watched as the ultra ball rolled around on the ground, trying to hold the struggling pokemon inside. This time, it was successfully captured, and the ultra ball locked shut with a click. Alex breathed a sigh of relief.

"I am never, EVER, going anywhere without a pokemon with me again...I'm lucky I'm still alive after encountering an Absol like that..." Alex could see the ultra ball glow white and vanish, sending Absol off to storage.

"I wonder why it was attacking me anyway...Absol aren't really known to attack people..." Alex pondered this for a moment, then shrugged. He decided it'd be best he returned to his pokemon before he had anymore unwanted encounters.

"Shedinja, go!"

"Electrike, go!"

May and Jessica sent out their first pokemon to begin their battle. May went with Electrike, the electric pokemon that had caused her so many problems, and Jessica sent out a strange pokemon looking like an empty gold cacoon for a bug.

"Is that actually a pokemon?" May wondered, taking out her pokedex to check.

"Shedinja, the shed pokemon." The pokdex read out. "A peculiar pokemon that floats in air even though its wings remain completely still. The inside of its body is hollow and utterly dark."

"It still doesn't sound like much of a pokemon..." May looked up from her pokedex and saw Jessica was busily tapping away at her laptop.

"HEY! We're in the middle of a battle right here you know!"

"I'm fully aware." Jessica replied calmly, her attention still on the computer screen. "I'm merely analyzing your pokemon with my laptop. It is capable of determing your pokemon's strength level to four decimal points. And I certainly hope the rest of your pokemon are stronger than that Electrike."

"Why you...! Electrike, Thunderbolt!" Electrike's back flared with electricity and it fired a powerful bolt at the floating Shedinja. The Thunderbolt scored a direct hit, but it didn't seem to phase Shedinja at all.

"If you don't know your opponent, like you clearly don't know Shedinja, then you have no hope of wining. Shedinja, use Toxic. You can wait this battle out after that." Jessica didn't even look up from her lap top while issuing her commands or speaking to May.

Shedinja followed through with Jessica's command, spitting a large blob of purple goo at Electrike. The strange poisonous chemicals were quickly absorbed into Electrike's skin upon contact, but the effect was barely noticeable.

"I don't care how powerful that Shedinja is, if all its going to do is sit there we'll have no trouble beating it! Electrike, try tackling it!" Electrike dashed forward towards Shedinja and braced itself for impact However, the impact never came. Instead of hitting Shedinja, Electrike went right through it.

"What the?!"

"You don't even know normal attacks don't affect ghost-type pokemon?" Jessica chuckled quietly. "You're hopeless."

_"A ghost-type pokemon?"_ May thought. _"I don't think I've ever run into one of those...I never would have thought that thing to be a ghost...is it a ghost and bug type then? No, that wouldn't explain why Thunderbolt didn't seem to work." _May was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Electrike growling in pain.

_"That poison must be starting to take effect on him...and it doesn't look like he's going to inflict any damage to Shedinja either. Better switch."_

"Electrike, return for now!" May held up Electrike's pokeball to recall it, and Electrike was all too happy to oblige as it was pulled in by the red beam.

"Switching pokemon? Looks like you might be smarter than I gave you credit for. Your father would have two steps ahead of the game though." Jessica chided her, finally stopping whatever it was she was doing on her laptop and facing May.

"You're really starting to get on my nerves!"

"And you made me miss the chance to catch a powerful legendary pokemon from another region. We're far from even. Now are you going to send out another pokemon or not?"

"You...ugh!" May took another pokeball from her belt. "Slugma, go!" May held up the pokeball and pressed the button to release Slugma. The molten rock pokemon appeared on the ground just a few feet in front of her and peered about cautiously before spotting its opponent and immediately understanding the circumstances it was released for.

_"Hmm...could she have figured it out?"_ Jessica wondered. _"No...I doubt it. She probably thinks its a ground and ghost type since it was immune to her Electrike's Thunderbolt. I'll give her this victory though and take the chance to download information on her Slugma. She won't get off that easily though."_

"Shedinja, use Grudge." Jessica issued her commands, but Shedinja didn't seem to do anything. However, satisfied, Jessica went back to her laptop and began analyzing May's pokemon.

"Grudge...sounds like some kind of counter technique." May said to herself. "I'll have to take that chance...Slugma, use Ember!" Slugma reared its head back, then spat out a fireball as it leaned forward again. The fireball struck Shedinja and, despite not being a very powerful attack, knocked it out of the air. Shedinja seemed to be unconcious as its body hit the ground, making a hollow thud upon impact.

"Looks like your Shedinja isn't that strong at all!" May taunted Jessica as she recalled her pokemon.

"On the contrary, my Shedinja is far stronger than your Slugma." Jessica replied, adjusting her glasses. "Allow me to explain. A Shedinja is completely incapable of taking any direct hits. Its special ability, Wonder Guard, prevents it from being hurt by attacks. However, attacks it is normally weak to still hit it and instantly knock it out."

"How do I know you're not just making that up? I think your pokemon is weak and you just don't want to admit it." May stuck her tongue out at Jessica, and Wynaut mimicked her. Slugma looked at Wynaut and just shook its head.

"If thats what you think, then you shouldn't have any trouble taking on my next pokemon, right?" Jessica took another pokeball from her pouch, a pokeball that was the reverse colors of a pokeball.

"Zangoose, lets go." Jessica stated calmly, holding the pokeball above her head and releasing her pokemon. A white furred pokemon about four feet tall appeared before her. The pokemon has long, blood red claws, and blue marks above its hands, on its chest, and left eye and ear that seemed to resemble scars.

"Zangoose? Thats another pokemon I don't recognize..." May took out her pokedex and read its analysis."

"Zangoose, the cat ferret pokemon. When it battles it stands on its hind legs and attacks with its sharply clawed forelegs. Its fur bristles if it encounters any Seviper." May noticed that the picture the pokedex displayed of Zangoose had pink patches instead of blue and purple claws instead of red.

"Zangoose was one of the first pokemon I caught when I started as a trainer five years ago." Jessica said to May. "When I realized it wasn't a normal color for a Zangoose, I decided to catch it in a special pokeball. Of course, today I have many pokemon and others like Zangoose. I've caught over eighty different kinds."

_"She's caught 80 different pokemon? Well, I guess its not that surprising if she's been a trainer for five years..."_

"Zangoose, start things off with Swords Dance!" A blue sword-shaped aura surrounded Zangoose as it called on its inner strength. May noticed the aura was a fair bit larger and brighter than when Alex's Anorith used the technique.

"Slugma, use Yawn!" Slugma gave a low yawn, and as it did it released a cloud of white gas towards Zangoose. Zangoose breathed in this gas and immediately became drowsy.

_"Perhaps I should have skipped the set up..."_ Jessica thought as she analyzed the situation. _"My Zangoose is more than 40 stronger than both her pokemon and likely could knock each out with one hit anyway. Fortunately her Electrike will still succumb to the poison it was inflicted with before it can defeat Zangoose."_

"Zangoose, use Slash!" Zangoose quickly dashed forward and slashed Slugma with its powerful claws. The force of the attack instantly knocked the pokemon out, though its body hardly moved from where it was from the impact. Shortly after delivering its attack, Zangoose collapsed to the ground fast asleep.

"You did a good job, Slugma! Return!" May recalled Slugma and placed its pokeball back on her belt, then took Electrike's pokeball again.

"Electrike, lets finish this! Thunderbolt!" May released Electrike from its pokeball, and as soon as the green electrike pokemon appeared its back lit up with sparks and it fired a powerful bolt of electricity directly into the sleeping Zangoose. The attack seemed to cause it a great deal of pain, though, due to the poison in its body.

"Keep it up, Electrike! Thunderbolt!" Electrike fired another bolt of electricity into Zangoose's body, however by now the poison had greatly taken its toll on the pokemon's body. Electrike began to feel weak as its legs gave out underneath it, and it soon fell unconcious. May recalled her pokemon, defeated.

"Looks like I win, as if there was any doubt I would. I took it easy on you too." Jessica said smugly as she recalled her Zangoose. "And to think, you actually thought you had a shot at catching a legendary pokemon."

"There's more to catching pokemon than having powerful pokemon yourself!" May yelled back.

"Duh..." Jessica rolled her eyes. "Like I don't know that. I know more about pokemon than you could ever hope to know. I bet you don't even know just how powerful that Wynaut of your's is." Jessica closed her laptop and put it into her backpack.

"Now, if you don't mind, I have to go find where a certain legendary pokemon ran off to." Jessica adjusted her glasses, then headed off in the same direction Raikou went, leaving May to her thoughts.

"Wynaut? A powerful pokemon?" May looked down at Wynaut, who seemed to be just as confused as she was.

_"Then again..."_ She thought. _"He did manage to reflect a Thunderbolt from Raikou and did quite a number to it...I wonder if Wynaut would be my best shot at catching it the next time I manage to find it?"_

"Well I guess we should get back to Alex now..." May said with a sigh. "Empty handed and lost a pokemon battle...he doesn't need to know about that though. If he did he'd just say he was right about my pokemon being weak." Wynaut nodded in agreement.

"Though...maybe he is right?" May thought back to her more recent battles. In particular, her battle against Alex. She used some of her strongest pokemon in that battle but the battle was still a draw in the end. Against her father she relied on status effects a lot, and against Winona she was lucky enough that her Swablu knew Ice Beam.

"Maybe I should start putting more effort into training my pokemon if I'm going to catch so many so they'll all be ready for battle..." May thought for a moment, then nodded to herself.

"Alright! Thats what I'll do then! From this point on I'll be putting more effort into training my pokemon! I'll make sure my pokemon are at least as strong as Alex's, so then someone like Jessica won't beat me so easily." Wynaut gave a loud cry in agreement.

"For now though lets get back to Alex, we can start training later tonight when we've set up camp for the day." May carefully picked up Wynaut and carried him with her back to where she and Alex had set up for lunch.

By the time May had arrived where Alex was still waiting for her, Alex had recalled all his pokemon and was fiddling with his pokenav out of boredom. When he saw May approaching, he stopped whatever it was he was doing and put his pokenav away.

"Been gone long enough...what'd you do, try to catch two pokemon?" Alex taunted her.

"Hmph...no. I just found one really strong pokemon and tried to catch it. Got away though at the last minute. But if I caught it it would have been stronger than any of your pokemon!" May shot back.

"I'm sure it was..." Alex rolled his eyes. "We ready to go now?"

"Fine..." May muttered, thinking to herself that between Raikou getting away from her so easily and dealing with Alex and Jessica, it had been a terrible day.

_"Well, at least its not raining..."_ May thought as she and Alex set off towards Lilycove. As if to spite her, though, a flash of lightning streaked through the clouds overhead and a crack of thunder was heard shortly after. The skies opened up and begin raining heavily.

"Great...Jynx'd it..." May pulled her hood up to keep her hair dry, and Alex did likewise. Wynaut seemed to be enjoying the rain though and opened its mouth to catch the water droplets.

It continued to rain for the rest of the afternoon as the two trainers walked in silence, neither really having anything to say to the other and intent on keeping what had happened to them during their brief lunch stop to themselves.

They continued walking throughout most of the evening as well, with the rain still pouring down on them. The thunder and lightning had ceased by then, but with the cloud cover and the lack of any city lights nearby it was almost pitch black as the night began to close in.

"I think we should set up camp now." Alex said, finally breaking the silence after the two of them had been walking for several hours.

"Its really starting to get dark out now, and it'd be dangerous to be wandering around here after dark." May nodded in agreement, and placed Wynaut on the ground. Finally free to run about, Wynaut quickly sought out a puddle and began splashing around.

"You know, Wynaut is going to need a bath by the time we get to Lilycove." Alex said to May, observing Wynaut.

"Huh? But what would I use to give a pokemon like Wynaut a bath?" May asked in response, watching Wynaut as well now. Wynaut eventually stopped splashing around and looked at the two trainers curiously, wondering why he was the center of attention all of a sudden.

"I'd suggest a wetsuit." Alex eventually replied, smiling slightly. May stifled a giggle.

"Wet suit? We should have those already for all this rain!" The two trainers laughed at their jokes, leaving Wynaut even more confused.

_"Are all humans like this?"_ The pokemon wondered. It made a motion similar to a shrug with its long arms, then went back to splashing around in the puddles.

The two trainers reached back inside their raincoats to take the cylindrical containers that contained their tents off their back. They wore their coats over their backpacks and equipment to keep it all from getting wet. As the trainers set up their tents, the rain finally let up.

Once the trainers had their tents set up, they fed their pokemon and ate another small meal themselves. Alex took inventory of his stuff afterwards and let their pokemon stretch their legs and wings again, while Magnemite provided illumination for them.

Gloom, Lileep, and Anorith all immediately went for the nearby puddles. Gloom and Lileep took the chance to drink from the puddles, while Anorith scuttled about in the water. Though it couldn't swim in the puddle, the ancient pokemon was happy enough feeling the water washing over it for the first time since being brought back to life.

Slugma, on the other hand, was intent on keeping as far from any puddles as it could. The ground itself was pretty wet, though, so eventually it resorted to using Ember to create a small dry patch for it to rest in. Numel soon followed suit, preferring a nice dry spot to lie down in as well.

Alex's Golem curled up into its rock shell after eating, looking like a large boulder sitting next to the tents. Plusle perched on top of it, observing Magnemite for a while before deciding to make a pair of pom-pom sparks to provide light as well. Electrike was content to just lie down next to May as she went over her pokedex, still a bit weakened from the poison it had been inflicted with.

Skarmory and Swellow both seemed to bear a grudge against each other from their previous fight in the cave, however May's Tropius kept itself between the two of them in an attempt to maintain the peace. Both bird pokemon decided fighting each other wasn't worth going through Tropius for.

Once Alex had finished going through his stuff and taking inventory, he recalled all six of his pokemon, giving May's Plusle a moment to jump off Golem before he recalled it.

"Well, I'm going to turn in now." Alex said, giving a yawn. "Feeling more tired than usual today for some reason. Night May."

"Night Alex." May waited until Alex was in his tent, then took out her own notebook and quickly took inventory of her own supplies. Once she was finished, she waited a bit longer to make sure Alex was asleep, then silently walked away from the campsite and motioned for her pokemon to follow her.

It was too dark for May to see by now, however both her Electrike and Plusle were capable of providing light for her. However, none of her pokemon knew what May was doing. Eventually, when the campsite was almost out of sight, May finally came to a stop.

"This spot is good enough." May turned to her pokemon.

"Ok, we're going to be doing a bit extra training today so uh..." May looked to each of her pokemon and thought for a moment.

"Ok, Electrike and Plusle will train together, Gloom and Tropius will train together, and Slugma and Lileep will train together. Also, Slugma and Electrike, you two should try to take it easy since you're both probably a bit weakened from our loss earlier. No one overdo it though."

The pokemon all nodded, then paired off and began their training. Electrike took some time to teach Plusle how to use Thunderbolt, and then the two eletric pokemon practiced by matching their Thunderbolt attacks in the equivalent of a tug of war match.

Gloom and Tropius had a bit of a sparring match, with Gloom mostly attempting to use its powder and spore attacks which Tropius would blow away with Gust attacks. Gloom would also use the odd Absorb attack and Tropius would use Razor Leaf or Magical Leaf, neither pokemon using attacks that would inflict much damage on each other.

Slugma and Lileep had an odd form of training as well. Lileep chose not to use any attacks on Slugma, as the two pokemon managed to come to an agreement. Slugma would continually attack Lileep with Ember, and Lileep would simply heal itself by planting roots and absorbing nutrients. It'd also use Recover when it needed to.

The pokemon were training for roughly an hour before May decided to call it a night. She was having trouble keeping her eyes open because it was getting so late. She recalled all her pokemon except Plusle, then went back to her tent with Plusle guiding the way. She then recalled Plusle and went to sleep.

Author's Notes: I actually didn't really have much in mind for this chapter, only that I wanted to have them meet up with a trainer on their way to Lilycove. Was actually debating whether or not to have Alex catch an Absol, but obviously decided to go with it in the end. This will probably be the only chapter I didn't have planned out to a greater extent beforehand, and you can probably guess whats going to happen next chapter!


	40. Chapter 31: The Great Safari

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Thirty One**

**The Great Safari**

The Safari Zone is a pokemon sanctuary of sorts, located west of Lilycove City. Its a huge wildlife park filled with many pokemon that aren't often seen around Hoenn, and many of which are endangered. The park exists to protect these pokemon and allow them to breed, while still giving trainers a chance to catch them.

Today, that is exactly where May and Alex are, standing outside Hoenn's Safari Zone.

"This...is it?" May asked in bewilderment, looking up at the building before her. Wynaut, standing beside her, didn't see what the attraction was.

"Yep...this is it." Alex opened the front door of the building and went inside.

"But...there's just a building here..." May looked to the sides of the building, but all she could see is a seemingly impenetrable wall of trees. After examining the building a moment longer, May shrugged and opened the doors to go inside as well.

Inside the building was nothing overly special. The immediate area appeared to be L-shaped, going out straight from where May was standing and then turning right. There was an information desk off to the right of her.

May saw Alex waiting for her at the end of the hall, and hurried to catch up with him. It was only then, with the door leading out to the park, that she could actually see the Safari Zone itself.

"Isn't there suppose to be a forest there?" May asked Alex, pointing towards the door.

"Naw, the trees are just there to keep the pokemon in the Safari Zone. Though I'm sure if they really wanted to break free they could."

"So how do we get in then? You said there was a fee right?"

"Yeah, its not much. You pay at the desk over there." Alex pointed at another desk alongside the right side of the area leading out to the Safari Zone. "Of course, since you're low on cash I suppose I'll be paying your's."

"If its not too much trouble..." May replied sheepishly. She wouldn't be getting her next allowance until she got to Lilycove to retrieve it.

"I suppose I can handle that..." Alex went up to the counter to buy an hour's pass for the Safari Zone. They were then handed a pouch containing 6 special Safari Zone pokeballs escorted by one of the park's rangers out the door and into the Safari Zone.

"Wow! This place is huge!" May exclaimed as she looked around the park. It seemed to stretch out further than she could even see. Most of the Safari Zone seemed to be grassy plains, with rivers running through hit and hills rising up here and there. It really did look like a large nature preserve.

"How am I ever going to find a Heracross in a place like this?!"

"Still going for that Heracross?" Alex made a slight 'hmph' sound. "You do realize Vito's Heracross only beat my entire team because it was way stronger than my pokemon at the time, right?"

"Oh I know..." May replied. "But I still want one anyway."

"Well if you're looking for a specific pokemon we should probably split up so we can cover more ground. If I find a Heracross, its your's."

"Thanks. And if I find a...umm...what pokemon were you looking for?" Alex shrugged.

"Wasn't looking for anything in particular, only came here because you wanted to. If I see a pokemon that interests me though I'll try to catch it, but catching pokemon in the Safari Zone can be tough sometimes. Especially since you only have an hour."

"Well good luck then, I guess."

"You too." May took off with Wynaut towards the western area of the Safari Zone, and Alex went in the opposite direction, around the building and heading east.

"What does a Heracross look like anyway?" May wondered aloud. Wynaut shrugged.

"I guess I should have asked Alex...well I know its a bug anyway. And its a fighting-type pokemon too so its probably a pretty buff looking bug..." May looked around the park from where she was standing. She could see a herd of pokemon that looked like a giraffe with some black, evil-looking head for a tail nearby. May quickly checked her pokedex and found out they were called Girafarig.

"Thats an odd looking pokemon..." May commented. The Girafarig were all feeding on the leaves of some nearby trees. May observed the Girafarig for a moment before happening to notice something in the trees.

Shifting her attention to the trees, May briefly caught a glimpse of a tall, brown, insect-like pokemon. It also had a very large pair of pincers on the top of its head.

"That looks like a pretty strong bug pokemon...is that a Heracross I wonder?" May took out her pokedex to check, however her pokedex said it was a Pinsir.

"Pinsir...so its not a Heracross then..." May observed the bug pokemon for a moment as it went through the tree tops, before taking out one of her safari balls.

"Well its still a pokemon, and it looks pretty tough too! So I think I'll try to catch it!" May quietly crept closer to the trees, safari ball at the ready. She decided she was close enough when she reached the tree line, and gave the pokeball a good toss. May's aim was off a bit, however, and the safari ball hit a nearby branch instead. The Pinsir noticed this, and quickly dropped out of the tree and ran off.

"It ran? I wouldn't have expected a pokemon like that to run away..." May retrieved the safari ball she tried to catch the Pinsir with, not wanting to waste any. The Girafarig herd also noticed her by this point and ran off, sending up a cloud of dust in their wake.

"Are all the pokemon this skittish here?" May sighed. "Now I see how things work here...the pokemon must be trained to avoid trainers. This is going to tough..."

May looked around to see if there were anymore pokemon nearby she could try to catch, but she didn't see any. It was then, however, that she noticed Wynaut seemed to be missing.

"Great...now where could he have gotten to?" May carefully climbed up a nearby tree to get a better look around. It was then that she was able to see a large pond not too far off, and a bunch of pokemon were standing near it. The pokemon were about four feet tall, blue, and had a black tail similar to Wynaut's.

"I bet those are Wobbuffet! I wonder if Wynaut noticed them and went over there?" May quickly climbed down the tree and ran to where she saw the Wobbuffet. The pokemon either didn't take notice of May, or just weren't as concerned with running as the rest of the pokemon May encountered were.

"Wynaut? Where are you?" May called out, but she couldn't hear a response. May went through the group of Wobbuffet and eventually found Wynaut with another Wobbuffet.

"Wynaut! You shouldn't run off like that!" May scolded it.

"-Who's that?-" The wild Wobbuffet asked Wynaut.

"-Thats my mommy.-" Wynaut replied.

"-Your...mommy?-" The Wobbuffet looked at May curiously. "-She's a human, how is that even possible? How do humans even breed?!-"

"-I can answer that...-" Another Wobbuffet approached the two. "-But you'll probably regret hearing it...you see...-"

_"I wish I knew what they were saying..." _May thought with a sigh. Glancing around the area, May noticed another blue pokemon by the pond. It looked like a very small elephant, only a bit over a foot and a half tall. It seemed to be using its trunk to gather water then shower itself with it.

"I wonder what pokemon that is?" May quickly took out her pokedex to check.

"Phanphy, the long nose pokemon. Phanphy's big ears serve as broad fans. When it becomes hot, it flaps the ears busily to cool down. Even the young are very strong."

"Phanphy...I think I'll try to catch it! At least if I don't catch a Heracross I'll still have something..." May looked to Wynaut for a moment.

"Wynaut, you can stay here for now...I'm just going to go try to catch that pokemon over there." May said to it, pointing in the direction of the Phanphy. Wynaut didn't really take notice, though, as it was more interested in what one of the Wobbuffet seemed to be saying to it. Though at the same time, Wynaut seemed a bit distraught.

May decided not to dwell on why Wynaut seemed upset, particularly since she wasn't going far. She slowly and quietly approached the Phanphy on the other side of the pond, using the group of Wobbuffet gathered there for cover until she had reached the edge of the group.

_"With those big ears it'd probably hear me coming easily enough if I tried to sneak up on it..."_ May thought before reaching into her pouch and getting ready with a Safari Ball. _"Lets hope my aim is a bit better than it was with that Pinsir..."_

May raised her arm back and let the safari ball fly. Her aim was dead on this time, and the safari ball struck Phanphy in the side and pulled it inside. As the safari ball closed up, May got ready with another one just to be safe. It turned out to be a good idea, as surely enough the Phanphy managed to break free and glanced around frantically for the source of the safari ball.

May quickly lobbed her second safari ball at the pokemon. Phanphy saw the second safari ball coming and tried to get out of the way, but the pokeball hit its backside as it tried to flee and it was once again captured in a safari ball. May got a third safari ball ready just in case. After several tense moments, however, the safari ball clicked and locked shut.

"Alright! I caught a Phanphy!" May called out triumphantly, startling the group of Wobbuffet and sending them running, leaving only a stunned Wynaut behind. The safari ball, meanwhile, vanished as the Phanphy was sent to storage.

"Guess I should have expected that...whoops..." May laughed nervously as the Wobbuffet fled. Wynaut called out to them, but to no avail. May had successfully frightened them off.

"Sorry about that Wynaut...I guess that was the first time you met with your own species..." May rubbed the back of her head in embarassment. Wynaut slowly approached her, not seeming to be overly bothered by it. Meeting up with the Wobbuffet was an interesting experience for Wynaut, but having been with May for so long it didn't really hold any attachment for them.

"I'm down to four park balls now and..." May quickly checked the time. "45 minutes left to find a Heracross...I wonder if Alex found one though? It'd probably help if we had some way of communicating I guess..."

_"I don't know anthing about that..."_ Wynaut thought. _"You human types are odd though..."_

"Well lets hurry and keep going! We only have another fifteen minutes to go further into the park before we have to turn around and start walking back!" May scooped up Wynaut so she could move faster, and continued on her way to search for a Heracross.

Alex, meanwhile, had actually managed to find a pokemon that interested him. However, he wasn't having any luck catching it. In fact, it actually seemed to be taunting him.

Alex lobbed a safari ball at the pokemon, but the small yellow Pikachu deftly dodged yet another attempt to capture it. The pokemon stopped running for a moment just to stick its tongue out at Alex, then continued running to keep away from him.

"Stay still already!" Alex called out after it. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath before continuing after the Pikachu. The pokemon was purposely running at a pace that Alex could keep up with, but not gain any ground.

_"This is why I went for Minun instead..."_ Alex thought, reaching out to scoop up the safari ball he threw at Pikachu as he ran after it. _"I knew getting a Pikachu would be too hard, plus the Safari Zone was far away...this is ridiculous though..."_

Alex tossed the safari ball at Pikachu again. This time, the safari ball looked like it was going to hit Pikachu square in the back. However, at the last second Pikachu took off with a sudden burst of speed, evading the safari ball and getting way ahead of Alex. Alex came to a stop where his safari ball landed.

"That does it...I'm done..." Alex gasped out before collapsing face first into the ground. He took a moment to catch his breath, then slowly raised his head in the direction the Pikachu ran off in. The pokemon was long gone.

"Yeah...definitely glad I caught a Minun instead..." Alex muttered before finally getting back up on his feet and dusting himself off. "This is totally not worth it."

Alex looked around at his surroundings. Once he had encountered the Pikachu he had been paying little attention to where he was going. Looking around, he noticed a herd of Rhyhorn grazing nearby. Alex wasn't interested in a Rhyhorn though, he already had Golem.

"Oh no! However will I get these Rhyhorn back into their pen?" Alex heard a man saying over dramatically. It was then that Alex noticed a park ranger, an older man wearing a pair of green pants, matching shirt, and a red vest was standing near the Rhyhorn herd.

"You work here..." Alex said to the park ranger, who was obviously trying to get his attention. "You should be trained to handle this kind of situation."

"Oh I'm uh...new here! Yeah!" The man replied. Alex narrowed his eyes and stared at him in silence.

"...Ok, look, I'm supposed to be on break right now. I get one thirty minute break not including my lunch break and I don't want to spend it trying to get these Rhyhorn back into their pen because they're not supposed to be in the park yet."

"And you want me to do it for you..."

"Well as a pokemon trainer and a good samaritan one would think you would jump at the opportunity to help someone in need!" Alex stared at him again.

"Fine. I'll catch you a Rhyhorn. Deal?"

_"Well...Rhyhorn doesn't particularly interest me..."_ Alex thought. _"But then again...its also a Rhyhorn I won't have to catch myself...and maybe while trying to herd these guys into their pen I can try to pick out a strong one..."_

"Deal."

"Great! Thanks, kid! Good luck!"

_"Good luck?"_ Alex thought to himself as the park ranger went off for his break. _"How hard could it be to herd a buncha Rhyhorn? The pokemon here are trained to avoid trainers afterall..."_

Alex took a step towards the Rhyhorn herd, but paused as another thought struck him and he took another look around.

_"Wait a sec...just where is the pen? That definitely would have been a big help..." _Alex took a pokeball off his belt. _"I can't use my pokemon to fight Safari Zone pokemon...but I can still use them to scout..."_

"Swellow! Come on out!" Alex held up the pokeball and released his Swellow from it. The pokemon appeared in front of him and glanced around, as if expecting a battle.

"Swellow, I need you to fly up and try to find the pen these Rhyhorn are in for me." Swellow gave a nod, then flapped its wings and took off into the sky. After circling around for a bit, it eventually spotted a a large fenced in area. There was an open gate, and nothing inside the pen. Swellow quickly returned to Alex after spotting this.

"Find it?" Alex asked as Swellow landed. Swellow nodded, then pointed its wing in the direction of the Rhyhorn pen.

"So I guess I should try to herd the Rhyhorn north..." Alex commented. "Alright, good job Swellow. And thanks." Swellow raised its wing as if in salute as Alex recalled it to its pokeball.

"So, if I come up to the Rhyhorn from the south, they should flee north..." Alex manuevered his way south of the Rhyhorn, making sure they didn't notice him as he did. Once he was in position, he charged towards the herd.

However, the Rhyhorn herd didn't flee as Alex had expected it too. Some of the Rhyhorn lifted their heads to look at him, but decided to ignore him and went back to their grazing. Alex stopped just in front of the herd, confused.

"Huh? Why didn't they run?" Alex paused for a moment to think over the situation. "Right...he said these Rhyhorn aren't supposed to be in the park yet...so they might be tamed, but not trained to avoid trainers yet. Looks like its on to plan B...whatever that is..."

Alex thought for a moment, but no ideas came to mind. Instead, Alex acted on the first thing he could think of and tried pushing on one of the Rhyhorn to get it moving north. The Rhyhorn didn't budge, though, until eventually it decided to move of its own accord and leaving Alex to fall face first into the ground.

"Well that failed horrible..." Alex muttered to himself, lifting his head to look at the Rhyhorn. "I seem to be getting intimiately familiar with the ground though..."

Alex sat up on the ground and tried to formulate another plan. He could think of many plans he could pull off, but only with the help of his pokemon. Even though he wasn't planning on catching the Rhyhorn, he still couldn't use his pokemon against them.

"At this rate I don't think I'll be spending any time looking for a Heracross...hope May manages to find one herself..."

"I don't think there's a single Heracross in this place!" May cried out in frustration.

"And now I'm down to three safari balls too...I hope Heracross isn't as hard to catch as it is to find..." May said with a sigh. She had made an attempt at catching a Girafarig, but it broke free and ran off.

"I caught that Phanphy...so at least I'm not leaving empty handed. But I'm really starting to hate this place, Wynaut!"

"-But there's Wobbuffet here!-" Wynaut whined, not that May could understand it anyway.

May was on her way back out of the park at this point. Having gone as far into the park as she figured she could go with her time limit, May had turned around and started on her way back to the main building. She was constantly scanning her surroundings, though, hoping to spot a Heracross among the trees.

"-I'm sure we'll find a Heracross! And I'll help you catch it somehow!-"

"You seem awfully talkative all of a sudden...and I don't even know what you're saying..."

"-You human types are odd...-" Wynaut shook its head from side to side, a human gesture.

"You know, its hardly fair. Pokemon understand us just fine yet we can't understand you at all even though you obviously have your own language of some sort!"

"-Naw! We don't understand you at all! We just understand your language.-"

"Hmm...I wonder what you were talking with those Wobbuffet about that has you so chatty all of a sudden..." Wynaut shuddered as it thought back on its conversation with the wild Wobbuffet.

"-I wish I didn't know...-"

"I wonder what that pokemon is?" May said, changing the topic. She had spotted a blue bug pokemon with a large horn clinging to a nearby tree with its back to her.

"I've seen those back in Johto...I never did find out what they're called though..." May quickly took out her pokedex to scan the pokemon.

"Heracross, the mold pokemon. They gather in forests seeking the sweet sap of trees. It is completely clad in a steel-hard shell. It is proud of its horn, which it uses to fling foes."

"Oh...so THATS a Heracross?" May paused for a moment. "Wait...mold pokemon?! Why is it called a mold pokemon?!"

"-Maybe that thing doesn't know what a Heracross is either?-"

"Wynaut, I still don't know what you're saying..." May replied with a sigh. Wynaut opted to get its message across by sticking its tongue out at her instead.

"Keep that up and it'll be no more berries for you young man..." Wynaut quickly retracted its tongue at May's threat.

_"Wynaut really is acting odd all of a sudden..."_ May thought. _"Anyway...I need to come up with a way to catch this Heracross. I only have three safari balls left so I can't afford to lose this one!"_

The Heracross that May intended to catch didn't seem to notice either the trainer or her pokemon. It was busily drinking sap from the tree it was latched on to, and confident that should it be attacked its hard shell would protect it long enough for it to escape ot turn the tides on its attacker. It was a strong enough pokemon that it didn't feel the need to watch its back.

"If Heracross really is as strong as Alex said it was, it might not be easy to catch. Hope I have enough safari balls left to catch it with..." May took her three remaining safari balls in hand. She took a deep breath, then lobbed one of the safari balls at the bug pokemon. The safari ball struck it in the back and captured Heracross inside.

The Heracross didn't stay in long, however. The safari ball had barely hit the ground before the pokemon broke free and turned to face the trainer trying to catch it. May already threw a second safari ball at it by the time it turned around, and the pokemon was caught inside it again. The pokemon stayed inside a bit longer this time, but it still managed to break out. May was down to her last safari ball.

"I need to make this last one count!" May got ready to throw her final safari ball, but as she did the Heracross revealed a pair of wings from its back, concealed under its hard shell.

_"I forgot Heracross can fly! That makes this a lot more complicated...well here goes nothing!"_ May threw her last safari ball at Heracross, but the now-airborne pokemon was able to dodge the pokeball easily. Fortunately, that meant May could re-use that safari ball. Unfortunately, the Heracross was now making its escape, flying off low to the ground.

"No! Its getting away!" May quickly dashed forward to grab the safari ball, then threw it as hard as she could in the direction of Heracross.

At first, it seemed as though the pokeball would fall short of its target. However, the Heracross suddenly came to a stop as if it had hit something and fell face first into the ground. The safari ball struck it from behind, and Heracross once again found itself trapped inside a safari ball.

The safari ball dropped to the ground where Heracross had landed, and began to shake as Heracross tried to break free. The safari ball continued to shake for several tense moments, the longest it had stayed in yet, until finally the ball made a distinct clicking noise. The Heracross had finally been caught.

"WOO-HOO! I caught a Heracross!" May jumped into the air and shouted triumphantly. "I thought for sure I was going to miss with that last ball, but I caught it!"

"-And I finally figured out how this shadow freezing stuff works!-" Wynaut gleefully added. May picked him up and held him tightly to her.

"I can't believe I actually managed to catch a Heracross! This day couldn't get any better!" May was absolutely elated, giggling happily in her moment of victory. It all stopped, however, as a thought suddenly dawned on her.

_"Didn't Alex mention that Wynaut could stop a pokemon in its tracks by freezing its shadow?"_ May held Wynaut out in front of her and studied him for a moment. Wynaut gave her a confused look.

"Wynaut...did you have anything to do with the Heracross falling so suddenly?" Wynaut did its best to look innocent, but it was obvious to May that he wasn't. She quickly glanced around to make sure no one was in sight.

"Well it doesn't matter I guess...I don't think anyone saw. But I guess this means you've mastered that uh...Shadow Tag ability. I wonder whats left for you to learn then?"

"-I don't know...what?-" Wynaut rubbed the back of its head. It didn't really know what it was capable of itself.

"Alex would probably know." May said with a shrug, setting Wynaut down on the ground. "Anyway, I caught a Heracross, and I'm out of safari balls, so I guess we're done here now. We'll wait for Alex at the main building, he only has 20 minutes left anyway."

Meanwhile, another of Alex's plans to herd the Rhyhorn into their pen was in motion, and failing.

"I don't know how this was supposed to work now..." The plan Alex attempted consisted of placing a pile of grass inside the pen, and a trail leading towards it. The trail went almost unnoticed by the Rhyhorn, there was more than enough grass around to keep them happy.

"I've tried food, I've tried pushing them, I've tried scaring them...I'm running low on options here." Alex checked his watch. "Running low on time too...20 minutes until I have to leave the park, and 10 minutes until that guy gets back. Well I guess there's still one more thing I can try..."

Alex followed the trail of grass clippings back to the area where the Rhyhorn were grazing. Alex observed the Rhyhorn from his hiding place in the bushes, focusing his attention on one Rhyhorn in particular.

_"Unless I've missed my guess...that one would be the 'alpha male' of the group...or at least, the rest of the group seems to have a great deal of respect for him. Her. It. If I can steer that one towards the holding pen, maybe the rest will follow?"_

Alex slowly crept up on the Rhyhorn in question, hoping to avoid being noticed by the herd. Though many of the Rhyhorn did notice him, they didn't consider him to be a threat and simply ignored him. When Alex was close enough, he jumped onto the back of the Rhyhorn he identified as the 'alpha male'.

"Gotcha!" The Rhyhorn stopped feeding for a moment to gaze up at the boy on its back.

"Alright now...go that way!" Alex pointed in the direction of the pen. The Rhyhorn didn't budge.

"Come on! Move it!" Alex kicked his feet against the sides of the pokemon. This didn't have the intended effect, though. Alex planned to ride the Rhyhorn back to the pen and have the others follow. Instead, the pokemon reared up, easily tossing the trainer off its back and into a pile of pokemon manure.

"Ugh...gross!" Alex quickly got up and grabbed some leaves to try to wipe some of the manure off himself with. The Rhyhorn all made noises akin to snickering.

"Yeah...laugh it off...ugh. With all that studying I did you'd think there'd have been something about how to herd Rhyhorn. I'm in desperate need of a shower now, and I'm just about out of ideas. I've tried just about everything I can except asking nicely." Alex grumbled to himself as he made an attempt to clean off.

"'Hey, could you guys please return to your holding pen?' Right...like that would..." Alex heard movement behind him, and turned to see the Rhyhorn herd was on the move and heading in the direction of the holding pen.

"You have got to..." Alex dropped the leaves he was using and followed the herd. Sure enough they went back to their pen and entered through the gate, which Alex closed behind them and locked with the latch.

"Finally...and I am so never coming back to the Safari Zone again. I guess now all thats left is to get cleaned up and wait for that guy to come back." Alex looked around at his surroundings and sighed.

"Wish I had Azumarill with me right now..." Alex grumbled before making another attempt to wipe his clothes off. Or as well as he could, at least. The smell was intent on sticking with him though. When the park ranger finally returned from his break, the smell was the first thing he noticed.

"Whoa! What were you doing all this time? Rolling around in manure?"

"Yes...yes thats exactly what I was doing..." Alex replied sarcastically. "Your welcome, by the way."

"Ah...right...I guess I should get you that Rhyhorn now since you've gotten them back into the pen. Any one in particular?" Alex looked to the herd for a moment and gave it some thought.

_"That Rhyhorn I was riding earlier...all the other Rhyhorn seemed to respect it, so maybe its the strongest of the group?"_ Alex scanned the herd for the Rhyhorn in question, however picking out an individual Rhyhorn was no easy task. He was able to pinpoint it, though, from the mudstains left on its back.

"That one." Alex pointed at the Rhyhorn in question.

"Alright then, done deal. That one's troublesome anyway, its the only one to figure out a way to open the gate from the inside." Alex's eye twitched at this, though he tried to remain composed. He seemed to have some of the worst luck at times. He only hoped that the Rhyhorn wouldn't be as troublesome for him.

The park ranger opened the gate and entered the pen, taking out a white remote-like device from a green knapsack at his side. He pressed a button on the device and tapped it against the nose of the Rhyhorn. The Rhyhorn seemed to instantly become tame and looked as though it was awaiting instructions. The rest of the Rhyhorn seemed somewhat drawn to it as well.

"Gee, wish I had that earlier..." Alex commented dryly.

"Its a tool for Safari Zone staff only." The man replied. "Not that it'd be any use outside the park, since our pokemon are trained to react to the various frequency wavelengths the control stick emits."

"In other words, it would have taken you a good five minutes to round up those Rhyhorn." Alex grumbled.

"Probably...but I really had to go to the bathroom so..." He replied. "Anyway, I'll need you to hand over a pokeball to catch this with. Or one of the park's pokeballs."

_"Too much information..."_ Alex thought as he handed over one of his safari balls. He was pretty much out of time to catch anything else at this point and didn't want to waste one of his own.

With the Rhyhorn still waiting obediently, seemingly mesmerized by the stick, the ranger activated the safari ball. The Rhyhorn was drawn inside and the pokeball locked shut without any sign of a struggle. The safari ball then glowed white and disappeared from the ranger's hand as the Rhyhorn was sent to storage.

"And thats that. Done deal."

"Great...I'm gone then. My time's up anyway..." Alex quickly took off towards the main building of the park without another word to the park ranger. The ranger stood by the pen's gate until Alex was out of sight.

"Looks like he's gone." The ranger stepped out of the pen then stood beside it and gave a wave of his hand. All the Rhyhorn remaining in the pen filed out, then gathered around him.

"Now we wait for the next trainer to come by..."

"Blech! Alex, you stink!" May plugged her nose as Alex approached her inside the main building of the Safari Zone. Wynaut followed suit. The front of Alex's clothes were still covered in mud while the back had brown streaks going down it.

"Just what were you doing all this time?"

"Rhyhorn herding..." Alex replied bitterly. "Its a dirty job..."

"Well while you were busy doing that, I managed to catch a Heracross, as planned!"

"Great...congratulations...now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go wash off..." Alex walked off towards the public washrooms, and May watched him for a moment until she realized where he was going.

"Alex!" May called out to him. Alex stopped and looked back at her.

"Thats the women's washroom..." Alex looked up at the door in front of him, and sure enough the universal symbol for the women's washroom was on the front of the door.

"Must have gotten distracted..." Alex said sheepishly, before going into the men's washroom.

"He's an odd one..." May released her nose and took a deep breath.

"Why was he Rhyhorn herding anyway?" She wondered aloud.

"-Maybe he likes Rhyhorn?-" Wynaut said with a shrug. May leaned by the wall next to the washrooms and waited for Alex to come out. While waiting, she couldn't help but overhear a nearby conversation.

"Did you see those helicopters flying around?" One trainer asked another.

"Yeah! Those were Team Aqua and Team Magma helicopters weren't they? Kinda odd to see both of them here..."

"Must be something going on between them up there on Mount Pyre."

"I think Team Magma's helicopter already left though...wonder if Team Aqua chased them off?"

_"Huh? Sounds like something happened on Mount Pyre involving Team Aqua and Team Magma."_ May thought. _"Alex will probably be interested in knowing that..."_

Moments later, Alex stepped out of the bathroom, wearing his other outfit which happened to consist of the exact same brown vest, green shirt, and blue pants. Only this set of clothes were clean.

"Alright, lets get out of here and never come back." Alex grumbled.

"Alex, wait. I just overheard something about Team Magma and Team Aqua on top of Mount Pyre!" Alex paused for a moment.

"You know, last time you overheard something about Team Magma...they nearly blew up Mount Chimney. And unless I've missed my guess, this could only mean trouble..."

Alex and May quickly ran outside, and were just in time to see a Team Aqua helicopter taking off from the top of Mount Pyre, then flying off to the west.

"Damn it! Team Aqua's getting away!" Alex grumbled in frustration.

"Team Magma already took off apparently too." May added.

"We have to go after them...I think I know where Team Magma might have gone...but we can't afford to lose Team Aqua either..."

"You go after Team Magma then, I'll go after Team Aqua."

"Alright...but be careful. I think they may have gotten what they need to awaken those legendary pokemon I told you about..."

Alex and May each took a pokeball from their belts. Alex released Skarmory, while May released Tropius.

_"I thought I'd have more time than this..."_ Alex thought. _"If Team Magma's already left, then I have to move fast..."_

"Skarmory, do you know the way to Mount Chimney from here?" Alex asked as he jumped on its back. Skarmory gave a nod.

"Alright. May, if something comes up I'll contact you over the pokenav."

"I'll do the same then." May replied, climbing on Tropius back as well and putting Wynaut in its backpack.

"You know...we've gone off after Team Aqua and Team Magma before...but something feels different this time..." May said to Alex.

"Because this time it could mean the difference between stopping them once and for all or both of them realizing their goals and awakening two very powerful pokemon." The two trainers fell silent for a moment, as the danger of the situation began to sink in.

_"Should I tell her the truth?"_ Alex wondered. _"No, there's no time for that now!"_

"Tropius, lets go! West, and as fast as you can!"

"Skarmory, Agility! Then take off for Mount Chimney! We have no time to lose!"

Tropius quickly took off in the direction Team Aqua went, and after using Agility to increase its speed Skarmory took off as well. May was heading for Slateport City to stop Team Aqua, and Alex was going after Team Magma.

Author's Notes: Plot will likely be getting a bit more fast-paced at this point. Also, fun fact, at one point before I started this story I was planning for Melany to be the daughter of Maxie and have her be part of Team Magma and betray her father in the end. I tend to go over many different ideas in my head for how a particular story will go before finally writing it.


	41. Chapter 32: Groudon Awakens

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story! **

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Thirty Two**

**Groudon Awakens**

"I don't see Team Aqua's helicopter anywhere...did we lose them?" May scanned the area below her, looking for any sign of Team Aqua's helicopter. She had managed to catch up with them to a point where she could see the helicopter go down, but she couldn't seem to find where it had landed. She was just outside Slateport City, however.

"Well they must be after something here...maybe they're making another attempt at stealing those parts from Captain Stern? Lets land in Slateport, Tropius." Tropius gave a nod, then dove towards Slateport City's red roofed pokecenter and landed in front of it. May jumped off its back, and let Wynaut out of its backpack.

"Thanks for the lift Tropius. You can take a rest now." Tropius gave a nod as May recalled it into its pokeball.

"Now to see if I can track down Team Aqua..." May crossed her arms and thought for a moment. "If Team Aqua was after Captain Stern again they might be at the museum, or maybe the harbor..."

"-Were we here before?-" Wynaut wondered, curious as to how May seemed to know her way around.

May decided to check out the museum first, but she could tell there was nothing suspicious going on there. People seemed to be coming and going as usual. However, she could see a fairly large crowd gathered at the harbor.

"There's definitely something going on over there..." May said to herself. "I bet thats where Team Aqua is."

May set off towards the harbor with Wynaut following behind. She couldn't get anywhere near the harbor itself however due to the crowd of people gathered around. May tried to squeeze by the crowd, but no one would let them through. She tried to see over the crowd, standing on the tip of her toes, but most of the people gathered were adults so she couldn't see past them.

"Ugh...I can't see whats going on!" May grumbled.

"-I bet I can!-" Wynaut exclaimed happily, then dashed off into the sea of legs, startling many of the onlookers in the process.

"Wynaut! Get back here!" May pushed her way through the crowd, which seemed more willing to let her by with her trying to get to Wynaut. Wynaut eventually stopped at the front of the crowd, where May finally caught up with him and picked him up.

"You need to stop running off like that, Wynaut!" May scolded him.

"-But look! We can see now!-" Wynaut replied, as usual ignoring the fact that May couldn't understand him. Though May did realize that she was past the crowd now, and could see what was going on.

"Captain Stern, would you mind explaining what it was your team found on the ocean floor?" Gabby, an interviewer May had battled a while ago, was interviewing Captain Stern. Filming the interview, of course, was Ty.

"Of course..." The captain cleared his throat. "We found what we believe to be the habitat of an ancient pokemon. Though we did not have time on this dive to explore it further, we hope to return there soon to gather more data."

"Good! Good! Well thank you for your time, Captain Stern!" Gabby turned to face the camera. "And thats all for our interview. Back to you, Scott."

"And thats a wrap!" Ty turned his camera off, and the two reporters began packing up.

_"So thats all this was?"_ May thought. _"Captain Stern was being interviewed? Well, couldn't hurt to ask him what happened since I only managed to catch that last part..."_

With the interview over, the crowd began to slowly disperse, and Gabby and Ty left once they had all their gear packed up. May finally decided to approach Captain Stern.

"Excuse me! Captain Stern!" May called out to him as she approached.

"Ah! May! So good to see you again!" Captain Stern pulled out a cloth to wipe his forehead. "I've never been interviewed before, that was so nerve wracking. Anyway, how have you been?"

"I'm doing great! I've caught lots of pokemon and I have six badges now!" May took out her trainer card and showed it to Captain Stern.

_"I'm confused..."_ Wynaut thought. _"Does mommy know this old guy?"_

"Well congratulations! I'm glad to hear you've been doing well." Stern replied after looking over May's trainer card.

"Thanks." May put her card away. "So what was that interview about anyway?"

"Well I just returned from an expedition in my submarine, Explorer 1. Its currently docked in the harbor and being refueled as we speak. We have been exploring the ocean floor for days now." May thought for a moment, as things seemed to be adding up now.

_"Alex said that the legendary pokemon Team Aqua is after is probably underwater. Since Team Aqua came to Slateport, they must be after Explorer 1!" _May soon had her answer.

"Attention, Captain Stern!" Came a voice from what sounded like a megaphone. The remaining crowd looked around in confusion.

"We, Team Aqua, will be taking your submarine. We assure you, it is for the greater good of everyone, so please don't try to stop us."

"That sounded like it came from the harbor!" Captain Stern pointed out the obvious, and rushed into the wooden building behind him where Explorer 1 was stored. May followed behind, knowing Team Aqua was likely inside.

Sure enough, once inside, May found Archie standing next to the submarine and speaking with the admin that Alex had battled back at the weather center. The two of them immediately noticed May and Captain Stern enter the building.

"I should have known one of you would show up." Archie said to May. "It seems inevitable that children will interfere with my plans. However, this time you are too late!"

Archie motioned towards the sub, then jumped into the water with Matt following suit. The submarine then quickly exited the harbor, with Archie and Matt getting in through the sub's airlock.

"Oh no! They're getting away with Explorer 1!" Captain Stern ran to the edge of the harbor, but was helpless to do anything but watch Team Aqua leave in his submarine.

"There's no way I can follow them now..." May sighed. "I hope Alex has better luck with Team Magma..."

"Alright, land here Skarmory." Skarmory slowed down as it angled towards the ground, coming in for a landing at the base of Mount Chimney.

"Great. You can rest now Skarmory." Alex held up Skarmory's pokeball and recalled it, then placed the pokeball back on his belt.

_"Team Magma's base must be somewhere around here..."_ Alex thought. _"I just need to find a way in..."_

Alex started on his way up the side of the volcano, but didn't have to go far before he found an opening in the rock face. It appeared to be completely unguarded as well.

"Whats this now? Not like Team Magma to be sloppy..." Alex stopped outside the opening and took two pokeballs off his belt.

"Numel! Golem! Lets go!" Alex called out two pokemon, both pokemon he felt would be comfortable fighting in Team Magma's lair. The rock pokemon Golem and the fire pokemon Numel appeared before him. The pokemon turned to face Alex once they realized there was no opponent for them to fight.

"Alright guys, here's the situation. We're about to head into Team Magma's lair and there seems to be potential for an ambush, so I need you two ready to fight if necessary. You two go in first and I'll follow behind." The two pokemon nodded. Golem went through the opening first, followed by Numel, then Alex.

Past the opening was a large, rocky cavern that had been dug into the volcano by Team Magma. There were lights strung up all over the place, so the cavern was well lit. Lit well enough that Alex could immediately see the four Team Aqua members lined up waiting for him.

"Looks like the boss was right! She showed up afterall!" One of the grunts said. The four of them snickered. They already had their pokemon out and ready for battle too. Their team consisted of two Zubats, a Numel, and a Poochyena.

_"She?! Maxie's figured it out too now? What, did he and Archie have a meeting about it or something?"_

"Golem, Numel...I'm sure you two can handle this without me calling the shots, right?" The two pokemon nodded and quickly charged towards the opposing line of pokemon. Before the Team Magma grunts could even call out their attacks, Numel had taken down its rival Numel with a Take Down attack and Golem took out one of the Zubats with a simple Tackle attack.

"Hmph...wimps..." One of the grunts grumbled. "Zubat, attack Numel with Wing Attack!"

"Poochyena, use Bite on that same Numel!" The remaining Zubat dove towards Numel, striking it with its wings. Numel barely even flinched from the strike though. Poochyena then followed up by biting down on Numel's snout, although that seemed to do little more than annoy it.

_"Funny..."_ Alex thought. _"They seem to realize they can't do anything to Golem, yet fail to understand how outmatched they are..."_

Golem was more than happy to remove the opposing Poochyena from Numel. It then tossed it aside and threw a rock at it with Rock Throw, instantly knocking it out. Numel, with its mouth freed, fired a blast of flames at the remaining Zubat, instantly knocking it out as well. The Team Magma grunts all recalled their pokemon and beat a hasty retreat.

"Yet another great waste of 50 seconds of my life..." Alex grumbled. "Alright, lets keep going...we need to find Maxie and stop him from awakening Groudon." Golem and Numel nodded, then continued on their way through the cavern with Alex following behind.

_"I can't help but feel sorry for their pokemon..." _Alex thought to himself. _"These grunts can hardly be considered serious trainers. Even back when I first fought them on the ferry they didn't put up much of a fight. Now its hardly worth using an attack on them..."_

Alex kept walking, unsure of how large this cavern even was or how many Team Magma grunts might be lying in ambush. One of his problems did seem to solve itself, though, as he came upon a covered map on the cave wall.

_"Well isn't that convenient..."_ Alex thought, taking a moment to study the map. It even had a room on it clearly marked 'Groudon'. _"Guess thats where I go then..."_

Alex continued on his way, following behind his pokemon while making sure they followed the right directions. After turning down a corridor leading to the east, he stumbled upon another group of four Team Magma grunts. This time, all female, and between them they had two Poochyena and two Numel.

"Target acquired! Beauty Squad, prepare for battle!" One of the grunts, clearly the 'leader' of the group, stated. The rest of the grunts took up position around her, one on either side of her and another in front. Their pokemon consisted of two Numels, a Baltoy, and a Poochyena. The Poochyena took up position in front of Baltoy whilst the Numels went to either side of it.

"Beauty Squad? I won't ask..." Alex muttered, rolling his eyes. "Numel, use Flamethrower. Golem, Magnitude."

The two pokemon unleashed their attacks almost simultaneously. Numel unleashed a blast of intense flames from its mouth, engulfing the group of pokemon. Meanwhile Golem slammed its foot into the ground, creating a tremor that caused the ground to rise up under the group of pokemon. The four pokemon were jostled about by the Magnitude attack and burned by the Flamethrower, and when the flames finally died down all four pokemon were clearly out of commission.

"No! How could we be defeated so easily?! Squad, fall back!" The girls all recalled their pokemon, then ran off in the direction Alex was going.

"These people are as silly as they are weak..." Alex said with a sigh. "Alright, lets keep going...I think we're almost there."

Alex and his two pokemon started off again through the cavern. The further they went into the hideout, the hotter it seemed to get. Alex even noticed small bubbling pools of lava about the place. Alex was growing increasingly uncomfortable with the situation, although neither of his pokemon seemed to mind.

"Heh...you two are lucky..." Alex said to his pokemon. "The heat doesn't bother you at all." The two pokemon couldn't help but snicker at their trainer's predicament.

"Alright...if I'm not mistaken, according to that map we should be coming up on a computer room soon on the right." Alex looked ahead on the right side of the wall, and could just make out a small opening leading into another room. When Alex reached the opening, he peered inside and saw various pieces of machinery and large computers.

"Interesting..." Alex commented, looking around at the equipment. "Some of this stuff looks like it might be used to generate power for this place. Makes sense, since they can't really get power here from outside without anybody noticing."

"Perhaps you're not as stupid as Maxie makes you out to be." Came a woman's voice. Alex looked around for the source of the voice, but saw nothing until a woman in a Team Magma uniform stepped out from behind one of the machines. It was Tabitha, an admin of Team Magma who dressed more like a guy.

"You're lucky you're hiding behind your pokemon...or we would just end you now." Came another woman's voice. A woman with long, black hair stepped out from behind another machine beside Tabitha. She wore the typical Team Magma uniform except her skirt was longer and split at the side. Alex didn't recognize this woman.

"Admin Courtney will be battling alongside me to bring you down. You see, Maxie really doesn't want to be disturbed by now. If you want to get to him, you'll have to get through both of us."

"Fine by me...try to make it quick though. I'm in a bit of a hurry." Alex replied stiffly. Golem and Numel both got determined expressions on their faces as they prepared for what seemed like a more serious battle.

"That won't matter, as you're not going anywhere!" Tabitha snapped back while reaching for a pokeball. Each admin had three pokemon with them. "Mightyena, go!"

"Agreed. You will not get past us." Courtney, the other female admin, stated calmly as she also took out a pokeball. "Swellow, come out!"

Tabitha's Mightyena appeared first, the black wolf-like pokemon growling as it appeared and trying to act intimidating. Swellow followed soon after, appearing next to Mightyena with its wings folded and a determined expression on its face.

"Numel! Use Amnesia! Golem, Defense Curl!" Alex's numel got a dull expression on its face, using its Amnesia ability to temporarily forget something in exchange for greater durability against special-based attacks. Golem, meanwhile, retreated into its rock shell to protect itself.

"Playing it defensively will get you nowhere! Mightyena, attack Numel with Shadow Ball!"

"Swellow, attack Golem with Steel Wing!" The two Team Magma pokemon launched their attacks. Mightyena formed a black ball of energy near its mouth then fired it at Numel. Courtney's Swellow flew towards Golem, its wings taking on a metallic appearance just before bringing them forward to strike golem. Neither pokemon's attacks seemed to have much effect on Alex's pokemon though.

"Now! Golem, attack Swellow with Rollout! Numel, use Flamethrower on Mightyena!" Golem began spinning rapidly, then launched into Swellow and ran it through. Swellow was knocked aside and hit the ground hard, but it slowly managed to get up again. It was badly injured but still capable of fighting. Alex's Numel breathed out a stream of flames at Tabitha's Mightyena. The flames engulfed it and burned it, and Mightyena seemed to disappear completely behind the wall of fire.

"Mightyena, use Shadow Ball again!"

"Swellow, Protect!" Golem turned around and started on a path to attack Swellow again. Swellow was ready this time, though, and threw up a protective sphere around itself. The shield held strong against Golem's attack, forcing the pokemon to back off and uncurl from its defensive position. Mightyena formed another shadowy black ball of energy and fired it at Numel. Numel was once again able to withstand the attack, but the attack took a fair bit out of it.

_"Numel might not be able to take another hit..."_ Alex thought, analyzing his situation. "_I'm not too sure another Flamethrower could finish Mightyena off either, worth a shot though."_

"Numel, use Flamethrower again! Golem, use Rock Throw!"

"Mightyena, counter with Shadow Ball!"

"Swellow, Steel Wing!"

Numel attacked with Flamethrower again, surrounding Tabitha's Mightyena in a vortex of fire. Mightyena wasn't out yet, however, as the silhouette of a Shadow Ball could be seen forming inside the fire just before it was hurled at Numel. Numel was unable to take a third Shadow Ball and was knocked out cold. The residual Flamethrower attack, however, seemed to be enough to finish off Mightyena as well and when the flames died down Mightyena was revealed to be unconcious.

Courtney's Swellow, meanwhile, made an attempt to attack Golem with Steel Wing. However, it didn't get far before a large rock smashed it in the face courtesy of Golem's Rock Throw. Swellow dropped quickly, and was definitely not getting back up. Courtney, Tabitha, and Alex all recalled their pokemon.

_"We're off to a bad start..."_ Tabitha thought. _"Courtney's Swellow was likely our best shot at taking down his Golem. Numel or Claydol can't use their strongest attacks against it here or we'll risk damaging the equipment or even collapsing the cavern..."_

"Anorith, come on out!" Alex released Anorith, the rock/bug pokemon, to fight alongside Golem.

_"An Anorith? I don't even know what that is...but it looks like its another rock type..."_ Tabitha and Courtney both prepped their pokeballs to send out their next pokemon.

"Numel, go!"

"Torkoal, go!"

Tabitha's Numel appeared on the battlefield, mirroring Alex's defeated Numel. Torkoal appeared beside it, a fire type turtle pokemon with the equivalent of a furance in its shell.

_"Two fire types..."_ Alex thought. _"Predictable."_

"Anorith, attack Numel with Water Gun! Golem, use Rollout on Torkoal!"

"Numel, attack Golem with Flamethrower!"

"Torkoal, Iron Defense!"

Anorith got off the first attack, firing a small stream of water at Numel. Though it wasn't a very strong Water Gun attack, it was particularly painful for the fire and ground type pokemon. Golem began spinning rapidly, meanwhile, as Numel recovered from the Water Gun attack and launched a barrage of flames at it. The flames bothered Golem very little though and it quickly launched itself at Torkoal. Torkoal braced itself with Iron Defense, its body seeming to gain a steel-like composition as Golem struck it. As a result, the attack seemed like little more than a glancing blow to it.

_"They seem to be concentrating on Golem..."_ Alex realized. _"I can take advantage of this to power up with Anorith."_

"Anorith, Swords Dance!" The familiar blue sword-like aura surrounded Anorith as it powered up.

"Numel, use Flamethrower again!"

"Torkoal, you too!"

As Alex has anticipated, neither of Team Magma's pokemon were attacking Anorith. They were concentrating on Golem. The two pokemon unleashed their fire attacks on the rock pokemon, but it rolled through the attacks as if it didn't even notice. Golem slammed into Torkoal with more force than its previous attack. Torkoal definitely took notice of Golem's second strike against it, grunting with the impact. Golem continued rolling on, turning around just as it would have hit Alex to attack again.

_"Obviously they consider Golem to be the greater threat here."_ Alex thought. _"They won't ignore Anorith for much longer though if I keep powering up, so I'll have it finish off Tabitha's Numel then attack Tabitha's last pokemon while Golem keeps after Torkoal."_

"Anorith, attack Numel with Water Gun again!" Anorith fired off another Water Gun attack, spraying a stream of water at its foe. The second Water Gun attack striking Numel was enough to knock it out cold. The pokemon rolled over on its side and was clearly unconcious. Tabitha recalled her pokemon.

"Damn it...this isn't looking good..." Tabitha muttered.

Golem, meanwhile, continued its attack, rolling straight into Torkoal again. This time, the fire turtle pokemon seemed to be in considerable pain as it was casually knocked aside. The pokemon struggled to get back on its feet.

"Looks like Torkoal won't last another hit either." Courtney stated. "Lets go out with a bang then...Torkoal, use Overheat!"

"Anorith! Protect!" Torkoal paused and began building up heat energy inside its body, and Anorith quickly threw up a protective blue barrier around itself. Torkoal's shell began to glow red until finally releasing the built up energy in a fiery explosion. Anortih and Golem were both caught in the attack, Golem having turned around once again to attack Torkoal.

When the flames dissipitated, Anorith was completely unharmed though its shield was gone. A charred Golem continued rolling, slamming into Torkoal from behind and launching itself into the air as Torkoal was sent face first into the ground and knocked out. Golem uncurled and just barely missed landing on Anorith. Golem was breathing heavily by now, clearly exhausted from the abuse it had taken using its Rollout attack. Courtney recalled her fainted Torkoal.

"Looks like I couldn't take either of them out with that last attack. Looks like its up to our last two pokemon now." Courtney placed Torkoal's pokeball on her belt and took the last one in her hand. Tabitha likewise reached for the pokeball containing her last pokemon.

"Claydol, go!" Courtney called out, releasing her pokemon. As its name suggested, Claydol looked like a giant clay doll. It was brown in color, with many large red eyes going around its head. The top of its head peaked like volcano, and it has two stubby protrusions on either side of its body that could have passed for arms.

"Crobat, go!" Tabitha released her final pokemon, Crobat. Alex had fought Maxie's Crobat before, which proved to be an opponent way out of his league at the time. He wasn't expecting nearly as much trouble from Tabitha's Crobat, however. Both pokemon hovered in front of their trainers, Crobat flapping its wings very rapidly to stay up, while waiting for instructions.

"Golem, you can take a break now. Return!" Alex held up Golem's pokeball and recalled the pokemon that had made the battle pretty much onesided thus far, then placed the pokeball back on his belt.

_"I might be needing Golem later."_ Alex thought. _"Especially if I have to fight Maxie. Besides, I think I can handle Tabitha's Crobat with Magnemite while Anorith concentrates on Claydol. I highly doubt Claydol has a ground-type attack Courtney would be willing to use in here."_

"Alright, Magnemite! Lets go!" Alex quickly grabbed Magnemite's pokeball and released the magnet pokemon. It appeared floating near Anorith, ready for battle.

"Anorith, attack Claydol with Metal Claw! Magnemite, Lock On Crobat!"

"Crobat, use Wing Attack on Anorith!"

"Claydol, use Psychic on Magnemite!"

Crobat flew towards Anorith and struck out at it with its wings, hammering the ancient pokemon from above. Anorith shrugged off the attack for the most part and continued towards Claydol. Each one of Claydol's eyes seemed to glow blue as it launched its psychic attack. A harsh blue glow likewise surrounded Magnemite, but being a steel type pokemon its body was particularly resistant to the psychic pressure.

While Claydol was busy attacking Magnemite, Anorith had managed to crawl up to it and slashed at it from below with one of its claws. The attack had a surprising impact on Claydol and even knocked the pokemon off balance, causing it to spin a bit before it righted itself again. Magnemite seemed to do nothing while all this happened, however there was a red target on Crobat's forehead now.

"That Anorith is stronger than it looks." Tabitha commented to Courtney.

"It raised its power while we were busy with the kid's Golem." Courtney replied. "Given the attacks its used I'd be inclined to say its a steel and water type."

"Really? I would have guessed water and rock."

_"Neither of them know what an Anorith is?"_ Alex thought. _"Bug and rock, even though it naturally learns Water Gun as an attack. These two should have studied up a bit, like I did!"_

"Anorith, use Metal Claw again! Magnemite, Thunder!"

"Claydol, Psychic! Aim at that Anorith!"

"Crobat, you attack Anorith again too!"

Tabitha's Crobat moved to attack Anorith again, however it didn't get a chance to attack. Static electricity formed in the air above Magnemite, and a powerful bolt of lightning formed from it and struck Crobat. The bat pokemon was badly electrocuted, and fell to the ground in a smoking heap. Tabitha cursed under her breath as she recalled her last pokemon.

Claydol's eyes glowed again as it unleashed another Psychic attack, however this time the attack was aimed at Anorith. A blue glow surrounded the bug pokemon as Claydol struck out at it mentally, using its psychic powers to press down on the pokemon for as long as it could hold the attack. Anorith seemed to be weakened greatly by the attack, but still managed to reach up and strike Claydol with a Metal Claw attack again. Claydol was once again knocked off balance, but it didn't seem to be weakening any.

"It would be folly of me to believe I could win now." Courtney stated, though despite that comment Alex noticed a mischevious smile on her lips. It took him a moment to realize what was going on.

"Anorith, Protect!" Anorith spread its claws out and formed a protective blue barrier around itself again. Just like with Torkoal, Courtney was having her Claydol go out with a bang. Alex knew Claydol could use Self Destruct and Explosion, and sure enough Claydol released a massive amount of energy from itself. Magnemite was blasted back by the attack, but was tough enough to endure it. Although just barely. Anorith was once again spared from a powerful attack thanks to Protect, and the Self Destruct attack left Courtney's Claydol fainted. She recalled it, but seemed a bit disappointed by the results.

"No matter...you will certainly be of no threat to Maxie with your Golem and Magnemite as weak as they are." Courtney said to Alex, before heading out through an opening in the room opposite of where Alex came in. Tabitha simply glared at him, before following suit.

"Well, I suppose they wouldn't be admins if they weren't tougher than the grunts. Still, they need to put a lot more work into being trainers." Alex sighed and shook his head.

"Anyway, good job you two. All thats left to do now is to stop Maxie." Anorith and Magnemite nodded, both of them seemed to understand the situation their trainer was in. Alex recalled the two of them, then paused for a moment.

"Wait, if Maxie's been in the next room all this time, and Groudon is in the next room, why wouldn't he have awakened Groudon already? Unless..." Alex clenched his fist. "That bastard's waiting for me..."

Alex ran through the opening he saw Tabitha and Courtney go through, and on the other side was what seemed like a large magma chamber. The heat was intense, and there was only a stone pathway in the middle of the room leading out from where he was. The rest of the room was just a giant magma chamber.

At the end of the chamber was what appeared to be a large gray statue. The statue was huge, standing easily over ten feet tall. The figure seemed akin to a dinosaur. Its body was hard with large plates covering its back, arms, and tail. Its short arms ended in three large claws and its tail had spikes protruding from the sides of it and seemed to end in a claw as well. The figure even seemed to have a menacing set of jaws.

Alex immediately recognized this statue as the sleeping form of the legendary pokemon Groudon. Standing at the end of the walkway, facing him, was Maxie, Tabitha, and Courtney. Maxie definitely looked as though he had been waiting for him.

"I'm glad you could make it, Alex. Or should I say...Melany." Maxie gave a deep laugh, almost taunting. "You're just in time to witness my plan finally set into motion, to remold Hoenn into a perfect world."

"Maxie, stop! You don't know what you're doing!" Alex called out to him, but Maxie just laughed.

"I know exactly what I'm doing." Maxie turned to face Groudon, and pulled a red crystal out of his pocket. It was the Ruby.

"With this...all my dreams shall be realized!" Maxie held the Ruby above him triumphantly, but as he did it was suddenly ripped from his hand. The ruby shot through the air towards the sleeping Groudon and seemed to stick to its forehead.

"But...I didn't do anything yet..." Maxie stuttered, not knowing what was going on.

"Damn it!" Alex quickly reached for a pokeball, but he was too late to do anything either.

The ruby suddenly started to glow vibrantly, but then faded to black and fell into the lava below. Color seemed to flow into the 'statue' of Groudon, its skin changing to red and its underbelly white as its power was returned to it. Groudon slowly opened its eyes, looked around the chamber, and gave a mighty roar that seemed to echo through the cavern.

"Excellent! Groudon has awakened!" Maxie stretched out his arm and pointed at Groudon. "Groudon! I command you to..."

Maxie didn't even get to finish his sentence before Groudon turned around and started clawing at the wall behind it. It dug at an amazing speed with its large claws, and quickly disappeared into the rocky wall.

"Why...why did Groudon leave? Where did it go?!" Maxie turned and pointed a finger accusingly at Alex.

"You had something to do with this didn't you!?"

"Me? Did you ever stop to think that maybe you can't control such a powerful and ancient pokemon like that?" Alex shot back. Maxie grumbled something, then turned to his two Admins.

"We're leaving...this plan is a failure for now. We'll deal with the renegade Groudon later." The two admins nodded, and the group left the chamber. Maxie glared at Alex as he passed by.

"He doesn't even seem to realize the trouble he's caused now..." Alex muttered to himself. "We're just lucky Kyogre's still asleep, or we'd really have a situation on our hands." Alex paused for a moment, and looked to where Groudon was standing previously. He then looked at his hands and realized he was shaking.

"Get a grip..." He told himself. "Its gone now...and I've still got work to do here..." Alex took a deep breath to calm himself down, and held up Golem's pokeball.

"Golem, come on out!" The pokeball opened, releasing Golem. Golem was in poor condition for battle still, having had no chance to recover from its previous fight. Fortunately, Alex didn't need Golem for a battle.

"Golem, somewhere in the lava at the end of this chamber there's a crystal. Your body can withstand the lava, so I need you to get it for me." Golem gave a nod, and curled up into a ball. It slowly rolled towards the end of the pathway they were on and into the lava. It was quite some time before Golem emerged again, carrying a black crystal in its hand. It actually had to walk out of the lava with the crystal as it couldn't carry it in its shell.

"The crystal turned black?" Alex pondered, examining the crystal in Golem's hand. Golem held it out for Alex to take.

"Uh...no, thats ok. You can hold onto it for now. I think my hand would catch fire just from grabbing it." Golem nodded in understanding.

"I don't get it though...if I'm not mistaken, even before the crystal was used to put Groudon to sleep in ancient times it was red. So why is it black now?" Alex scratched his head and sighed.

"Well regardless...thanks for retrieving it Golem. I'll get you to a pokecenter as soon as I get out of here. You can rest in your pokeball until then." Alex recalled Golem, taking the crystal into the pokeball with him. Alex looked around the chamber one last time, thinking back on what had just happened there.

"I failed to stop Team Magma from awakening Groudon...I hope May had better luck with Team Aqua." Alex started on his way out of the chamber and left the Team Magma hideout. It seemed as though the rest of Team Magma had already followed suit as well.

"It what?!" May exclaimed loudly. She was just hearing about what had happened with Groudon and Team Magma from Alex, speaking with him over the pokenav.

While waiting for Alex to call her, May had headed to the route just north of Slateport for some training. She realized that now, more than ever, her pokemon had to be at their best. She had also switched out her Tropius and Electrike for her two recently caught pokemon, Heracross and Phanphy. Both pokemon were getting to know the rest of May's team while training.

"No...Team Aqua got away from me. They were after Captain Stern's submarine. I don't know how we can catch up with them now. I don't think we can ask our pokemon to fly us around again so soon after that long flight."

While May was busy speaking with Alex, her Heracross and Phanphy squared off against one another. Both were powerful pokemon in their own right, and being from the Safari Zone they were both a bit too shy to train with May's other pokemon. Lileep and Gloom were busy training against each other, as were Plusle and Slugma.

"-Come on! Come on! Hit me with your best shot!-" Phanphy taunted the powerful bug pokemon.

"-Alright...but you asked for it!-" Heracross charged towards Phanphy, who braced itself for impact. Heracross raised its fist and delivered a powerful one-two punch attack. Phanphy had greatly underestimated Heracross's strength and was sent flying off into some nearby bushes.

"-Oops...I think I overdid it...-" Heracross rubbed the back of its head sheepishly.

"Hold that thought, Alex." May folded up her pokenav, though leaving it on, and went over to make sure Phanphy was ok. Phanphy came rushing out of the bushes just as May approached though, looking ready for more.

"Wow, you're a tough little guy huh?" May said to the pokemon, smiling. Phanphy nodded enthusiastically, then ran off to continue sparring with Heracross. May looked over at the bushes, which were flattened a bit by Phanphy, and thought she could see something beyond them.

Crawling through the bushes, May found a clearing not too far in. Inside that clearing was a black helicopter with a blue 'A' on the side of it, the all too familiar callsign of Team Aqua. May quickly unfolded her pokenav.

"Alex! I just found Team Aqua's helicopter! They must have left it behind!" May said excitedly into her pokenav.

"Really? Great! I'll be there as soon as I can!" Came Alex's reply. May heard the pokenav go quiet, and turned it off, realizing Alex had ended the conversation.

"Looks like something good came out of all this!" May said, smiling to herself. She turned around to return to her pokemon in time to see Wynaut rolling towards her. May blinked in confusion and watched Wynaut get back up and run to where Phanphy and Heracross were.

"Looks like Wynaut's getting along with Phanphy and Heracross too...maybe things will work out afterall?"

Author's Notes: I finished this chapter off surprisingly quickly once I forced a certain distraction out of the way. I seem to get caught up with Netbattle/Shoddybattle so easily, its actually kind of addictive -; It had to go though, at least temporarily. I was getting little work done on this story and had homework to take into consideration as well. Anyway! So one legendary pokemon is awakened now, much to the trainers' dismay, and now they have to try to stop Team Aqua. Next chapter will be a brief break from the Team Aqua/Magma scene as the duo run into some old friends in Lilycove.


	42. Chapter 33: Lilycove Challenge 1

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Nor am I affiliated with whoever made the music for the "2BA Master" tape. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Thirty Three**

**Lilycove Challenge**

**Part 1**

"Alex, you don't plan on trying to fly this do you?"

"Heck no! If I could fly a helicopter I wouldn't have been walking everywhere." Alex continued to fiddle with the helicopter's controls, trying to figure out how the systems worked. He had managed to figure out how to turn the helicopter on, but that was it.

"Then what ARE you trying to do?" May inquired.

"Well like you said before...it has autopilot. We can't use that unless we get it off the ground first." Alex fiddled with the controls for a moment, and managed to turn on the air conditioning.

"This is getting nowhere...I don't suppose you noticed a manual anywhere?" May shook her head.

"I thought this would be easy too. You know, we probably shouldn't be messing around if we don't know what we're doing. What if you accidentally hit a self-destruct button or something?"

"May, they don't build self-destruct buttons, especially not on helicopters." Alex was about to push a red button on the control panel, until he noticed the writing underneath it.

"Yeah, definitely wouldn't put a self-destruct button..." Alex sighed and sat back in the pilot seat.

"Why do these things have to have so many buttons anyway?" Alex grumbled. He studied the control console, trying to figure out what button combination would get the helicopter off the ground. He already knew how to get the autopilot running, as there was a nice convenient set of buttons for auto-pilot and one was labelled 'Return to HQ'. Alex and May had already planned to ditch the helicopter when they got an idea of where their HQ was to avoid making a scene.

"Why don't we try just pressing the auto-pilot button?" May suggested.

"Normally I'd say that'd never work, but I'm willing to try that at this point..." Alex reached forward and pressed the 'Return to HQ' auto-pilot button. Nothing happened.

"Didn't work. At least I can say I try...huh?" Several indicator lights on the control panel started lightning up, as if the helicopter itself was going through all necessary pre-takeoff procedures on its own. Soon, they could hear the engine start up and the blades started spinning.

"Well go figure..." Alex muttered.

"Worked afterall! Now we'll find out where their HQ is and stop them before they can find Kyogre!" May announced triumphantly. Wynaut, who was standing next to May the entire time, cried out in agreement.

The helicopter slowly lifted off the ground until it was 50 ft in the air. A monitor switched on, displaying the landscape around them rendered in 3D images. The helicopter took off, heading east. The same direction Mount Pyre was in.

"This helicopter practically flies itself..." Alex commented. "Why is it that the bad guys get all the cool stuff while we're stuck walking everywhere?"

"Hey, if I managed to keep up with Tropius, how good can it be?" May replied. "Besides, I don't see Team Aqua or Team Magma with pokenav's or pokedexes."

"No, but Team Aqua had a hideout built into a volcano and were harvesting thermal energy from it to run their hideout."

"You couldn't pay me to live in a volcano..." May said, rolling her eyes. "Thats just crazy."

_"This is going to be a long ride..."_ Alex thought.

The helicopter flew across Hoenn for several hours until it reached Lilycove. The helicopter slowed down as it approached the city, and the two trainers reasoned that Team Aqua's base must be somewhere near Lilycove. They moved to the back of the helicopter and May opened the side door while Alex released Skarmory.

"I know you're probably not too eager to fly more after that last flight to Mount Chimney, but from here, to the ground. That fine with you?" Skarmory rolled its eyes, but squatted down for the two trainers to get on. Alex climbed on Skarmory's back, and May sat behind him holding Wynaut. The helicopter was just approaching the city when Skarmory jumped out the door.

In a classic Skarmory fashion, the pokemon nosedived straight towards the ground, leveling off just before impact to scare its passengers. It turned towards Lilycove, finally coming to a stop just within the city while the helicopter continued towards the coast. May immediately got off Skarmory's back and started kissing the ground. Alex was used to Skarmory's antics by now though, and calmly got off Skarmory's back.

"Another smooth flight, as always." Alex said sarcastically.

"I'm never travelling anywhere without Tropius again..." May slowly stood up, her legs wobbling a bit. She was still shaken from the experience.

"As always, your services are greatly appreciated Skarmory." Alex held up Skarmory's pokeball to recall it, but Skarmory beat him to the punch and pressed the button with its beak, recalling itself into the pokeball.

"Yeah...can totally feel the love there..." Alex said, rolling his eyes. He placed Skarmory's pokeball back on his belt and looked to the sky. It was already getting dark out.

"May, you said they left in a submarine right?" May nodded in response to Alex's question.

"So they're almost definitely going to refuel and stock up on supplies before heading out in search of Kyogre...they probably won't leave until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest, since they couldn't have gotten much on the sub before stealing it."

"So what do you suggest we do?" May asked.

"Well, we could search the city for clues, though I doubt anyone in Lilycove who's not a member of Team Aqua knows where their hideout is. We should probably find somewhere to stay the night too. Should probably grab a bite to eat first though."

"Food sounds good to me...I'm starving." May's stomach rumbled its agreement. "Alex? What are you looking at?"

May followed Alex's gaze to a nearby diner. It was the kind of diner with a stage where entertainment would be provided while the customers were dining. May didn't notice the sign outside though, which was what Alex was actually looking at.

"That looks like a great place to eat. Lets go." Alex didn't even wait for May's opinion before heading for the diner.

"Well I guess it would be a nice atmosphere if nothing else." May shrugged and followed Alex.

"-I want pie.-" Was all Wynaut could say about it.

The two of them entered the diner and were quickly seated. The inside of the diner was dimly lit, as if to add to the atmosphere. What really surprised May, though, was that the diner seemed to be full of trainers their age instead of being mostly adults like the place she and Alex ate at in Fortree.

_"This place is kinda different..."_ May thought. She picked up a menu off the table and read it over. Much to her dismay, she wasn't getting any pasta this time. She also realized that the prices were a bit out of her range since she had yet to retrieve her allowance.

"Umm...Alex?"

"I'll cover for you, don't worry about it." Alex said to her absent-mindedly, and without even hearing the question. He had his menu in front of him too, though his attention seemed to be directed at the stage at the back of the diner. There wasn't even anyone on the stage.

_"What does he find so interesting up there?"_ May wondered. She looked over her menu again, trying to decide what to get until she came across a lagre pizza section of the menu.

"Wow...seems this place is known for its pizza. Lots of varieties. Why don't we get a small pizza and split it Alex?"

"Sounds fine to me." Alex once again replied absent-mindedly, then finally turned his attention to her. "Might as well get a pitcher of soda with that too. What about Wynaut?"

"-Pie.-"

"Hmm..." May looked over the menu again to see if there was anything berry-related on it in the dessert section.

"-Pie. Piepiepie.-"

"Quiet down Wynaut!" May scolded him and looked back to the menu. She found pies on the menu, but no individual slices.

"Thats odd...I guess if we're getting Wynaut another slice of pie we'd have to get a whole pie..." Wynaut gave a loud cheer at this news. "Wynaut, there's no way you're getting a whole pie to yourself."

"We can save the rest or have some of it ourselves." Alex suggested. "Its not like its pokemon food. Besides, this place caters to trainers specifically."

"Guess I should have realized that by now..." May replied sheepishly.

Alex called over a waited and placed their order, a small pizza, a Leppa pie, and a pitcher of soda. After placing the order and paying for it upfront, his attention went back to the empty stage. May finally decided to ask him about it.

"Alex, why do you keep looking at the stage?"

"Apparently someone I know is going to be singing tonight, according to that sign outside anyway." May was about to ask who, but a spotlight shined down on the stage, suggesting it was finally time for the show to start.

"Guess you're about to get your answer." May stated, her attention now focused on the stage as well. The red curtains were pulled aside, revealing a young girl with brown hair tied back into a ponytail. She was wearing a pink tank top and a matching knee-length skirt. Both of which were covered in glitter.

"Hey! Thats Suzy, the pokemon co-ordinator I saw on TV!" May said excitedly.

"And the trainer I battled at the Fallabar and Verdanturf battle tents." Alex added.

Suzy gave a bow to her cheering audience, took the microphone off the stand, and started to sing.

"Out here in the quiet of the night. Beneath the stars, and moon. We both know we've got somethin' on our minds. We won't admit it, but it's true. You look at me, I look away..."

"She has a beautiful singing voice..." May whispered. The more May listened to Suzy's song, the more she found her mind wandering to the boy sitting across from her.

"I wanna tell you what I'm feeling, but I don't know how to start. I wanna tell you, but now, I'm afraid that you might break my heart. Oh why should anything so easy ever be so hard to do. I wanna tell you what I'm feeling and to say that...I love you..."

Suzy's singing comes to an end, and everyone gathered in the dimly lit began to applaud her. Suzy gave a bow, and when she stood up again she immediately spotted Alex sitting amongst the crowd. Suzy came down off the stage and crossed the floor, all eyes on her as she approached Alex and May.

"Well look who decided to show up in Lilycove!" Suzy stated in annoyance, placing her hands on her hips. "And you brought your girlfriend! How does someone like YOU meet up with people like me or the daughter of Norman anyway?"

"I guess I'm just lucky like that." Alex replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "And we're just friends."

"Yeah, just friends..." May repeated, while mentally trying to chase away the thoughts that had entered her mind while Suzy was singing.

"She's out of your league anyway. So what brings you to Lilycove anyway? You weren't planning on entering a contest were you?"

"Contests don't interest me." Alex replied stiffly. He chose not to elaborate on why, since everyone in the room probably would have instantly had a vendetta against him.

"We're just trying to find Team Aqua's hideout." May added without really thinking. Alex immediately shot her a look.

_"I think this moment alone makes a good case for not telling May who I really was from the beginning..." _Alex thought to himself. _"Of all people to mention this to, it had to be Suzy."_

"Oh really?" Suzy couldn't help but giggle. "Well I just happen to know where it is."

"You're lying..." Alex countered, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Nope! Just ask them!" Suzy pointed a finger behind her at the rest of the diner's customers. Many of them shrugged and nodded in agreement.

"I won't even ask why they'd know that..." Alex muttered. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to share this information then?"

"I'll consider it...IF you beat me in a contest. Tomorrow. At nine in the morning." Alex considered Suzy's proposal, with everyone in the diner looking at him expectantly.

_"Well even if anyone else in town knows, given Suzy's popularity, I won't find out until after the contest anyway."_ Alex rationalized. _"Looks like I don't have much of a choice..."_

"Deal..." Alex finally replied.

"Good! I'll see you then, loser!" Suzy stuck her tongue out at him, then went to the changing rooms backstage.

"She really doesn't like you does she?" May asked, having been too embarassed by her outburst to say anything up until now.

"She didn't take losing to me in those battle tent matches overly well, I'll leave it at that. Works out though, since once I beat her I'll find out where Team Aqua's hideout is. Assuming she actually knows of course."

"Umm...Alex? You DO realize she's a top pokemon co-ordinator?"

"There's..." Alex paused for a moment and looked around. "Know what? We'll continue this conversation later." May sighed at Alex's response and sat in silence for a moment, thinking about what just happened.

"You know...I think I'll enter that contest too. It'll probably be a lot of fun. Besides, it'd beat sitting on the sidelines and letting you get all the glory!" She eventually said. She knew a bit about pokemon contests, or at least the kind Suzy entered.

"Yeah, and then we get to follow that up with busting into Team Aqua's HQ. Great day lined up already!" Alex joked.

"Yep, sure is." May fell silent for a moment again, hesitating before saying what she wanted to say next. "Alex, what do you think of me?"

"Huh? You should already know that, May." Alex replied, perplexed by May's question.

"Thats not what I meant. I..." May shook her head. "No, nevermind..."

_"Whats with her?"_ Alex wondered. Thinking about what had happened since they had arrived at the diner, it didn't take him long to figure it out.

_"She isn't...starting to like me, is she? Or Alex I mean. She definitely wouldn't be interested in me. I never thought 'Alex' was that great though."_ Suddenly, the full extent of Alex's problem dawned on him.

_"...If she ever finds out, I'm as good as dead. Life would be so much easier right now if I really war a guy, but then I would have had to try to disguise myself as a girl, and with my luck I'd probably have ended up travelling with a guy instead. Guess now I'll have to come up with a better escape route once this is over..."_

There was an awkward silence following their conversation, with the exception of Wynaut getting impatient and hitting the table in anticipation of its pie. Eventually the food finally arrived. The pizza was split into four slices, as was the pie. May and Alex had two slices of pizza each, as well as a slice of pie each. Wynaut had his slice of pie, and the remaining slice was put into a doggy bag. By the time they were finished, both trainers were stuffed.

Once the two of them had finished eating, they exited the diner only to find themselves facing a local reporter.

"Excuse me, sir! Is it true that you accepted a challenge from Suzy Rose?" The male reporter quickly interrogated Alex, shoving a microphone in his face.

"No comment. Go away." Alex brushed past him and headed towards the pokecenter.

_"Huh? Whats so special about Alex being challenged by Suzy?"_ May wondered, following Alex to the pokecenter with Wynaut in her arms. _"And why is he going to the pokecenter? Our pokemon are already rested and we haven't battled..."_

May followed him anyway, despite being unsure of why he was going to the pokecenter. Once they got there, he explained why he went to the pokecenter.

"Since we're going up against the best of Team Aqua now, we should probably have our best pokemon with us. In other words, I'm choosing a team and sticking with it." He explained to her.

"Thats a good idea I guess...but what about that contest tomorrow?" May thought for a moment. "Now that I think about it...I think I'll use Gloom and Beautifly! Beautifly for the appeals, Gloom for the battles."

"Gloom sounds like an odd choice..." Alex remarked, heading over to the center's pc. He quickly accessed his storage account and made a few transfers. He stored his Magnemite, Numel, Skarmory, and Anorith in exchange for Minun, Grovyle, Alakazam, and Azumarill. He was hoping Swellow would be strong enough to carry him anywhere he might need to go.

Once Alex was finished, May logged into her account. Taking what Alex said about using their best pokemon into consideration, she deposited Phanphy, Slugma, and Lileep. In exchange, she withdrew Gardevoir, Beautifly, and Altaria. Beautifly wasn't one of her best pokemon, but she planned to use it in tomorrow's contest. May also quickly accessed her savings account to withdraw her allowance.

"Well, I'm heading off to the department store!" May stated, pocketing her money. "What are you doing now Alex?"

"I'll book us a hotel, and then probably think up some appeals or something for tomorrow's contest. Try not to spend all your money so soon..."

"I'll try not to...having to have you buy me everything feels kinda pathetic."

"Most girls would probably appreciate a guy buying things for her." Alex said with a smirk.

"I suppose they would..." May shrugged and turned her back to him. "Lets go, Wynaut." May left the pokecenter, and a sudden realization dawned on Alex.

"Hitting on her is definitely not helping the situation." Alex shook his head sadly, and left the pokecenter to book hotel rooms for himself and May.

"Wynaut, do you think Alex likes me? I mean, as more than a friend." May asked the baby pokemon. To her surprise. Wynaut responded by slapping her, and not quite playfully either. The pokemon remembered its conversation with the Wobbuffet.

"-No babies! No babies! No babies!-" Wynaut shouted at her in its own language. May rubbed the side of her face where Wynaut slapped her and glared at him.

"Just for that, you're not getting that last slice of pie." Wynaut seemed shocked by this, and looked up at her as if on the verge of tears.

"Ok, fine, you can still have the pie..." May gave in to its sad face, but she wasn't going to go entirely soft on him. "But don't you EVER hit me again!"

"-Ok...-" Wynaut replied sadly.

May made her way up a cement set of stairs, leading up the side of a hill. On the top of the hill was a few houses, but more importantly it was where the Lilycove Department Store was located. The department store was a tall building rising up from the ground and filled with many department stores selling a variety of items. As May was approaching the department store, Brendan Birch was just leaving.

"So you've finally made it to Lilycove, May? It took you long enough, thats for sure!" Brendan chuckled. "Its been what? Two weeks since you left for Fortree? Or close to that at least..."

"We kinda ran into some problems..." May replied timidly. "What brings you to Lilycove anyway?"

"Picking up some things for my dad." Brendan replied casually. "So I guess you must be heading to Mossdeep for your next gym battle if you're passing through Lilycove."

"Actually..." May debated for a moment whether or not to tell Brendan about Team Aqua. She realized, of course, that just about everyone in town would probably know because of Suzy's challenge to Alex so there was no point in keeping it a secret.

"Well to be honest I'm kinda helping Alex go against Team Aqua...we'll probably go on to Mossdeep after that." Brendan stared at her as if she had two heads.

"Alex is doing WHAT?! And you're helping him?!" May wondered if telling him was such a good idea afterall.

"I know that probably sounds crazy but Team Aqua isn't really that dangerous. Or at least they don't seem to be."

"Your pokemon must have gotten pretty tough then." Brendan took quick look at his watch. "I should probably be getting back to Littleroot, but how about a quick three on three battle first?"

"Alright! You're on!" The two trainers moved out of the front of the building so they wouldn't be in the way, then spaced themselves apart before beginning the battle. May placed Wynaut on the ground next to her.

_"Who is this guy again?"_ Wynaut thought, scratching his head. _"I know I've seen him before..."_

"Alright then! Lets get this started! Lairon, go!"

"Heracross, go!" May and Brendan each sent out their first pokemon for the battle. May chose to start off with Heracross, giving it its first real battle since being caught in the Safari Zone. Brendan's first pokemon was Lairon, the evolved form of Aron. It was about two feet tall, stood on four legs, and looked like a small dinosaur. Its body was rocky in texture and covered in steel plates.

_"Lairon...looks like a steel and rock type pokemon. Which means fighting-type attacks should put a huge dent in it!" _May thought, realizing Heracross already had a huge advantage.

"You've managed to catch a Heracross. Not bad, I wouldn't mind catching one of those myself!" Brendan commented.

"-I might have had a hand in that...-" Wynaut commented idly, knowing full well that no one could understand it. Or at least, no humans.

_"Knew I should have been able to dodge that last ball..."_ Heracross thought to itself, having overheard Wynaut. _"Cheaters..."_

"It wasn't easy to catch, thats for sure!" May replied. "Anyway! Are we going to battle or what?"

"Whatever you say! Lairon, use Iron Defense!"

"Heracross, finish it off quickly with Focus Punch!"

Brendan mentally smacked himself for leaving his pokemon wide open for attack. Heracross's fist began glowing as it focused its power into one attack. Brendan knew that if Heracross was attacked right now, it'd lose its focus. Unfortunately for him, Lairon was busy using Iron Defense. Lairon's body hardened greatly as it became reinforced. Heracross, after finishing preparation for its attack, rocketed towards Lairon to deliver a powerful punch, smashing it with an immense force. Despite being a heavy pokemon, Lairon was sent flying back like a ragdoll. Its enhanced defenses did nothing to save it either, as it was instantly knocked out.

"Wasn't anticipating a Focus Punch..." Brendan said as he recalled Lairon. He clipped the pokeball to his belt and grabbed the next pokemon.

"Well I won't make that mistake again. Manetric, go!" Brendan held up the pokeball and released his next pokemon, Manetric. Manetric was the evolved form of Electrike. It stood almost five feet tall at the tip of its mane. It had an appearance similar to a dog, with blue fur covering its body. Long, spiky yellow fur extended out from either side of it on the back of its body and it had a tall, thick mane of yellow fur on its head.

"Manetric, Thunderbolt!"

"Heracross, use Focus Punch again!" Heracross's fist glowed as it prepared to use Focus Punch again. However, it didn't get a chance to launch its attack. Sparks danced across Manetric's body before launching off a powerful bolt of lightning and striking Heracross at the horn, sending the electricity through the pokemon's body. Heracross's fist immediately stopped glowing as the powerful attack hit it.

"Huh? What gives? Why didn't Heracross attack?" May wondered out loud.

"You mean you don't even know how Focus Punch works?" Brendan shook his head in disappointment. "Focus Punch takes a great deal of focus to pull off, as the name suggests. If a pokemon is distracted by, say, being attacked...it loses its focus and can't follow through with the attack."

"Guess I'll have to keep that in mind...but if thats the case, use Brick Break!"

"Manetric, dodge it with Quick Attack!" Heracross ran forward, aiming a powerful punch at Manetric. Its opponent moved out of the way in a flash of light, leaving Heracross stunned and coming up behind it.

"Heracross, its behind you!" May called out to her pokemon. Heracross turned around to see Manetric standing behind it now.

"Manetric, use Thunderbolt again!" Manetric fired off another bolt of lightning, once again coming down to strike Heracross's horn. The electricity flowed through the bug's body, the pain bringing it to its knees. Using all the strength it had, it dashed forward and punched Manetric square in the face with a powerful punch attack, sending Manetric reeling back before collapsing to its knees again. May realized Heracross had been struck by paralysis, but even she was surprised by the pokemon's power.

_"Is Heracross really that strong?"_ May wondered. _"Oh right...that paralysis probably triggered a power increase because of its Guts ability. Neither pokemon can take another hit now I think...but Manetric has a clear advantage. Still..."_

"Heracross, use Fury Attack!"

"Manetric, finish it with Quick Attack!" Heracross tried to get up for another attack, swinging its arm out at Manetric. The pokemon was long gone by the time Heracross attacked though, and it was quickly knocked out by a lightning quick tackle from behind. May recalled her Heracross and sighed.

"Well you did great for your first real battle Heracross...you would have done better to if I knew about Focus Punch before." May clipped Heracross's pokeball to her belt and quickly took another in her hand.

"Altaria, you're up next! Go!" May quickly released Altaria from its pokeball. Altaria quickly sought out May's head and landed on top of her, bringing May to the ground.

"Altaria...I told you...you're too heavy for that now..." May grunted out, her face burried against the pavement. Altaria hopped off her and rubbed its head with its wing in embarassment. Old habits apparently didn't go away when Altaria evolved. Once May got back on her feet, Altaria turned to face her opponent.

"Manetric, you've done enough for now. Return!" Manetric gave a nod as Brendan recalled it and reached for another pokeball.

"Marshtomp, this one is your's! Go!" Brendan released his Marshstomp, choosing to save his Manetric for later since he knew it was fast enough to try to attack before it lost to another of May's pokemon.

_"Marshtomp? Now why would he use that..."_ May thought for a moment. _"Its a water and ground type, so its attacks normally wouldn't be very effective against Altaria. Being a water pokemon though it might know Ice Beam, and Brendan is smart enough not to use a pokemon that was at a disadvantage."_

"Marshtomp, use Ice Beam!"

"Fly up and dodge it Altaria!" Altaria quickly flew up, just narrowly dodging an Ice Beam attack from Marshtomp. The mudfish pokemon wasn't giving up yet, however, and aimed up and tried hitting Altaria as it flew above it.

"Altaria, quick! Use Sing!" May quickly covered her ears after issuing the command.

_"Sing?"_ Wynaut thought. _"Isn't that the attack that keeps putting me to sleep?" _Wynaut soon got its answer as Altaria began to sing while simultaneously continuing to stay just barely out of the way of Marshstomp's Ice Beam. Both Marshtomp and Wynaut began feeling drowsy, and Marshtomp's attack stopped as it fell over fast asleep.

_"Yeah...thats the...one...stupid...song..."_ Wynaut gave a yawn, and fell asleep as well.

"Now! Hit it with Dragonbreath while its asleep!" Altaria flew directly above Marshstomp and began to dive downards while shooting out a stream of blue flames straight at the pokemon below it. Altaria pulled up and flew towards May just before impact with Marshstomp, leaving the sleeping pokemon in a cloud of blue smoke. The attack injured Marshtomp quite a bit, but it also woke it up.

"Marshtomp! Now! Ice Beam!" Brendan wasted no time in attacking once Marshtomp was awake again, and once Marshtomp opened its eyes and saw its opponent with her back to it, it opened its mouth and fired off a blue beam to hit Altaria from behind.

"Altaria, look out!" Altaria looked back to see the Ice Beam attack just before it was struck by it. Altaria cried out in immense pain as the beam struck it and was quickly brought to the ground, landing just in front of May.

"Altaria, are you ok?" Altaria weakly got back up on its feet and turned to face its attacker. It was severely injured by the attack, but could still fight.

"Your pokemon is tough, I'll give you that!" Brendan commented. "Alright, use Ice Beam again Marshtomp!"

"Altaria, counter with Ice Beam!" Altaria and Marshtomp simultaneously launched their Ice Beam attacks at each other, and the beams collided midway between the two pokemon and formed a block of ice between them. The pokemon stopped their attacks when they realized neither were getting anywhere with them.

"Marshtomp, Take Down!"

"Altaria, use Dragon Breath!" Marshtomp charged towards Altaria, using the block of ice as a shield until jumping over it. Altaria blasted Marshtomp with another Dragonbreath attack once its opponent had cleared the ice, but Marshtomp kept coming and tackled Altaria hard, knocking it out. Marshtomp was looking quite exhausted itself from trying to resist the Dragon Breath attack.

"Altaria, return!" May recalled her fainted Altaria and placed its pokeball back on her belt. Marshtomp distanced itself from May a bit to give her room to release her next pokemon.

_"Lets see...both Brendan's pokemon are just barely hanging on at this point, but Manetric could still potentially fight back. I think I'll go with Plusle. Its not exactly at a type advantage, but it can use Quick Attack."_ May reached for Plusle's pokeball, thinking to herself for a moment. _"I don't think I've used Plusle in an actual battle in ages now..."_

"Plusle, go!" May held up the pokeball and released the yellow electric pokemon for its first battle in a while. Plusle stretched and gave a yawn as it appeared on the battlefield. It looked around and seemed startled when it realized it was in a battle.

"Marshtomp, use Mud Shot!"

"Plusle, Quick Attack!" Marshtomp opened its mouth to use Mud Shot, but only a small dribble of mud came out as Marshtomp was suddenly struck hard in the stomach by Plusle's Quick Attack. Marshtomp staggered backwards, then fell over unconcious.

"You did good, buddy. You can rest now." Brendan recalled Marshtomp and placed its pokeball back on his belt. He then took Manetric's pokeball again.

"Manetric, you're up again!" Brendan released Manetric, hoping to finish the battle with his injured electric pokemon. May's Plusle didn't look at all intimidated by its opponent.

"Manetric, Quick Attack!"

"Plusle, you use Quick Attack too!" Manetric charged at Plusle at a speed that could barely be followed by May and Brendan. Plusle waited until Manetric was close before using Quick Attack and dodged Manetric's attack. It then quickly shot into Manetric's side, knocking the pokemon to the ground and out cold, finished off in one attack. Brendan recalled his final pokemon.

"Beaten by a Plusle..kinda embarassing actually..." Brendan rubbed the back of his head in embarassment and didn't seem to notice Plusle glaring at him.

"Good battle though...I guess if anyone's going to take on Team Aqua it'd be you two. By the way, where is Alex anyway?"

"He's making our reservations, and then I guess he's getting ready for tomorrow's contest." May replied.

"Anyway, you did great Plusle. You can return now." May recalled Plusle and placed its pokeball on her belt, then scooped up the still-sleeping Wynaut in her arms.

"Whoa, wait. So he's entering a pokemon contest?" May nodded her response. "Sheesh...wish I could stick around to see that...what made him decide to enter a contest?"

"Suzy challenged him to get back at him for the times he beat her in the battle tents."

"Suzy Rose challenged someone to a pokemon contest? She always said challenging people to contests was lame because there wasn't even a guarantee they'd get the chance to face each other. She must really want to get back at him."

_"Is that why people seem to be making a big deal out of it?"_ May wondered. _"That seems kinda silly though unless Suzy was adamantly against it contest challenges..."_

"I didn't even know Alex knew her until he dragged me to this diner she was singing at. I just saw her on tv one time..."

"Alex took you to a diner? That was nice of him..." To May, Brendan sounded a bit upset at that news. "Well anyway, I should get going, its getting really late."

Brendan took a pokeball off his belt and released Tropius from it. Brendan's Tropius seemed to be a bit bigger than May's Tropius. Brendan quickly hopped on the grass pokemon's back.

"See you around May."

"Bye Brendan." Brendan's Tropius took off west, taking Brendan back towards Littleroot.

"I wonder what that was all about?" May shrugged, then started for the department store entrance. Unfortunately, it seemed that the store was closed now. The front doors were locked, and all the lights were out.

"Thats so unfair..." May said sadly, lowering her head. Wynaut slowly began to wake up and gave a yawn.

"-What'd I miss...?-"

"I can't believe I missed out on one of the greatest shopping experiences ever...this day couldn't possibly get any worse." Unfortunately for May, it was about to get a bit worse still.

"What do you mean you could only get one room?!" To say May was upset to find out Alex could only book one room would have been an understatement.

"They only had one vacancy, sorry, and there's only a single-sized bed..."

"Grr...well I call dibs on the bed AND I get the bathroom first!" May declared, stomping past Alex and into the hotel room. Alex sighed.

"Well at least she didn't accuse me of getting one room on purpose...I guess this means I'm sleeping on the floor though." Alex walked into the room. By then May had already claimed the bathroom and Alex could hear the shower going. He didn't see Wynaut in the room either, so he assumed May would be giving him a bath as well.

"Well I guess I could take inventory while I'm waiting..." Alex thought back to the last time he took inventory, trying to remember what he's used since then.

"...Or not, we've been staying in cities since the last time I took inventory. Haven't really used anything since the day we went to the Safari Zone." Alex sat on the floor beside the bed, which Alex assumed was something May would defend with the nearest blunt object.

"Wynaut, sit still! You're taking a bath whether you like it or not!" Alex could hear May yelling in the bathroom, as well as a lot of water splashing around.

"You know, this wouldn't be a problem if you kept it in a pokeball." Alex shouted.

"Mind your own business!" May shouted back. More struggling could be heard in the bathroom, as well as a lot of complaining from Wynaut.

"She really seems to be in a bad mood...she couldn't be that upset about sharing a room with me could she? I mean, heck, the only difference between the hotel room and sleeping outdoors together is...one's outdoors and one's indoors."

"Its the principle of it!" Alex blinked slightly and looked over at the closed door.

"The walls really do have ears..." Alex whispered, since apparently May could hear him talking to himself. "I bet half the floor can hear her yelling too..."

"Wynaut get back here!" Alex heard the sound of banging on the bathroom door, followed by a loud cry and a splash as May grabbed Wynaut and put him back in the shower.

"Sounds like they could be a while." Alex got up and left the room, returning minutes later with his sleeping bag and a pillow. May and Wynaut were both still in the bathroom when Alex got back, but things had quieted down at least. Alex laid out his sleeping bag next to the bed, placing his pillow at the head then decided to lie back and relax for a bit while he waited for May to finish in the bathroom.

It was almost another half an hour before May finally emerged from the bathroom, a very unhappy but clean Wynaut following behind her. Alex got up to go in next, and it was then that he saw she was wearing a towel over herself. The two stared at each other in awkward silence for a moment.

"...Wynaut got my clothes wet, alright?" May grumbled.

"I'm not going to get a shoe thrown at me am I?" May's right eye twitched, and for a moment she actually looked for something to throw at him just for that comment.

"I'll let you off the hook this time, but for your information I have dry underwear and I'm wearing them, so don't get any funny ideas in the middle of the night..."

"Then why the towel?" Alex inquired.

"Because I don't want you seeing me in just my underwear!" May shot back.

"Like I'd want to..." Alex got up and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He could finally see the mess May and Wynaut made. There was water everywhere, and May's wet clothes were hung out to dry in the shower.

"She could have at least tried to clean up a bit..." Alex carefully treaded about the slippery terrain as he took his turn getting ready for bed. May waited until she heard the shower going before finally dropping her towel. She was wearing her underwear as she said, but had her shorts on as well.

"'Like I'd want to'...hmph. Like I buy that." May glanced down at Wynaut. "You know Wynaut...I think Alex might be right about putting you in a pokeball. You're just getting to be too much trouble. It'll be getting dangerous after tomorrow too now that I think about it."

May opened up her fannypack, which was resting on the bed, and took out a pokeball. Wynaut looked on curiously. He knew May was upset with him, but he had mixed feelings about being in a pokeball.

"...No, I'll wait until tomorrow." May put the pokeball back in her fannypack. "I'm definitely putting you in your pokeball before we go to face Team Aqua though."

Wynaut nodded in agreement. Even though it was still young, it understood the situation, and knew that it had gotten itself into some pretty scary situations that could have been avoided if it was in a pokeball, or could have at least hid in one.

"You know, one thing mom always told me was I couldn't share a room or a tent with a guy unless I was married to him. I don't know why that is, but this situation goes against what she told me. Alex doesn't seem remotely bothered by this either..." May paused for a moment and looked at the bathroom door.

"...I wonder if Alex is gay? That'd kinda explain a lot...like why he doesn't seem to think of me as anything more than a friend."

"-What does gay mean?-" Wynaut wondered, folding one of its arms back to scratch his head.

At that moment, the bathroom door opened and Alex stepped out. May had gotten distracted and didn't hear the shower turn off.

"Alex did you...hear any of that?" May asked him, her face reddening slightly.

"Uh...no..." Alex blushed as well when he saw May. May had momentarily forgotten she no longer had her towel wrapped around her, and to Alex seeing May with only her bra on was the equivalent of seeing her topless. She quickly picked up the towel and wrapped it around her torso.

"You could have at least had the dignity to look away..." May said, somehow managing to stay calm.

"Uhh...s-sorry May...I just..." Alex stopped mid-sentence, seeming to regain his composure. "Hey wait, isn't this the part where you'd normally throw something at me or hit me?"

"Whats the point? It wouldn't change anything now..." May picked up her fanny pack and placed it beside the bed, climbing under the sheets and removing her towel again. She had planned to be in bed by the time Alex was finished in the bathroom.

_"Uh oh...I've managed to upset her to the point where she becomes abnormally calm...this can only be bad news..."_

_"I don't get it..."_ Wynaut thought. _"Is mommy upset because Alex looked at her?"_

"Good night Alex..." May rolled over on her side and seemed to go to sleep. Wynaut shrugged and hopped up on the bed, curling up at the end and going to sleep as well.

"Uh...right, night May." Alex flipped off the light, then crawled into his sleeping bag and quickly fell asleep.

_"I can't believe Alex saw me like that..."_ May thought as she slowly drifted off to sleep. A slight smile crept across her though.

_"At least I know he's not gay..."_

Author's Notes: I hope that bit at the end there about May thinking Alex might be gay didn't offend anyone. I doubt it did, but if it did it wasn't meant to and I'd rather play it safe . . By the way, the contest in the next chapter will be handled akin to the contests in the anime. Cause anime contests are more interesting than ingame contests. Oh, and some of you might have recognized the song Suzy sang as "Misty's Song" from the 2BA Master album. It fit the situation since its a pokemon love song. Pretty sure its legal since I only put a small part of the song in...


	43. Chapter 33: Lilycove Challenge 2

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Thirty Three**

**Lilycove Challenge**

**Part 2**

"I can't believe its morning and I'm still alive..." Alex gave a yawn as he sat up in his sleeping bag and stretched. He glanced over towards the bed to see if May was still asleep, but the bed was empty. A piece of paper was lying on the pillow.

"Gone shopping." Alex read the note aloud to himself, blinking slightly in confusion. "Didn't she go shopping last night? If she wasn't out shopping then where DID she go last night?" Alex checked the time. It was only a few minutes past eight.

"Geez, bit early for shopping. Most of the departments wouldn't even be open this time of day." Alex took a quick glance around the room. "Looks like she took all her stuff too, guess I'll just get ready, leave the key at the desk, and head down to the contest hall."

Alex quickly packed up his stuff, then headed to the hotel's laundry room to wash his clothes from the Rhyhorn incident. Once his clothes were washed and dried he turned in the room key, grabbed a quick breakfast, and went down to the contest hall.

To Alex's surprise, the seats for the audience were already almost completely filled up and there only seemed to be seven contestants currently registered for the contest. May was nowhere in sight. Suzy, of course, was among the co-ordinators. The remaining five co-ordinators consisted of three guys and two girls. Suzy was wearing yet another different outfit today, consisting of a blue tank top and a beige skirt over a pair of red shorts.

The area of the contest hall Alex and the other co-ordinators was in was a large room set aside for co-ordinators to wait in between matches or before the contest. It was a simple room with several benches and a registration desk. On one of the walls, facing the benches, was a large screen where matchups and turn orders would be displayed.

"I always thought there were more co-ordinators in these contests than this..." Alex said to himself, noting the small crowd. "Thats good though, means it'll be a short match. Sooner this is over with, the better."

"Well look who decided to show up." Suzy taunted, approaching Alex. "You're not going to get lucky and beat me this time, Alex! We're battling on my turf now!"

"Whatever you say. Let the best trainer win."

"Co-ordinator." Suzy countered.

"I'm not a co-ordinator. I'm only here because you seem to know where Team Aqua's hideout is, and obviously no one else in this town is going to tell me until after this contest anyway."

"Hmph. You won't even be a challenge if thats your attitude. I bet you won't even get past the appeal round!"

_"Please...there's nothing special about contests..."_ Alex thought. He didn't want to voice his opinion as he knew he'd have every object within reach thrown at him. Afterall, he's in Lilycove.

Alex signed up for the contest, having to go through the entire process of getting a contest pass. Alex tried to talk them into just giving him a pass into that particular contest, but was stuck getting the pass anyway even though he only intended to use it once. By the time Alex had finished signing up, May had finally arrived, and with only ten minutes to spare.

"I made it..." May said, trying to catch her breath. She ran all the way to the contest hall, worried she would be late.

"Hey May...you're uh...not still upset about yesterday are you?" Alex asked her. May paused and thought for a moment, putting a finger to her lip.

"Hmm...what was I upset about again? Well I missed my chance to shop at the department store...but I was able to get some shopping done earlier anyway. I was stuck sharing a hotel room with you, but thats over with. Hmm..." Without any warning, May suddenly gave Alex a quick jab in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain.

"NOW I'm completely over yesterday, thanks for asking!" May said in a cheerful voice, walking past Alex to the registration desk with Wynaut following behind her after having finally caught up.

"I deserved that..." Alex coughed out, trying to regain his composure and catching his breath. "I think...anyway...ow..."

"Hmm...that actually seems to be an effective way of getting back at you..." Suzy idly commented, having saw the whole thing.

"Don't get any ideas..." Alex grumbled, straightening up. "If we weren't friends I wouldn't take that from her..."

"Attention all co-ordinators!" A voice came over the loudspeaker. "Appeals begin shortly. The order for appeals will be displayed on the monitor."

A monitor built into a nearby wall turned on, revealing the appeal order. Suzy would be appealing first, followed by Alex and the other five co-ordinators. After about a minute, May's name finally appeared on the screen in the last slot.

"Try not to embarass yourself too much, Alex. This IS being televised!" Suzy taunted him, before leaving for the stage. The image on the monitor changed to show the large inside of the arena, while still showing the appeal order in the corner of the screen.

"Looks like I just barely registered in time." May said, approaching Alex to get a better view of the screen. "So your appeal is right after Suzy's...I guess you'll have a tough act to follow."

"I'm not worried..." Alex said with a slight shrug. "By the way, I thought you went shopping last night?"

"I ran into Brendan outside the department store and he challenged me to a battle. By the time I beat him it was closed. There wasn't much open this morning either..." May sighed.

"You shouldn't be spending your money so quickly anyway."

"Oh, like you're one to talk..."

"Ladies and gentlemen, the appeal round will now begin! First up is Lilycove's very own Suzy!" Suzy stepped up to the front of the arena, and the audience cheered as she took center stage. The arena was a large circular area, with a short red wall surrounding it. At the back of the arena was three podiums where the judges sat, and the audience's seats formed a semi-circle around the arena. Suzy held up a pokeball, ready to send out her appeal pokemon.

"Bellossom, lets give them a show!" Suzy called out while tossing the pokeball up into the air. The pokeball opened and released Bellossom, a small green flower pokemon with a grass skirt. The pokemon began its performance as soon as it was released from its pokeball, spinning in the air while using Razor Leaf to send leaves flying everywhere. The leaves collided with each other and were sliced up into smaller leaves as they fell. When Bellossom landed, the shredded leaves seemed to fall around it like confetti.

"Now, follow it up with a Sweet Scent!" Bellossom stepped side-to-side, as if dancing. This wasn't part of its attack, however, merely part of its routine. While performing this little dance, it began releasing a sweet smelling fragrance into the air which was immediately noticed by the judges as they took a whiff of it.

"Now finish up with a Moonlight!" Bellossom stopped and gave a quick pirouette, holding its arms out to its sides as a beacon of light seemed to shine down on it like a spotlight on a stage. The audience applauded Suzy's performance.

"Another great performance from Suzy! Lets see what the judges have to say!" A screen on the front of each judge's podium flipped on to show each of the judge's score for Suzy's appeal. The judges themselves consisted of two older men and one young woman. The first man gave suzy a score of 92, the second 94, and the woman gave her a score of 80.

"Suzy has used this routine several times before." The woman stated, giving her reasoning for the relatively low score. "Its beginning to get a bit stale."

"A 92, 94, and an 80!" The announcer continued over the loudspeaker. "That gives Suzy a score of 89 for her appeal round, a great score indeed!"

Suzy gave another bow and left the arena, returning to the co-ordinator's room. The other co-ordinators applauded Suzy's performance as she returned, except for Alex. Suzy frowned when she noticed this.

"Well I'd like to see you do better!"

"I don't need to do better." Alex replied. "I just need to do good enough to get to the next round." Alex walked past Suzy without another word, heading out into the arena.

"Grr...is he ALWAYS that serious?!" Suzy grumbled.

"99.9 of the time." May replied.

"Next up is Alex! A trainer challenged to a contest battle by Suzy herself! Will Alex be able to hold his own in a contest?" Alex walked out into the arena, admist a loud boo'ing from the crowd.

_"Wonderful, seems I'm public enemy number one for some reason."_ Alex thought. _"Lets just get this over with."_

"Alright, Minun! Lets do this! Come on out!" Alex tossed Minun's pokeball out to the center of the arena. The pokeball opened up and released the electric mouse pokemon Minun. Minun raised its arms in the air when it appeared, but then froze when it saw how many people were in the audience. Alex had already informed it the day before that it would be making an appeal in a contest, but Minun didn't picture itself being in a contest and found itself with a case of stage fright.

"Minun, use Spark!" Alex commanded. He also mentioned to Minun to use a slight variation on its standard Spark attack, although it was nothing new for Minun. Minun didn't seem to do anything. Alex noticed Minun seemed to be shaking.

_"Oh geez...don't tell me Minun's gotten stage fright. I didn't even know pokemon could get stage fright!"_

"Minun, try picturing everyone naked!" Alex suggested. Of course, the whole stadium heard him suggest this and suddenly the arena went eerily silent as everyone stared in shock. This didn't seem to help any either, and instead Minun just covered his eyes.

"He suggested a pokemon...imagine everyone naked?" May stuttered, watching everything on the monitor in the co-ordinator's lounge.

"Hmph. Beating him won't be any fun if he doesn't even get to battle me." Suzy added, showing little concern for Alex's suggestion.

_"Why would Minun want to picture everyone naked?"_ Wynaut wondered.

"Ok...lets try a different approach then." Alex suggested. "Picture everyone as Minuns!" This didn't seem to help either, and Minun's ears began to droop. Facing an audience was hard enough. Facing an audience of its own kind was even worse.

"Excuse me..." The female judge interrupted. "But if you aren't able to get your Minun to perform in the next minute we will be forced to disqualify you."

_"Great..."_ Alex thought. _"Running out of time here...come on! Think! What would get Minun to focus?" _Alex thought for a moment, then suddenly he got an idea.

"Minun! Imagine you're in a battle, and the audience is your opponent!" Minun opened its eyes slightly to peek out at the audience. Only now, instead of an audience, it saw a rival Minun at the other side of the arena. Minun straightened up and became determined to win.

"Great! Now, lets kick this off with Spark!" Minun held its hands out and focused electricity to its hands, creating a pair of electric pom-poms that it often used for cheerleading. It then began to wave them around as it hopped around the arena.

"Now to make the impression. Toss them up and use Thunderbolt, Minun!" Minun tossed its two pom-poms into the air then fired off a bolt of electricity at them. The static balls exploded in a burst of electricity, creating a shower of sparks. Several small lightning bolts also went off in every direction, creating a storm-like effect above Minun as sparks rained down around it.

"And thats it, folks! Lets see how the judges rated Minun's performance!" Alex waited anxiously as the numbers came up one by one. The first was 78, the second was 81, and the final judge gave him a score of 70, giving him an overall score of 76.

"While Minun gave a stunning finale..." One of the male judges explained. "The slow start was a bit of a let down."

"Well I guess that wasn't so bad..." Alex thought. He looked down and noticed Minun was clinging to his leg now, as if hiding from the audience.

"You can relax now, its over." Alex held up Minun's pokeball, but Minun quickly climbed up Alex's leg to recall itself on its own, retreating into its pokeball.

"Well despite a case of stage fright, Minun gave us a spectacular show and finished with a score of 76! Congratulations!" There was more boo'ing from the crowd as Alex took his leave.

_"Everybody's a critic..."_ He thought to himself as he returned to the co-ordinator's lounge.

"Hey! You were pretty good out there!" May said to Alex as he arrived in the lounge.

"He wasn't too bad I guess..." Suzy stated, crossing her arms. "You still have a lot to learn about pokemon contests though."

"I'm sure I do..." Alex replied casually. "But I'm not interested."

The next five co-ordinators all took their turns making appeals. The first of the male trainers, a green haired boy, ended up with a score of 82 and appealed with a Roselia. The other male co-ordinator appealed with a Pikachu and tried to mimic Alex's performance, but ended up with a score of 52 because of it.

The three female co-ordinators ended up with scores of 68, 75, and 70. Alex, Suzy, and the green haired male were all pretty much guaranteed to be in the next round. It was all down to May now. May left Wynaut in the co-ordinator's lounge to watch everything on the monitor there while she went out into the arena to make her appeal.

"And our last co-ordinator is May Maple, daughter of the gym leader Norman, making her first contest debut as well. Now we'll see if May can hold her own against today's competition!" May walked out into the arena, carrying her Beautifly's pokeball with her. The crowd cheered as May took her place.

"Well here goes nothing..." May took a deep breath and tossed out Beautifly's pokeball. "Beautifly, come on out!"

May's Beautifly appeared from its pokeball, using Morning Sun as it was released. Beautifly posed in the air with its wings spread and seemed to sparkle because of its Morning Sun technique.

"Now, use Stun Spore and follow up with a Whirlwind centered on you!" Beautifly gave a flap of its wings, releasing a cloud of Stun Spores. It then began to flap its wings rapidly, forming a funnel of wind around itself. The stun spore cloud was picked up by the funnel, and the dust-like spores almost seemed like glitter as they swirled around Beautifly. Beautifly kept this up until all the spores had been sent up to the ceiling.

"Now use Morning Sun again!" Beautifly seemed to shimmer again as it used a low power Morning Sun to create a shimmering effect as the spore cloud slowly rained down around it.

"A beautiful performance by May's Beautifly!" The announcer commented. "But what score will the judges give it?"

One by one the judge's screen revealed their respective scores. The first gave her a score of 82, the second a score of 88, and the last a score of 86, giving May an overall score of 85, giving May a spot in the next round.

"I have to admit, even I'm impressed by this first-time performance." The female judge stated. The other two nodded in agreement.

"Thats it folks! The appeal round is over and the four co-ordinators moving on to the next round have been decided! Now the battle order will be randomly determined." The image on the monitors showed a typical tournament block, starting with four blocks on the bottom then moving to two. One by one, the images of each trainer at the bottom began to appear on the screen.

In the first block was Alex, followed by Suzy, May, and the green-haired trainer. Alex would be facing Suzy in the first round, and May would be facing the green-haired male co-ordinator. Whoever won in each match would move on to the final round.

"Well looks like you get your wish, Suzy. We're battling in the first round." Alex commented.

"Try to at least make it interesting for me. If you even can that is..." Suzy replied. The two of them went into the arena and took up their respective positions to get the match on the way.

"Now for the battle everyone's been waiting to see! Alex versus Suzy! If Alex wins here, Suzy will reveal to him the location of Team Aqua's hideout in Lilycove!"

_"Was announcing that part really necessary?"_ Alex wondered.

"Boss, don't you think we should hurry up with the preparations?" A Team Aqua grunt asked Archie.

"In a bit...this is far too amusing." Archie chuckled, his attention on his tv which was tuned in to the very contest Alex had entered.

"Besides, we're almost ready to go as it is. We'll finish just as soon as this contest is over."

"Very well, sir..." The grunt bowed respectfully, then left to continue with his assigned task.

"Everyone in town knows where our hideout is...I didn't even make an attempt to keep it a secret. I can't believe all the trouble those two girls are going through just to find us!" Archie laughed quietly. "And even when they show up...I'll be ready for them. Its obvious to me now how the helicopter made it back here..."

"Grovyle, go!"

"Milotic, go!"

Alex and Suzy called out the pokemon they had chosen to use for the battle round of the contest. Alex's Grovyle appeared in a kneeling position with its arms crossed in front of it, looking ready for its first battle in quite some time. Suzy's serpent-like Milotic appeared opposite Grovyle, its body making a circle behind it while the front of its body rose up almost like a cobra's. The two pokemon stared each other down, waiting for the start of the battle.

On the monitors placed around the arena, the image of each trainer was shown on opposite sides of the monitor with a yellow circle around their image. This circle represented their current point total and would turn black as their points decreased, similar to a health bar in a game. The winner was whoever depleted all their opponent's points or had the most points remaining when time was up. They would have five minutes.

"Co-ordinators, ready! Begin battle!"

"Grovyle! Start off with Leaf Blade!"

"Milotic, use Rain Dance!" Grovyle quickly dashed across the arena, raising one arm and forming a green blade as it moved in and slashed at Milotic. The attack caused Suzy to lose 1/6th of her point bar. Milotic seemed to wiggle around a bit, and storm cloud began to form over the area where Grovyle and Milotic were battling. A downpour then started raining down on both pokemon, but neither trainer's points changed as a result.

"Thats not going to help you!" Alex declared. "Grovyle, use Leaf Blade again!" Grovyle activated its Leaf Blade on its other arm now, bringing it up to slash across Milotic again. Milotic winced in pain as this second Leaf Blade attack struck it, but Suzy seemed to lose less points from this attack than the last. The difference actually seemed to come out of Alex's points instead

_"I lost points there? For what?"_ Alex wondered. _"Oh right...I lose points for using the same attack too often."_

"Milotic, use Water Pulse!" Milotic fired out several blue rings of water which struck Grovyle at point blank range, knocking it back a few feet. Even with the power boost from the rain, though, Grovyle seemed to be able to shrug off the attack. Despite this, Alex lost the same amount of points as Suzy did from the first Leaf Blade attack. Alex was still in the lead, but only by a small margin now.

_"Looks like they took away extra points when Suzy attacked because she used Rain Dance beforehand."_ Alex thought. _"Maybe there's more to these contests than I thought..."_

"Grovyle, Mega Drain!"

"Milotic, Wrap it!" A green stream of energy flowed between Grovyle and Milotic, causing a decent amount of damage to the water pokemon. However, this didn't seem to affect Suzy's score much as it only moved slightly. After recovering from the attack, Milotic quickly wrapped its body around Grovyle and began squeezing tightly. Though this didn't seem to cost Alex many points at first, he soon noticed his points were slowly decreasing after the initial loss.

_"Need to get Grovyle out of Milotic's grip...fortunately I think the weather will help with that!"_

"Grovyle, Quick Attack! Straight up!" Between the sudden burst of speed combined with Milotic's wet body, Grovyle was able to free itself and jump straight into the air. Alex's score stopped decreasing as soon as Grovyle was free, leaving Alex at a third of his bar.

"Now hammer it with a Leaf Blade attack!" Grovyle shifted its weight downwards, bringing its Leaf Blade down hard on Milotic and causing the pokemon to cry out in pain and reducing Suzy's points from a half to a quarter. Milotic seemed to be getting quite exhausted by this point, and looked like it could barely stand. Alex knew that even in a contest he could win if he KO'd his opponent.

"Time to end this!" Suzy declared. "Milotic, use Attract!" Milotic tried to act cute, and it seemed to work as Grovyle suddenly seemed to be awestruck and stared at Milotic with love in its eyes. Alex's points dropped slightly, bringing him just below Suzy.

"Now, Water Pulse!" Milotic fired off another Water Pulse attack, striking Grovyle with the same force as the last time and snapping it out of its infatuation. Grovyle once again withstood the attack with ease, however Alex's point total didn't seem to fair too well as Suzy's final attack drained the last of Alex's points.

"Thats it! Battle over!" The announcer declared. "This match goes to Suzy and her Milotic!" The crowd gave a loud cheer at Suzy's win.

"Great job, Milotic! Lets try to do even better in the next round!" Suzy shouted enthusiastically as she recalled Milotic. She then glanced across the arena at Alex and Grovyle.

"Too bad, Alex! Looks like I won! Not that you ever stood a chance! Now you're stuck finding Team Aqua on your own!"

"Well congratulations, Suzy. Looks like you proved you could beat me in a pokemon contest." Alex replied casually.

_"I might not have won the contest..."_ Grovyle thought. _"But I totally had that Milotic against the ropes. If this was a battle, the win would have been mine easily."_

"You did great out there, Grovyle. You're still as strong as ever. You can rest now." Alex recalled his Grovyle, and the two co-ordinators left the arena. As Alex and Suzy were leaving they passed May and the green haired co-ordinator entering the arena.

"Good luck May." Alex said to her as he passed by. The green haired boy gave a 'hmph' but didn't say anything. Alex decided to stay in the co-ordinator's lounge and see how May does in her contest battle.

"I bet May will do much better than you did." Suzy taunted him.

"I didn't do that bad." Alex replied. "In fact we were pretty close down to the end there."

"We were only close because of Grovyle's type advantage." Suzy countered. "You made a lot of mistakes out there!"

Alex had no response for Suzy's last comment. He didn't realize how much different contest battles really were and took to it too much like a real battle. He decided to just keep quiet an watch May's match.

"Gloom, go!"

"Flygon, come on out!" The two co-ordinators released their pokemon for the contest. May released her Gloom, while her opponent sent out the powerful dragon and ground pokemon Flygon. Flygon looked similar to a large green dragonfly, except it only had a single pair of wings on its back. It had two short arms and legs, and a pair of large red eyes on either side of its head. Its eyes seemed normal rather than compound like a dragonfly's though, and its body was long and sleek instead of segmented.

"Flygon? Whats that?" May wondered aloud, taking out her pokedex to check.

"Flygon, the Mystic Pokemon." The pokedex read. "The flapping of its wings sounds like singing. To prevent detection by enemies, it hides itself by flapping up a cloud of desert sand."

_"It sounds like a legendary pokemon..."_ May thought. _"But no one batted an eye when he sent it out, so it couldn't be."_

"Co-ordinators, start battle!" The announcer called out. The image of the two co-ordinators appeared on the monitors about the arena, displaying their current point totals.

"Flygon, use Dragon Claw!"

"Gloom, Stun Spore!" The green haired co-ordinator's Flygon closed the distance between itself and Gloom at a rapid pace as Gloom began to release a cloud of paralayzing spores. Flygon flew through the cloud, the spores landing on it as it raked Gloom with its claws, its hand leaving behind a red trail in the air momentarily. Gloom seemed to be dealt a crushing blow and was sent rolling back towards May. It struggled to get back on its feet.

"That pokemon is powerful!" May realized. She looked up at the screen and saw that her point total had dropped by a third, while the other co-ordinator only had a sliver taken off his score by the Stun Spore attack. Fortunatelye for May, the trainer's Flygon was struggling to pull itself off the floor now because of paralysis. The green haired co-ordinator smiled to himself, seeming to think he had this round won.

_"Gloom definitely can't take another hit..."_ May thought. _"Even though its a contest I still lose if Gloom gets knocked out. I need to use Flygon's paralysis to gain the upper hand."_

"Gloom, use Poison Powder!"

"Flygon, keep that powder off yourself with Gust!"

Flygon tried to get up to use its Gust attack, but fell over again as its paralysis brought it down. Gloom lowered its head so its flower was pointing at Flygon, then released a poisonous cloud of powder. The purple powder was inhaled by Flygon, causing poison to course through its body.

"Lucky shot." The other co-ordinator commented, unphazed by the situation. The attack cost him a few points, but his point bar was also beginning to decrease slowly as well.

"Flygon, use Dragon Claw again!"

"Gloom, jump and twirl!" Flygon managed to pull itself up off the ground and made its way towards Gloom again. However this time it was moving much more slowly, giving Gloom more of a chance to react. As Flygon brought its claws around towards Gloom, Gloom jumped up on its shoulder, then jumped again to get behind it and spinning as it went through the air. The missed attack actually seemed to cost the trainer some points in addition to his rapidly decreasing score from Flygon's poison.

"Flygon, turn and use Flamethrower!"

"Gloom, backflip and use Absorb!"

Flygon quickly turned around and breathed out a stream of flames towards Gloom. Gloom was already out of the way, however, flipping backwards through the air to land on Flygon's head. It paused briefly to absorb some of Flygon's lifeforce from it, then backflipped again to land behind it. By this point, the two co-ordinator's scores were equal with the male co-ordinator's points still slowly dropping.

"This time we won't miss for sure! Flygon, Faint Attack!"

"Gloom, use Moonlight!" A beam of light shone down on Gloom, restoring its health from the harsh blow it had taken earlier. Gloom then seemed to be struck hard by something, as Flygon suddenly disappeared and slashed through it, delivering another powerful attack and leaving Gloom in bad shape again. May's points decreased to just under half, with her opponent just above half but still dropping.

"Hit it with Absorb, Gloom!"

"Flygon, Faint Attack again!" May could tell her opponent was getting a bit desparate now, using the same attack twice. His Flygon was starting to weaken from the abuse, despite obviously being much stronger than Gloom.

Flygon didn't get off the attack though as its paralysis kicked in again and it collapsed to the floor of the arena, giving Gloom the chance to use its Absorb attack. A small, green stream of energy flowed out of Flygon as Gloom drained a bit of its lifeforce from it. The other co-ordinator's score was now just below May's score at a third of his point bar remaining. All of a sudden, a buzzer rang.

"And this match is over! Time's up!" The announcer declared. "May has the most points remaining, and so it looks like she'll be advancing to the final round to face off against Suzy! Congratulations, May!"

_"Phew...I got a lot of lucky breaks there..."_ May thought. _"I don't think I would have stood a chance otherwise, that pokemon was just too powerful."_

The audience cheered at May's performance, while the other trainer didn't seem to be overly bothered by his loss. He, too, realized his opponent just got lucky and he was still a far more skilled co-ordinator than she was.

"You were great out there, Gloom! Good job!" May scooped up Gloom in her arms and hugged her pokemon tightly for a moment before being overcome by Gloom's stench. She quickly placed Gloom on the ground and plugged her nose.

"Wow, things really must have been tough for you out there..." May commented in reference to the smell. Gloom blushed slightly in embarassment as May recalled it to its pokeball. May then left the arena, returning to the co-ordinator's lounge. When May arrived in the lounge, the co-ordinator she just battled held out a rose to her with a smug look on his face.

"Umm...wow...thank you..." May blushed slightly as she took the rose from him.

"Its not for you." The co-ordinator stated casually. "Its for your Gloom." The co-ordinator turned his back to her and left the co-ordinator's lounge, leaving May somewhat confused.

"Its for Gloom?" May repeated to herself. She quickly shook her head. "HEY! Just what did you mean by that!" May called out after him, but of course she got no response.

"Hey, you did great out there May!" Alex said to her, distracting her from the green haired co-ordinator.

"Thanks, Alex. I just got lucky though..." May replied sheepishly.

"Even so, if I had faced that guy I doubt Grovyle even would have been table to take that first attack, let alone get lucky enough to pull off the win. I think that guy might have been even better than Suzy..."

"Hmph...so what if he is?" Suzy interrupted. "In any case, looks like you're battling me next, May. I'm actually looking forward to it. If you manage to beat me I'll tell you where Team Aqua is AND I'll give you something better than a rose for your Gloom."

"Wow...thanks, but what do you get if you beat me?" May asked her. Suzy thought for a moment.

"If I win...Alex has to become a co-ordinator."

"What?!" Alex yelled. "Hey don't I get a say in this?"

"Deal!" May and Suzy shook hands, sealing the deal.

"Ugh...May!"

"Wish me luck!" May said to Alex, giving him a wink before heading off to the arena with Suzy.

"This is it, folks! The final match, Suzy vs. May! No one wants to lose after coming this far!" May and Suzy took their respective places in the arena, Suzy with her back to the audience and May with her back to the judges.

"Milotic, go!" Suzy called out as she released her Milotic from its pokeball. Milotic was fully rested and ready for its battle.

"Gloom, go!" May released Gloom from its pokeball, who was healed after its battle with Flygon and ready for another go with an opponent closer to its skill level.

"Co-ordinators, begin battle!"

"Gloom, use Poison Powder!" Gloom lowered its head towards Milotic and fired out a cloud of purple powder. The powder reached Milotic, causing it to become poisoned and Suzy to lose a sliver of points from her point bar.

"That strategy won't work with me! Milotic, Refresh!" Milotic closed its eyes for a moment and focused on forcing the poison out of its body. Due to her quick thinking, Suzy didn't lose any further points.

_"Guess that strategy really won't work on Suzy..."_ May thought. She then smiled as she got an idea. _"But then again..."_

"Gloom, Stun Spore!" Gloom lowered its head again, this time releasing a cloud of yellow spores. The spores caused paralysis on contact with Suzy's Milotic. Suzy lost another sliver of points.

_"I can't afford to have Milotic paralyzed either..."_ Suzy thought. _"Not after the way May managed to beat that guy's Flygon due to paralysis...guess I have no choice but to use Refresh again."_

"Milotic, Refresh!" Milotic once again closed its eyes and focused, ridding itself of the paralysis. However, using the same technique twice in a row caused Suzy a further point loss, bringing her point bar down to three quarters.

"Follow up with Sleep Powder, Gloom!" Gloom released yet another cloud of powder at Milotic. Gloom released a green powder at Milotic, which caused it to fall asleep as soon as the powder made contact. Suzy ended up losing another small amount of points for having her pokemon fall asleep.

_"May's status attacks are starting to get annoying..."_ Suzy thought. _"At least I know I can count on Milotic's special ability though. She has to attack at some point, and Poison Powder isn't likely to work while Milotic's asleep."_

"Now use Acid!" Gloom attacked from its flower yet again, launching a blob of purple goo this time. The acid landed on Milotic and seemed to burn for a moment, but didn't appear to hurt it much and only caused Suzy to lost another small amount of points.

"Milotic, Wrap it quick!" Milotic quickly dashed forward, seizing its first opportunity in the match to actually attack. It wrapped its body around May's Gloom and began squeezing tightly, causing Gloom to cry out in pain. May's points dropped a bit at first, then began to slowly decrease.

"Gloom, Poison Powder!" Gloom released a cloud of poisonous powder straight into the air. The powder fell around the two pokemon and poisoned Milotic, but Gloom was immune to being poisoned due to being a poison type itself.

_"Great...poisoned again..."_ Suzy analyzed the situation, trying to come up with a plan. _"Having Gloom wrapped isn't giving me any advantages because we'll both lose points at the same rate, and she's currently in the lead. Its like her Gloom is the perfect pokemon to beat my Milotic. Really should have taught Milotic Ice Beam instead of Vigoroth..."_

"Milotic, Refresh!" Milotic closed its eyes and concentrated, forcing the poison out of its body. By doing this, Milotic's grip on Gloom would be loosened, and Suzy assumed May was going to take the chance to try to escape.

"Gloom, use Absorb now!" Rather than taking the chance to escape, May had her Gloom capitalize on the situation further by using Absorb. Suzy's points quickly dropped to just below the halfway mark, while May's point bar was only at three quarters. May had a significant lead and Suzy was running low on time.

"Is May actually beating Suzy?" Alex wondered aloud while watching the battle. "Then again, with all those status effects May's been keeping Suzy pretty much on the defense..."

"Milotic, use Rain Dance!" Milotic uncoiled itself from around Gloom, then began to wiggle its upper body as if dancing. Storm clouds appeared over the two pokemon and it began raining in the arena.

_"Looks like Suzy's trying to use the same technique she did on Alex..."_ May thought. _"Isn't much I can do but keep up with my strategy, I doubt she can make a comeback now anyway."_

May was about to give her Gloom its next order, but another thought struck her.

_"Wait, will Gloom's powder attacks still work in the rain? Poison Powder is probably completely out of the question, but Stun Spore at the range Gloom's at should still work."_

"Gloom, use Stun Spore!" Gloom lowered its flower towards Milotic and released a cloud of Stun Spores. Sure enough, enough of the spores hit for Milotic to become paralyzed. At this point, Suzy decided it'd be best if she forgot about Milotic's paralysis and went on the offensive to try to catch up with May. After that last attack, she was knocked down to a third.

"Milotic, Water Pulse!" Milotic fired a Water Pulse at point blank range, opening its mouth and emitting several blue pulses that made a splash when they struck Gloom. Gloom was more than able to take the attack even with its increased power, but May's point total was still knocked down to a half. Suzy quickly glanced at the scoreboard, and saw she only had enough time left for one more attack.

"Milotic, Dragonbreath!"

"Gloom, Absorb!" The two pokemon launched their final attacks simultaneously. Gloom absorbed a small amount of Milotic's life force into itself, while Milotic released a cloud of blue flames onto Gloom. This time, the Dragonbreath attack had the effect of inflicting paralysis on Gloom. However, the end result was that Suzy's scorebar was reduced to about 1/8th remaining while May's was just above that at roughly 1/6th. A buzzer sounded, signalling the end of the match.

"Well folks, you can't win them all! This match goes to May, who has managed to beat one of the best in the business in her first contest ever! Congratulations, May!" The crowd gave a roar of applause once the announcer finished. May and Gloom gave a bow. Suzy recalled her Milotic and crossed the arena, then held out her hand to May.

"You did pretty good May, but don't let this win go to your head! You've still got a long way to go before you're as good as me!"

"Then I'll just be satisfied with this win for now!" May replied, reaching out to shake Suzy's hand.

_"I don't get it..."_ Alex thought. _"I beat Suzy...and she holds a grudge against me. May beats Suzy, and the two are practically friends. Maybe Suzy just doesn't like me?"_

May stood alongside her Gloom and Beautifly as she and her pokemon were awarded their ribbons. Two of the judges each pinned a ribbon to May's pokemon, while the female judge handed May her ribbon.

"Well this contest sure was a short one folks due to the low co-ordinator turnout, but it was a great contest nonetheless and we've seen some truly inspiring performances! Join us again at noon for the next one!" The audience began to file out of the arena, and the tv crew from the Lilycove Contest Channel who were there filiming live packed up their equipment and left.

Once the contest was over, Alex waited in the co-ordinator lounge for May. Suzy was the first to arrive in the lounge, however.

"Well looks like you got lucky, Alex. May won." Suzy said to him as she entered the lounge. She didn't stop for a moment, however, instead heading to her backpack sitting on one of the benches and retrieved an orange stone shaped like a sun from it.

_"Like I was going to follow through with that deal if May lost anyway..."_ Alex thought.

Several minutes after Suzy arrived in the lounge, May arrived with her Gloom and Beautifly still out of their pokeballs and wearing their ribbons. As soon as May entered the lounge, Suzy approached her and handed her the stone she took out of her backpack.

"This is for your Gloom, as promised." Suzy said to her. May took the stone and looked at it curiously. Gloom seemed to get excited when it saw the stone.

"Umm...what is it?" May asked.

"Its a Sun Stone. It'll evolve your Gloom into a Bellossom." Suzy replied.

"Wow...thanks Suzy!" May turned to Gloom and held out the Sun Stone to it.

"What do you say, Gloom? Ready to evolve?" Gloom nodded enthusiastically, and as May held out the stone Gloom began to absorb the radiation from it. A white glow enveloped Gloom as it began to evolve. Its form seemed to shrink a bit, and the flower on its head split into two much smaller flowers. Its body shrank as well, and leaves grew out of the bottom of it. When the light faded, Gloom had evolved into Bellossom, looking exactly like Suzy's Bellossom from earlier.

"Wow, you look so pretty!"

"-I feel sexy!-" Belossom smiled brightly. Beautifly almost fell from hearing Belossom's comment.

_"I think this is all going to het head..."_ Beautifly thought.

"Also as promised..." Suzy interrupted. "Team Aqua's headquarters is in a cave near the beach. You can't miss it. Just ask someone if you can't find it, EVERYONE in the city knows where it is."

"Everyone...knows...?" Alex repeated, completely dumbfounded.

"Yep, everyone." Suzy turned to Alex. "And since you seem to be interested in Team Aqua, you might also be interested to know Team Magma's apparently sent a letter to the space center in Mossdeep telling them they'll be going there to steal their rocket fuel. Just a bit of trivia for you."

_"Rocket fuel? What the heck could they be planning with that?"_ Alex wondered. _"Well regardless...I think I know where I'm going next."_

"Well thanks for everything, Suzy!"

"Your welcome. If you're ever in Lilycove you should drop by the contest hall again! Oh, and ditch the loser..." Suzy jabbed her thumb in Alex's direction.

"I'll consider it..."

_"What is this? Pick on Alex day?"_ Alex felt something clamp onto his leg, and looked down to find Wynaut biting into him.

_"Just what I needed right now too..."_

May returned Beautifly and Bellossom to their pokeballs while Alex managed to dislodge Wynaut from his leg. May then scooped up Wynaut in her arms and the two of them left the contest hall and went to the pokecenter. After healing their pokemon, May deposited Belossom and Beautifly since she withdrew them for the contest. She then withdrew only Combusken, leaving her with five pokemon.

"Well Wynaut, ready to go in a pokeball?" May held up a pokeball in one hand, while still cradling Wynaut in the other. Wynaut nodded.

"You're finally putting Wynaut in a pokeball?" Alex asked, somewhat surprised.

"Well its just getting to be too much trouble to have him following me around all the time..." May sighed. "Well here goes nothing."

May pushed the button on the front of the pokeball with her thumb. The pokeball opened up, and a red beam shot out and struck Wynaut. Wynaut then was pulled into the pokeball as if part of the beam. The pokeball shook in May's hand for a brief moment as Wynaut was startled at first, but as Wynaut relaxed and stopped struggling the pokeball stopped shaking and locked shut.

Once Wynaut was sealed in the pokeball, May held out the pokeball and pressed the button again. The pokeball opened up, releasing Wynaut after it had just been captured. Wynaut peered around curiously, not sure what to make of the whole experience of being put in a pokeball and then released so soon.

"So...are you ok with that, Wynaut?" May asked him. Wynaut paused for a moment, then gave a nod.

"-Being put in a pokeball feels kinda funny...-"

"I'm going to put you back in then. Ok?" Wynaut nodded again, and May recalled Wynaut into the pokeball.

"So are you going to keep Wynaut with you?" Alex asked her.

"For now I am. Putting it in a pokeball is one thing, but I don't think I'm ready to try putting him in storage just yet." May placed Wynaut's pokeball in the final slot on her belt, then turned to Alex.

"So I guess we go raid Team Aqua's hideout now?" May suggested.

"Actually...I'm going to Mossdeep. Think you can handle Team Aqua without me?"

"Hmph...I'm sure I can handle Team Aqua just fine..." May replied stiffly.

"Great. Oh, and if for some reason you can't stop them, try to at least get the sapphire from Archie..."

"I'll...keep that in mind I guess." May wondered why getting the Sapphire would be so important.

"Good. Lets go then." Alex and May left the pokecenter and went to Lilycove's beach. From there, the cave which served as Team Aqua's hideout was in plain sight.

"Well, good luck May, and be careful." Alex took out Swellow's pokeball.

"Same to you, don't get in over your head trying to be the hero again." May replied, smiling slightly.

"They might not even need my help in Mossdeep anyway, I'd rather be safe than sorry though." Alex took out Swellow's pokeball and quickly released the green feathered bird pokemon. Swellow stretched its wings as it was finally out of its pokeball.

"See you later, May."

"Yeah, you too."

Alex held up his hand for Swellow to take hold of him. Swellow was quite capable of lifting Alex, and carried him up and off towards Mossdeep while May went off towards the cave.

_"Swellow, I just hope you have a VERY good grip..."_ Was all Alex could think, looking down into the water below.

_"Looks like its up to me to stop Team Aqua again. Its been a while since I confronted Team Aqua without Alex around, but they've always been pushovers anyway."_ May thought to herself as she walked down the beach and towards her potentially perilous destination. The two trainers once again found themselves split up, only this time with May going raiding the hideout.

Author's Notes: Gave a certain green haired co-ordinator a bit of a cameo in this chapter. I'm actually not a big fan of him in particular, but he's well known enough. Anyway, hope I handled that contest scene fine!

Oh, and just thought I'd give a bit of background here now, so I'm going to explain a bit about Alex's name. It goes back to when I was plotting another story in my mind involving a young boy and crystals that were essentially shards of the time-space continuem itself. Anyway, I needed a name for this character and checked out to find a 'defender'-ish name. Came upon Alexander, and shortened it to Alex. Ever since I've been using it a lot for male hero names. Anyway, just a bit of trivia for you!


	44. Chapter 34: Exit Strategy

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Thirty Four**

**Exit Strategy**

Just inside the cave that formed Team Aqua's hideout, a lone Team Aqua grunt was patrolling with a pokeball in hand, checking for intruders. He walked back and forth in front of the only entrance to the hideout from Lilycove, a small bay at the mouth of the cave with a flight of stairs leading up from the water.

Suddenly, the Aqua grunt could hear what sounded like singing. His eyes went wide as he immediately recognized the sound as a pokemon's sing attack, but before he could do anything he hit the floor and was snoring away.

"Good job, Altaria." May whispered, quietly making her way up the stairs now that the guard was asleep. Altaria flew down from a dark corner of the ceiling, landing next to May.

"Now we just need to find where the sub is docked and make sure it hasn't left yet." May looked back at the body of water near the entrance and thought for a moment, and figured it'd probably be too shallow to dock a sub there. There was almost definitely another docking area elsewhere within the hideout.

"Altaria, stay close, but keep behind me." Altaria nodded, and May quietly made her way to a door at the other end of the cave. She peered through the door and found an empty hall that seemed to split off in either direction.

_"If Alex had came with me, this would be the part where we could split up to save time and cover more ground."_ May thought, frowning. _"You'd think this would be more important than stopping Team Magma from getting rocket fuel. What are they going to do? Go to the moon and try to find a space pokemon?"_

May shook her head before starting off down the right corridor. The corridor soon came to a dead end after May passed by several locked doors and was about to turn and head back when she noticed the last door in the corridor was still open and on the front of the door was a gold plate with "Archie's Office" printed on it. May motioned for Altaria to stay back as May crept closer to peek inside.

Inside the office was a wooden desk with two blue cushioned chairs in front and another one behind it. There were several pictures on the walls, a few papers scattered on the desks, a tv in the back of the office and a glass case with a purple pokeball with a black "M" on it. There was no one in the office, and the chair behind the desk was facing the tv.

"I wonder if Archie left already?" May said to herself. She turned to Altaria and nodded, then entered the office with Altaria following behind her. She looked around at the various pictures in the office, many of which seemed to be pictures of various ruins. One picture seemed to be a group shot with several people wearing beige shorts, short-sleeved shirts, and hats. May immediately recognized two of the men in the picture as Archie and Maxie, and noticed a girl in the picture that she vaguely recognized as being Melany Stone.

"Wait...so Archie and Maxie used to be archaeologists?"May wondered aloud. "They even look like a team or something...colleagues?"

"-Doesn't that girl kinda look like Alex only with longer hair?-" Altaria tilted her head to the side, examining the photo.

"Melany's in that picture too...I wonder if her disappearance is connected to Archie or Maxie in some way then?" May shifted her attention to the pokeball on the desk, and noticed that there was a plaque at the bottom that said 'Backup Plan'.

"Backup plan? How good is it to them if they left it behind?" May looked at the pokeball for a moment, and her eyes went wide as she realized just what it was.

"Its...its a master ball! Those things can catch any pokemon without fail! You'd have to be rich to have one of those!" May exclaimed in her excitement. She quietly checked the corridor outside the door to make sure she didn't get anyone's attention, but the corridor was still bare.

"-That sounds useful!-" Altaria chirped happily.

"Hmm...I bet someone like Archie probably stole this though..." May said to herself. "I mean...it wouldn't really be wrong for me to take it from them when it doesn't belong to them in the first place, right?"

May approached the desk and lifted the glass off the master ball. She took the pokeball out of its case and placed it in her fanny pack. It was then, standing in front of the desk, that she noticed a map of the hideout on the desk with a sticky note attached to it. She picked up the map and read the note.

"Dear Meddling Kids,

Feel free to use this map. It won't help you at all, but do try to be quick about getting to the harbour. I'd hate to have to leave without getting the chance to see the look on your faces!

Yours Truly,

Archie

PS: Don't you dare take my Master Ball!"

"Is that supposed to be a challenge?!" May grumbled, crumpling up the sticky note and tossing it into a nearby garbage can. She turned and started on her way out of the office.

"Come on, Altaria, we're going after them!"

"-Right behind you!-" Altaria replied, waving one of her wings and slowly following behind May on foot.

May and Altaria started off down the corridor again, reaching a flight of stairs going down just beyond the door she entered the corridor through the first time. May took the stairs down to another corridor. This one seemed split off in three directions, going left, right, and straight from where May was.

May looked at the map and saw a convenient red line drawn on the map leading to the hideout's dock. Following the map's directions, she went straight. At the end of the corridor, though, were two female Team Aqua members hiding just inside two doors near the end of the corridor. As May neared the end of the corridor, the two grunts jumped out in front of her.

"Stop right there, brat! You're not going any further!" The one on the right commanded.

"Haha! There's only one! This will be a piece of cake!" The other commented.

"Altaria, you want to take these two on your own or would you rather have a battle partner?" May asked Altaria, leaving the two grunts stunned.

"-Umm...partner please!-" Altaria replied, pointing at May's pokeball belt to get the message across. Altaria wasn't quite as confident in Team Aqua's weakness as May was.

"Alright, I know just who to use then." May rolled up the map, holding it in one hand as she took a pokeball off her belt with the other.

"Wynaut, come on out!" May pressed the button on the pokeball, releasing the small blue pokemon for battle. Altaria quickly took up position next to Wynaut.

"-Oh boy! I was sent out for a fight! I feel like I'm really one of mommy's pokemon now!-" Wynaut said excitedly. Altaria tilted its head in confusion.

_"Mommy?"_ It wondered. _"I won't ask..."_

"Poochyena, go!"

"Corphish, go!"

The two female grunts sent out their pokemon to battle, one of them sending out the all-too-familiar Poochyena while the other sent out the orange shrimp-like pokemon Corphish.

"You two sure you want to battle me? I mean, no offense, but you grunts are kinda...pushovers." May asked the two of them.

"We're under strict orders not to let you get to the dock!" One of the grunts replied.

"And we're only pushovers because the boss doesn't let us have strong pokemon..." The other replied, poking her fingers together in embarassment.

"-Yeah, I'd REALLY like to evolve one of these days but I just don't have it in me because I haven't gotten the proper training...-" Poochyena whined. "-I want to be a Mightyena already...-"

"-You said it...I've been small for too long and it seems like we hardly ever get to battle to get stronger...-" Corphish added its agreement.

"-Wow...I feel sorry for you guys. Maybe I didn't need any help afterall...-" Altaria gave a slight shrug. "-Oh well. A dragonbird's gotta do what a dragonbird's gotta do!-"

"Well thats ok, because once I take down Team Aqua you won't have to listen to Archie!" May replied, smirking lightly. "Altaria, use Dragonbreath on Poochyena!"

Altaria opened its beak and turned its head to face Poochyena, then fired a stream of blue flames at the dog-like pokemon. Poochyena disappeared completely under the cloud of blue smoke that was created upon impact, and when the smoke cleared Poochyena was out cold. The grunt that complained about having weak pokemon recalled her defeated Poochyena.

"Corphish, Vice Grip and attack Altaria! That Wynaut will just counter it!"

"Wynaut, block and Counter!" The Team Aqua grunt's Corphish moved towards Altaria, aiming to clamp one of its pincer claws around Altaria's neck, but closed its claw around Wynaut's tail instead. Wynaut then did a flip in the air and slammed Corphish into the floor. Corphish released its grip on Wynaut's tail, having been hit hard by the counterattack, but was slowly getting back up on its feet when the other grunt recalled it.

"Screw this...we're not winning anyway. Lets get out of here." The grunt with the Corphish said before pushing her way past May.

"Hey! Wait up! What about the boss's orders?!" The other grunt called out before chasing after her partner.

"Well that was easy enough..." May commented.

"-Speak for yourself...my poor tail...-" Wynaut whined, clutching its sore tail in its arms.

"Well anyway, lets keep going." Wynaut and Altaria nodded in agreement. May walked past them, heading for the stairs. She looked into the two rooms briefly, but they were just sleeping quarters so she ignored them. Altaria followed behind May, with Wynaut jumping on its back to be carried down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, May noticed the distinct smell of salt in the air. Another short corridor stretched out in front of her with another going right. Ahead of her she could see another flight of stairs, but a short one. In fact she could see the room that the stairs lead into, which seemed to be a large open area. According to her map, the dock was straight ahead.

"We're in the home stretch now, guys!" As May made that announcement, two male Team Aqua grunts appeared at the end of the corridor.

"Do we really have to go through this again?" May groaned. The two Team Aqua members came charging toward her, taking out their pokeballs as they closed the distance to May.

"You're going to pay for embarassing us in Slateport! Poochyena, go!"

"Carvanah, go!" The two Team Aqua grunts simulataneously released their pokemon, another Poochyena as well as a Carvanah. The blue and orange spiney fish appeared standing upright, though quite literally it was a fish out of water and wasn't able to move much.

"Carvanah, Bite! Lets take out her Wynaut!"

"Poochyena, you too! Bite!"

_"Have I seen those two before?"_ May wondered.

"Wynaut, Counter!" Poochyena lunged towards Wynaut intent on biting down on it. It succeeded in doing that much, but bit down on Wynaut's tail. Just like Corphish before it, Wynaut did a flip in the air and slammed Poochyena into the floor. Unlike Corphish, Poochyena was definitely down and out.

"-Next!-" Wynaut looked to its other attacker, the Carvanah, which was slowly moving towards it.

"-Get over here...and I'll bite...your knee caps...-" Carvanah wheezed out while slowly crawling towards Wynaut on its fins.

"Altaria, use Dragonbreath on Carvanah!" Altaria breathed out and released a stream of blue flames at Carvanah, knocking it over on its side and immediately unconcious. The pokemon really didn't stand a chance. The two Team Aqua grunts recalled their pokemon.

"Damn it! Beaten again!" One of them grumbled.

"We weren't supposed to win anyway, so lets go already." The other stated. The two of them ran by May, leaving her confused.

"They weren't supposed to win? Then what was the point of battling me in the first place? All they did was waste my...time..." It suddenly dawned on May why Archie seemed so smug in that note he left her.

"They're stalling for time so Archie can get the sub going! We have to get moving!" May ran off towards the dock. Wynaut jumped on Altaria's back and Altaria took off and followed May in the air. When May got to the bottom of the short flight of stairs leading to the dock, she found Team Aqua Admin Matt waiting for her. Behind Matt was Explorer 1, still docked, half of it above water. Matt seemed to be the only one in the docking area though, so May assumed everyone else was on the sub already.

"Heh heh heh...about time you got here! I was getting bored!"

"You again..." May grumbled. She knew Matt would be tougher than the grunts, and it was clear she was pressed for time. From the look of the situation in the dock, Explorer 1 looked like it was pretty much ready to go.

"Aww...whats the matter? You don't look too happy to see me!" Matt chuckled.

"I've figured out Archie's plan...you and every other member of Team Aqua I've come across were stalling for time."

"The rest of the grunts? Yeah, they were stalling you..." Matt grinned menacingly. "But I fully intend to beat you! Its a shame you came alone so I can't lock both of you meddlers up, but the other one's afraid of water anyway so it doesn't matter anymore!"

_"Alex is afraid of water?"_ May thought. _"How does he know that? This does explain a few things though..."_

"Crawdaunt, go! Crush her pokemon!" Matt quickly drew the pokeball containing his Crawdaunt and released the fearsome looking evolved Corphish for battle. Crawdaunt clicked its pincers together menacingly as it stared down May's pokemon.

"Looks like this is going to be one on one, so you can go back in your pokeball for now Wynaut." Wynaut nodded and hopped off Altaria's back as Altaria landed in front of May. May took out Wynaut's pokeball and recalled it, then placed the pokeball back on her belt.

"Thats going to be your first mistake, kid! Crawdaunt, use Ice Beam!" Crawdaunt pointed one of its claws at Altaria and released a blue energy beam. The beam struck Altaria and briefly encased it in ice, which shattered almost instantly causing Altaria to cry out in pain. It was hurt fairly badly by that attack.

_"Ice Beam? I wouldn't have expected that from a Team Aqua pokemon..."_ May thought. _"I better be more careful."_

"Altaria, use Sing!" Altaria raised its head and began singing what sounded like a lyricless lullaby, putting Crawdaunt to sleep and even making Matt a bit drowsy for a moment. May was smart enough to cover her ears though.

"Now use Take Down!" Altaria flew towards the sleeping Crawdaunt, putting as much speed into its attack as it could. It slammed into Crawdaunt with a full body tackle attack and knocking it on its back. Crawdaunt woke up from the attack, and Altaria was a bit dazed for a moment from the impact.

"Crawdaunt, finish it off with another Ice Beam!"

"Altaria, dodge it!" While still lying on its back, Crawdaunt pointed its claw at Altaria and fired a blue energy beam. Altaria swiftly dodged the attack, aided by the fact that Crawdaunt couldn't aim as well while lying on its back. A stream of ice formed on the ceiling, following behind Altaria as it continually dodged Crawdaunt's attack.

"Now go in low and use Take Down again!" Altaria dove towards the floor, putting itself well out of harm's way. It leveled off its flight path, heading straight towards Crawdaunt while moving from side to side to avoid anymore incoming Ice Beam attacks. Because of the angle, though, Crawdaunt as having a lot of trouble hitting her now.

Altaria slammed into Crawdaunt again, knocking it back on its feet but almost knocking it into its trainer as well. Altaria seemed momentarily dazed again as it slowly backed off. Crawdaunt was still holding up pretty well despite having taken two powerful Take Down attacks, but it was starting to wear down Altaria quite a bit.

"Altaria, Sing!"

"Crawdaunt, quick! Use Taunt!"

"-Come over here and fight me like a real pokemon!-" Matt's Crawdaunt taunted Altaria, while making a motion with its right claw. Altaria was about to start singing again, but stopped when it heard Crawdaunt.

"-Grrr...May just give the word and I'll blast this guy with Dragon Breath!-"

_"Altaria can't use Sing after the taunt..."_ May thought. _"Altaria won't listen to me unless I tell it to attack Crawdaunt directly, and those repeated Take Downs are wearing it down. This doesn't look good..."_

"Altaria, return!" May quickly raised Altaria's pokeball and recalled it, sparing her pokemon any further abuse from Matt's Crawdaunt. She placed Altaria's pokeball on her belt, and took Combusken's pokeball in her hand.

"Combusken, your turn now! Go!" May unlocked the pokeball and released Combusken to battle. The orange and yellow fighting chicken pokemon appeared standing and quickly adopted a fighting stance. A smirk formed on its beak as it spotted its opponent.

"I'm going to enjoy this way too much..." Combusken thought to itself.

"Heh heh...you must have rocks in your head kid, sending a fire pokemon out to fight a water type!" Matt taunted her.

"Crawdaunt's not just a water type!" May shot back. "And Combusken's not just a fire type either! Combusken, use Double Kick!"

Combusken didn't need to be told twice, and quickly dashed towards its opponent and delivered a single kick to its face. It then spun around to kick it again, the second kick knocking Crawdaunt over on its back. Crawdaunt appeared to have a dazed look in its eyes and was no longer able to battle. Matt recalled it, and cursed himself under his breath for forgetting Combusken to be a fighting type.

_"Mightyena won't stand a ghost of a chance against a Combusken...looks like Crobat is up next."_ Matt grinned as he took his Crobat's pokeball from his belt. _"Crobat won't have any trouble against her Combusken."_

"Crobat, go!" Matt released his Crobat, a purple four-winged bat pokemon. The pokemon appeared hovering in the air, flapping its two larger wings rapidly to stay up yet without making a sound.

_"Crobat..."_ May prepared Combusken's pokeball to recall it. _"I don't know much about what attacks it'd know, but I know its extremely agile. Combusken won't stand a chance against it. Wynaut won't have to move to attack it though."_

"Combusken, thats enough for now! Return!" May recalled Combusken, placing its pokeball back on her belt and taking Wynaut's pokeball in hand.

"Wynaut, you're up again! Go!" May sent out Wynaut again to battle. Wynaut looked just as eager as last time as it appeared on the floor.

"This will be a piece of cake...Crobat, attack with Sludge Bomb!"

"Wynaut, Counter attack!" Crobat threw back all four of its wings as it spit out a large, purple ball of sludge, as if squeezing it out of its body. Wynaut got ready with its tail to hit the attack back like a baseball, but when the ball of sludge hit it exploded sending sludge everywhere around it and covering Wynaut head to toe in it. Wynaut stood for a moment after the impact, before suddenly collapsing into the sludge.

"I guess Wynaut took too many hits to take Crobat's Sludge Bomb too..." May thought. "Oops..."

May recalled Wynaut into its pokeball. She knew that since Wynaut was in a pokeball now it'd be easier for it to be healed at a pokemon center later. She thought for a moment before deciding on what pokemon to send out next.

"Gardevoir, go!" May called out as she released Gardevoir from its pokeball. Gardevoir hadn't seen any action since the gym battle with Norman where she evolved, but she still looked more than ready for a fight as she stared down her Crobat opponent.

"This one won't take long either..." Matt snickered. "You might have the type advantage but your Gardevoir will be too slow to take advantage of it! Crobat, use Bite!"

"Gardevoir, Teleport!" Crobat moved in quickly to attack Gardevoir, aiming to bite the psychic pokemon on its shoulder. Gardevoir vanished before Crobat had the chance however. As usual, it reappeared behind its opponent.

"Looks like your Crobat isn't faster than a teleport!" May commented. "Gardevoir! Use Psychic!"

Gardevoir concentrated, and a harsh blue glow surrounded Matt's Crobat. Crobat seemed to be held in place, screeching in pain as Gardevoir's psychic powers seemed to be crushing it before the psychic pokemon finally slammed Crobat into the floor with a temendous impact. Crobat slowly peeled itself off the floor, but was definitely dazed from the impact and wobbled around on its two small legs.

"Damn you..." Matt grumbled. "Crobat, snap out of it! Hit that thing with Bite!"

"Gardevoir is not a thing, she's a lady!" May growled. "Gardevoir, Double Team and use Teleport!"

Crobat was still trying to regain its bearings and biting at thin air, even before Gardevoir created multiple copies of itself to confuse its opponent. Crobat shook its head, finally snapping out of it, and glared at the Gardevoirs all around it. Each image shimmered briefly as the real Gardevoir used Teleport to mix things up.

"Two can play at that game. Crobat, use Double Team now!" Crobat lifted itself up off the floor, taking flight again and creating multiple images of itself just like Gardevoir had done. For each image of Gardevoir, there was another image of Crobat facing it.

"Gardevoir, wait until it attacks and use Psychic!"

"Crobat, Bite attack! Hit all of them at once!"

The images of Crobat all moved in towards their respective targets, jaws open as they prepared to bite down on their target. Almost simultaneously, the images of Crobat disappred except for the real one. However, all of the Gardevoir images vanished.

"What the...where did it go? It couldn't have just turned invisible!" Matt grumbled and looked around for May's Gardevoir.

"Gardevoir! Now!" A harsh blue glow surrounded Crobat again as it was struck by a Psychic attack seemingly out of nowhere. Matt finally looked behind him and saw the real Gardevoir standing on the back of the sub, where it had teleported to the first time. Crobat cried out in pain, and was then knocked unconcious as Gardevoir slammed it into the floor again. Matt grumbled as he recalled his Crobat, and Gardevoir teleported to stand in front of May.

"Your Gardevoir may have beaten my Crobat, but it won't be able to do a thing to my next pokemon!" Matt placed Crobat's pokeball back on his belt while grabbing the pokeball containing his final pokemon.

_"I can't believe I'm losing to this kid! I'm an admin! This shouldn't be happening!"_ Matt thought to himself as he looked down at his last pokeball. He still had to take out five of May's pokemon with it and she still had her Combusken with her as well.

_"Only having three pokemon was a huge disadvantage for me...I just hope the boss is ready to go, because I might not be able to hold up much longer. Better go on the defensive just in case."_

"Mightyena, go!" Matt finally released his last pokemon, Mightyena. The black wolf-like pokemon appeared before Matt and gave a howl, sending a shiver down Gardevoir's spine.

"-Miss May, I do not believe I can fight this pokemon!-" Gardevoir said, turning to its trainer. Though May didn't understand what Gardevoir was saying, she got the message.

"Alright Gardevoir, no point letting you fight a dark type. Return!" Gardevoir nodded its agreement, thankful to get away from the Mightyena as May recalled Gardevoir into its pokeball.

"This one's a no brainer!" May stated smugly, reaching for Combusken's pokeball.

"Combusken, you're up again! Go!" May called out as she released her Combusken. Unlike Gardevoir, when Combusken appeared it looked like it was more then ready for a fight with Mightyena.

"Combusken, use Double Kick!"

"Dodge it Mightyena!" Combusken rushed forward to kick at Mightyena, but Mightyena swiftly hopped back out of the way, doing likewise as the second kick came towards it.

"Now use Poison Fang!" Mightyena lunged at Combusken, biting down on its arm and simultaneously releasing poison through its mouth. Combusken winced and grunted in pain as it felt the poison enter its body.

"Combusken, Double Kick again while its stuck!" Combusken quickly delivered a kick into Mightyena's underside, causing it to dislodge itself from Combusken as it yelped out in pain. Combusken then delivered a second kick to its head, flipping Mightyena over onto its back.

"Now use Double Kick again, Combusken!"

"Mightyena, dodge it!" Mightyena swiftly dove to the side as Combusken's attempted to kick it, then ducked under Combusken's second kick.

"Mightyena, use Scary Face and get out of the way!" Mightyena looked up at Combusken, growling menacingly. Its eyes seemed to glow, and Combusken seemed to be intimidated by this. May didn't think Mightyena looked that scary at all, but she realized that Mightyena likely looked different to Combusken because of the nature of the attack. After using Scary Face to intimidate Combusken, Mightyena quickly put some distance between itself and Combusken.

_"Combusken won't be too eager to get close to Mightyena now..."_ May thought for a moment, watching Combusken. It was then that she noticed Combusken seemed to be in a bit of pain despite not having been attacked. Its eyes were narrowed and its fists clenched as if trying to resist something though.

_"Whats wrong with Combusken?"_ She wondered. Then she remembered Mightyena's Poison Fang attack, and it all became clear to her.

_"Combusken must have been poisoned by that Poison Fang attack, and now Matt's focusing on avoiding Combusken's attacks and wearing it down! Combusken definitely won't be able to hit with a Double Kick attack now, but Flamethrower should work fine."_

"Combusken, use Flamethrower!" Combusken reared back its head, then released a burst of flames as it moved forward again. The flames completely engulfed Mightyena for a moment before it jumped out of the fire, its fur scorched.slightly by the blaze. Combusken moved to try to catch Mightyena in the attack again, but Mightyena managed to just barely stay ahead of it so Combusken stopped.

"Mightyena, now! Hit it with Shadow Ball!"

"Combusken, Flamethrower again!" The two pokemon launched their attacks almost simultaneously. Mightyena formed a ball of shadowstuff in front of its mouth then fired it at Combusken, while Combusken fired off another Flamethrower attack. The Shadow Ball attack continued through the flames, though shrinking in size as it got closer to Combusken until the attack had little effect when it hit it.

Combusken's Flamethrower attack continued on to engulf Mightyena, but Combusken wasn't able to sustain the attack this time. Combusken fell to its knees in pain, it was using a lot of its strength just to fight off the poison in its body and was getting weaker as the battle went on. Matt grinned to himself, his plan to take down May's Combusken was working out. His Mightyena was starting to look pretty exhausted too though.

_"I don't think Combusken can keep this up much longer..."_ May thought, holding up Combusken's pokeball. _"I think it'd be best if I recalled it."_

"Combusken, thats enough for now! Return!" Combusken didn't really want to retreat from battle, but it didn't have enough strength in it to avoid being recalled. Combusken was returned to its pokeball, and May placed its pokeball back on her belt.

_"I still have one fighting pokemon left, and since Mightyena would have to get in close for another Poison Fang attack Matt's stall tactics won't work this time around."_ May thought to herself, reaching for the pokeball containing her Heracross.

"Heracross, go!" May called out, releasing the fighting beetle from its pokeball. Heracross looked to its opponent when it appeared and pounded its fists together.

"-Looks like you're in for some major pain, buddy.-" Heracross said to it.

"-We shall see...-" Came Mightyena's reply.

_"I'll wait and see what Matt does first..."_ May thought. _"If he tries to attack, Brick Break. If he doesn't, then a Focus Punch should end this and I can break into that sub and stop Archie!"_

"Mightyena, use Scary Face!" Mightyena looked Heracross directly in the eyes, its own eyes seeming to glow as it used its Scary Face attack.

"Heracross! Now's your chance! Focus Punch!" Heracross raised its fist back as it began to glow, and Matt went wide eyed as he realized Mightyena was completely open to the attack.

"Mightyena, quick! Shadow Ball!" Mightyena began forming its Shadow Ball attack, but it was too late. Heracross spread its wings and flew towards Mightyena, delivering an earth shattering punch attack head on. Mightyena was knocked backwards from the impact, flipping over once before coming to a stop near the edge of the dock. It was quite clear to everyone that Mightyena wasn't getting back up anytime soon.

"Damn it..." Matt grumbled, recalling his Mightyena.

"Looks like your boss won't be going any...huh?" There was a whirring noise as the submarines engines started up, and the propeller could be heard churning through the water. Explorer 1 began to dive down into the water as it slowly made its way out of the dock and into the open ocean.

"You may have beaten me, but it looks like you still lost." Matt taunted May, snickering to himself. "I bet that stinker was ready to leave the whole time but decided to watch the battle instead..."

"-You know, if that sub was so important, I could probably like dive in there and pull it back with the power of my bulging muscles...-" Heracross suggested, flexing its arms. May sighed.

"You did great out there Heracross, but I guess it was all for nothing...you can return now." May held up Heracross's pokeball, preparing to return it.

"And then you can show yourself out..." Matt said to her, grinning from ear to ear. May glared at him, then lowered her hand.

"On second thought, no. You're going to tell me the exact location Archie's going to in Explorer 1!"

"Oh really? And why would I do a thing like that?" Matt snickered.

"Heracross, come here..." Heracross looked at May curiously before approaching her. May bent down and whispered something to it. Heracross nodded, then started towards Matt.

"He-hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Matt didn't get a response. Heracross stopped in front of Matt, then pushed him. Matt stumbled backwards, falling onto the floor and hitting his head.

"Son of a..." Matt grumbled clutching his head in pain. Heracross then grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and dragged him to the edge of the dock until just his head was hanging over the edge.

"So, going to tell me where Archie went?" May asked him.

"Not a..." Matt was quickly silenced as his head was shoved under the water. Matt struggled against the bug pokemon's grip, but to no avail. Heracross was way too strong for him. After a moment of struggling under the water, Heracross finally let him up for air again. Matt was grasping for breath.

"Now what were you saying?" May asked sweetly, folding her hands behind her back.

"There's no damn..." Matt was once again cut off as Heracross shoved his head under the water again. Heracross held him under for several seconds, before letting him up for air again.

"Ok! Ok! Fine! You win!" Matt gasped out desparately. He reached into his pocket and pulled put a small slip of paper, then held it up to Heracross. Heracross took the paper in its free hand then looked to May.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" May replied cheerfully. "You can let him go now Heracross."

Heracross let Matt go, then went to May and handed her the slip of paper. Sure enough, there was a set of map co-ordinates listed on it. May left the dock with Heracross following behind her.

"Damn that bitch is crazy..." Matt said, lying back in exhaustion.

"Think it was wrong to do that to him?" May asked Heracross as they made their way out of the HQ, retracing May's steps from earlier. May kept Heracross out just incase any other members of Team Aqua decided to go looking for a battle. Heracross shook her head.

"-He's still alive. His head will probably hurt for a while, but he'll live and we got what we wanted.-"

"You know I have no idea what you're saying, right?" Heracross narrowed its eyes at her.

"-Heracross. Hera Heracross Hera Hera. That work for ya?-" Heracross shook her head. "-Humans...-"

May eventually made it out of the Team Aqua hideout and recalled Heracross when she got outside. She immediately went to the Lilycove pokecenter to get her pokemon healed, then returned to the beach with Altaria's pokeball in hand.

"Altaria, go!" May released Altaria from its pokeball. Altaria stretched its wings and casually glanced around, noting that it was no longer in the Team Aqua HQ.

"Altaria, I want you to carry me across the sea to Mossdeep." Altaria nodded its understanding, and May carefully sat on its back. Altaria began flapping its wings and seemed to struggle for a moment, but was able to take flight with May on its back, heading west towards Mossdeep.

Author's Notes: I realize I had Wynaut counter a Bite attack when technically, at least in Advance, it was a special attack. I couldn't picture it Mirror Coating a Bite attack though...

Can't think of much else to say, so another bit of trivia. Originally Alex/Melany (can't really remember which it was at the time) was going to be a member of Team Magma and the son/daughter of Maxie and would betray his/her father during May's battle with him in the hideout. Story was also going to focus on May, Brendan, and Wally (like the manga basically). Can't remember why I changed it, but the overall theme changed many times before I settled on the current plot. The manga was probably a factor in this, but I tend to change the overall theme of a story a lot before I start writing it. That 'time shard' one I mentioned last chapter? Originally it was a big FF4 crossover, its changed so much now that it would be considered an original story and there's no time shards or time anything.


	45. Chapter 35: Magma Meltdown!

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Thirty Five**

**Magma Meltdown!**

"So...why do you think Maxie warned the Space Center ahead of time?" A Team Magma grunt asked his partner.

"How should I know? There was probably some method to his madness, there always is." The other replied.

The two grunts were standing outside the space center entrance. Maxie had put them on guard duty there, while he and several others including Admin Tabitha went into the Space Center.

"Maybe he was hoping everyone would just leave and make his job easier?" Alex suggested as he approached the two.

"Huh...I guess thats possible..." The first grunt agreed.

"Well if thats the case, it didn't work. Not only were all the scientists still in the space center but there's some Steven guy in there too." The other grunt replied.

"Well to be fair, its a flawed plan anyway." Alex said with a shrug. "I mean, think about it. If you were given a letter by a criminal organization giving you prior notice, would you really take it seriously?"

"No...I guess not." The first grunt once again agreed.

"They should still be done by now." The other grumbled. "What the heck is taking them so long?!"

"Good question. Think I'll go in and find out."

"Go for it." Alex walked past the two grunts and into the Space Center. It took the two of them a minute to realize what just happened.

"I think we should go check out job ads in the local paper..." The second grunt said to the first.

"Why's that?" The other asked.

"Because when Maxie finds out about this, we're fired..."

"I can't believe how dumb those two are, Maxie's slipping." Alex said to himself, standing in the Space Center entrance foyer. The foyer was completely empty, not even a receptionist behind the desk.

"Though to be honest, these Team Magma guys aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer anyway." Alex took a pokeball off his belt and held it in his hand for a moment.

"Its been a while since you've seen any action...alright, come on out! Alakazam!" Alex released Alakazam from its pokeball. The yellow, humanoid pyschic pokemon turned to Alex when it appeared and gave a nod.

"Team Magma, not much of a workout. But I'm expecting we might run into some higher ranking members, possibly even Maxie himself. So we need to be on our guard." Alakazam nodded, and Alex looked around the foyer for a moment.

"Now...where would they have gone anyway? The control room?" Alex went through a set of double doors at the far end of the foyer, with Alakazam teleporting to him when he got to the door. Alex opened it and went inside. There was a small, narrow corridor ending in another set of double doors.

"You know, I never did understand why places like this have two doors separating one room from another." Alex grumbled, heading for the second set of double doors.

_"Likely for privacy concerns."_ Alakazam thought to itself. _"Or perhaps as part of a lockdown procedure, whereas the first door would be locked once the intruders have passed it, locking them between the two doors until security or law enforcement arrive to deal with them."_

Alex reached for the handle of each door and tried to push them open, but neither door budged.

"They're locked?" Alex examined the door handles. "They're locked..."

_"Interesting. A security system that fails to keep intruders out, but prevents a trainer intent on aiding them from gaining entry. This is perfectly logical."_ Alakazam closed its eyes and concentrated its psychic powers on the doors locking mechanism, and a click was heard as the door was unlocked.

"Thanks Alakazam, I don't know where I'd be without you." Alex opened the doors, then went into the next room.

"Clearly, you'd have been stuck in this small room and would be thankful for being hydrophobic instead of claustrophobic. A more common fear if I'm not mistaken, and I rarely if ever make mistakes." Alakazam focused its power again, this time teleporting into the room next to Alex. It immediately found itself facing three Team Magma grunts. Two male, one female.

The room itself appeared to be some kind of laboratory filled with several computers. It was clear to Alakazam that this wasn't the mission control room, but there was a door at the end of the room clearly marked as leading to the mission control room. The space center staff were all cowering on the left side of the room.

"Do we really have to go through with this?" Alex groaned. "Here, I'll draw you a quick sketch of the outcome."

Alex took his notebook out and quickly scribbled something on three pieces of paper, then handed one to each grunt. The three grunts stared blankly at the paper in their hands. While the three grunts were looking over the pictures, Alex and Alakazam walked by them towards the control room.

"Do we really suck that much?" One of the male grunts asked. "His Alakazam just stomped all over us without even breaking a sweat."

"He even managed to beat my Poochyena with a Psychic attack..." The other male added.

"You IDIOTS!" The female smacked them both in the back of the head.

"This was just a distraction so he could get into the control room! After him!" The two male grunts quickly ran for the door, which Alex was already through, and tried to open it. It was locked.

"Useless...both of you..." The female grumbled. "Now we'll get demoted for sure..."

"Whats below grunt?" The two males asked simultaneously.

"Outsmarting members of Team Magma is much more fun than battling them. We're almost there now." Alex and Alakazam were in another short corridor connecting two doors, leading into mission control.

_"You want to outsmart Team Magma?"_ Alakazam thought. _"Ask them what two plus two is. That will keep them occupied for hours at this rate. Why am I needed again?"_

"Seems this door's locked too..."

_"Ah, right, lockpick..."_ Alakazam focused its psychic powers on the door's locking mechanism, forcing it open. Alex went through the door, and Alakazam teleported in behind them. The two of them were in the mission control room now.

The mission control room was another room filled with computers, as well as many other devices. All the computers were facing frontwards, where there was a large window in view of the launch pad. Above the window was a rolled up screen onto which other images could be displayed after a successful launch.

There was a wide area in the back of the room, where Alex and Alakazam were, clear of any equipment. At the other end of the room, Alex and Alakazam could see Maxie, Tabitha, and Steven. Behind them was a door leading to a large storage facility. Steven was standing between the two Team Magmas and the door. Maxie and Tabitha looked back when they heard Alex come through the door.

"Seems like we have company..." Maxie grumbled. "Haven't you caused me enough trouble?"

"Me? What about all the trouble you're causing for the Space Center?" Alex shot back.

"Forget it...'Alex'." Steven said to him. "This man is impervious to logic and as stubborn as a Numel."

"Impervious to logic..." Maxie repeated. "Interesting choice of words. Well I'd love to say it was nice chatting with you again after so long, but it really wasn't."

"I'm not letting you pass, Maxie."

"Steven, as long as you refuse to use your pokemon for fear of damaging laboratory equipment, there is nothing you can do." Maxie pushed Steven aside, shoving him into the wall next to them. Steven grunted in pain as his shoulder hit the wall hard. Maxie then opened the door and paused for a moment.

"Tabitha, stay here and make sure those two don't follow me. I'll have the helicopter brought around to airlift the rocket fuel canisters. I'm sure you can handle that much on your own..."

"Understood, Maxie." Tabitha saluted Maxie, and Maxie went through the door closing it behind him.

"Steven! You ok?" Alex called out, running to his side.

"I'm fine, just a bruise at worst..." Steven stood up and looked to Tabitha.

"Obviously there's no chance of you letting me through." Tabitha shook her head.

"Just what do you want with that rocket fuel anyway?" Alex asked her.

"Maxie intends to use it to set off the volcano. The resulting eruption will expand the land mass and destroy our hideout, since we have no use for it anymore."

"Then I definitely can't let you get away with that rocket fuel." Alex replied. Tabitha snickered menacingly.

"If Steven couldn't stop us what makes you think you'll fare any better?"

"Alakazam, did you get a good look past the door when it was open?" Alakazam nodded, and Tabitha's eyes went wide when she realized what Alex was planning. Alakazam placed its right hand on Alex's left shoulder and concentrated. Tabitha dove towards the two, but they disappeared before she could grab them and she fell face first onto the floor.

"That looked painful. I apologize for my sister's actions." Steven casually opened the door and walked through, locking it from the other side. Tabitha quickly got up and desperately tried to open the door but to no avail.

"Damn them..." Tabitha grumbled under her breath. "Damn their entire family!"

The door Steven went through lead into a long corridor. On the other side of the corridor was another locked door, which Alakazam was in the process of unlocking when Steven entered the corridor.

"I am quite capable of handling Team Magma, Alex. Or should I say Melany." Alex flinched, hearing Steven call him by his real name.

_"Now I'm really busted..."_ He thought.

"Did Maxie tell you?" Alex asked him without looking back.

"I figured it out on my own." Steven replied, approaching the two. "It wasn't hard to figure out. Anyone who knew you well would realize you just cut your hair and put on slightly more boyish clothes than usual."

"I guess I was really fooling myself when I thought this disguise would work. Archie figured it out, Maxie did, and now you. Team Magma is my problem, Steven, not your's." There was a click as Alakazam finally unlocked the door. Alakazam looked to Alex to make sure he knew this, and Alex gave a nod.

"So thats what this is all about then?" Steven inquired, chuckling lightly. "You still blame yourself for what happened at the ruins. Seems Maxie isn't the only one impervious to logic and..."

"Groudon's awake." Alex interrupted him. Steven was stunned.

"I see..." Steven paused for a moment. "Well, this is hardly the place to discuss this any further. We're wasting precious time. Maxie is in the hangar ahead taking the rocket fuel."

Alex nodded in agreement, and the three of them went through the door. The door opened up to a large, spacious storage hanger. There was various equipment all over the place, except for a large area in the middle of the hangar where the space shuttle would be wheeled in and out of storage. They immediately spotted Maxie nearby examining several canisters, and he immediately spotted them as well.

"Seems I can't trust Tabitha to do anything right..." Maxie grumbled, reaching for a pokeball.

"You can battle him, Melany." Steven stated. "I'll keep an eye out for anyone who might come to his aide."

"Alright then...ready Alakazam?" Alakazam nodded, and teleported in front of Alex in preparation for battle.

"You're not nearly on the same level as me. Didn't you learn that at Mount Chimney?" Maxie stated smugly. "Mightyena, go!"

Maxie released his Mightyena from the pokeball he was holding. The black wolf-like pokemon appeared from its pokeball, standing before Maxie.

_"Should have expected a Mightyena."_ Alex thought. _"Guess I'll have to switch, Alakazam's only attack against it is Future Sight."_

"Alakazam, return!" Alex quickly returned his Alakazam to her pokeball.

"Sorry, but you can't handle a dark type." Alex placed Alakazam's pokeball on his belt, then thought for a moment before taking another pokeball.

"Golem, go!" Alex held up the pokeball and pressed the button on the front of it. The pokeball opened up, releasing the ground and rock pokemon Golem for battle.

"Mightyena, attack with Iron Tail." Maxie calmly commanded.

"Golem, Defense Curl!" Golem quickly retreated into its rock shell as Mightyena raced towards it. Mightyena's tail took on a metallic appearance as it drew closer to Golem, then spun around at the last second to slam its tail into the side of Golem. Golem was able to endure the attack well in its defensive state.

_"No doubt Tabitha's mentioned Golem's Rollout attack to Maxie."_ Alex thought. _"So I'll use a different approach to throw him off."_

"Golem, Tackle attack!" Golem stayed inside its shell and rolled towards Mightyena. Mightyena decided it wasn't going to sit around and wait for the attack, though, and distanced itself from Golem. Mightyena avoided the attack completely.

"Is that the best you can do?" Maxie taunted, chuckling to himself. "Mightyena, use Iron Tail again."

Alex watched as Mightyena came towards Golem again to attack. He was waiting for the precise moment to issue his next command to Golem, keeping an eye on Mightyena's tail until it appeared to be metal again.

"Golem! Now! Rollout!" Golem began rolling rapidly and shot off with a Rollout attack just as Mightyena swung its tail to strike it. The resulting impact sent Mightyena for a spin and knocked it to the floor. The pokemon seemed disoriented for a moment as it slowly got back on its feet. This gave Golem enough time to come back around for another hit, striking Mightyena from behind and knocking it aside.

_"Interesting..."_ Steven thought, observing the battle. _"It seems her strategy for pokemon is to have a game plan and try to predict her opponent's movements. She knew Mightyena would dodge the Tackle attack easily, setting it up to be hit by Rollout. If nothing else she seems to have gone from someone with no interest in training pokemon to a skilled trainer in the time she's been gone."_

"That trick will get you nowhere. Mightyena, prepare to counter its attack with an Iron Tail." Mightyena got back to its feet and stood sideways to the oncoming Golem. Its tail was poised, prepared to hit Golem back as if it were a baseball. Alex smirked.

"Norman used that move on me too, so that won't work! Golem, stop and use Rock Blast!" Golem suddenly uncurled and came to a complete stop leaving only several feet between itself and Mightyena. As it uncurled it hurled three large rocks at Mightyena. Mightyena managed to knock one of them away with its Iron Tail attack, but the remaining two struck it in the side and knocked it to the ground.

"Damn you..." Maxie grumbled, it was obvious to him now that Alex's pokemon have improved a lot since their battle at Mount Chimney. Mightyena climbed back to its feet, growling. Mightyena was starting to look pretty beat up too, while Golem still had plenty of fight left in it.

"Use Rock Blast again!"

"Mightyena, block it with Iron Tail!"

Golem fired out four more rocks from its own body. Mightyena activated its Iron Tail and swung around to destroy the first rock to come at it, then quickly spun to strike the second. It was too slow to block the next two, though, and was again struck by two rocks from Golem's Rock Blast attack. Mightyena was once again knocked to the ground by the attack.

"Now, Rollout!" Golem curled up into a ball and began spinning rapidly for a moment before launching itself towards Mightyena. Mightyena was still struggling to its feet when Golem plowed into it, knocking Mightyena to the ground then rolling over it. Mightyena yelped in pain as Golem's heavy body crushed it, and was clearly out cold when Golem was finally off of it again.

"Mightyena, return..." Maxie said sourly, recalling his Mightyena.

"Her pokemon have improved greatly..." Maxie thought to himself. "She's definitely not on the same level as her brother, but still a threat. Neither of my remaining pokemon can deal with Golem easily, especially in their current environment. If Maxie wasn't indoors he wouldn't hesitate to have his Camerupt take it down with Earthquake. Camerupt was still his best choice with Mightyena defeated, but it would definitely be troublesome.

Maxie placed Mightyena's pokeball at his side, while trying to formulate a plan to take down Alex's Golem with Camerupt. Fire attacks seemed to be his best bet, since even though Golem was resistant to fire attacks it was much better at taking physical attacks than non-physical attacks. He quickly retrieved Camerupt's pokeball from his belt and released it without a word.

"Camerupt...Golem could probably take that on too, but no point letting him have all the fun." Alex said with a smirk. "Golem, you did great against Mightyena, but you can rest for now.

Alex recalled Golem and quickly switched its pokeball on his belt for another one to send out his next pokemon.

"I think you'll recognize this one. Azumarill, go!" Alex sent out his water type pokemon Azumarill, who also hadn't been in a battle in a while. It hopped excitedly when it appeared, happy to have the chance to fight again.

_"Melany really has changed."_ Steven thought, still casually observing the battle. _"She's gone from someone who wanted nothing to do with training pokemon, to actually enjoying pokemon battles. To think I was worried she might give up being a trainer when she finally returned home."_

"That Azumarill...the same one that destroyed my machine at Mount Chimney no doubt. It knew Ice Beam, as I recall." Maxie stated, none too happy about seeing rabbit-like water pokemon again.

"Glad you remember." Alex said with a smirk. "Azumarill, Bubblebeam attack!"

"Camerupt, block it with Flamethrower!"

The two pokemon launched their attacks, Azumarill firing a stream of bubbles from its mouth while Camerupt spewed out a cone of flames. Though Camerupt's attack came no where near reaching Azumarill, it succeeded in popping all of the bubbles from Azumarill's attack.

_"Azumarill really needs better water attacks..."_ Alex thought. _"But then again, Azumarill's better off as a physical attacker anyway."_

"Azumarill, Double Edge!"

"Camerupt, Take Down!"

Azumarill and Camerupt charged each other, leaping as they drew nearer. Camerupt slammed into Azumarill head first, while Azumarill struck Camerupt with its shoulder. Their impact echo'd throughout the hangar, and both pokemon fell to the floor facing each other. The force of the impact had caused a great deal of harm for both of them.

"Camerupt, lets end this now! Hyper Beam!"

"Azumarill, quick! Defense Curl!" Azumarill quickly curled up into a ball as Camerupt fired a powerful beam of energy at nearly point-blank range. There was a large explosion, and for a moment, neither trainer could see what happened to Azumarill due to the smoke in the air. After several tense moments, the smoke cleared and Azumarill had been knocked back several feet and was still curled up.

"Azumarill, are you ok?" Alex called out to it. Azumarill slowly uncurled itself, the action seeming to cause it a great deal of pain. It had managed to withstand the attack, but just barely. Azumarill got back up on its feet and glared at its opponent. Azumarill's body was charred and covered in burn marks from the blast.

"Blast it! How can that thing still be standing?!" Maxie wondered, gritting his teeth in rage. This was only the second time he had encountered Alex's Azumarill, but it was a pokemon that was causing Maxie a great deal of grief.

"Camerupt needs to rest after using that attack, so now's your chance to strike back!" Alex called out to Azumarill. "Azumarill, use Water Gun!"

Azumarill gathered its strength for one last attack, firing a stream of water from its mouth. Camerupt growled in pain as the water attack struck it head on. It stood against the attack for a moment before the last of its strength was drained and it collapsed.

"I am really beginning to hate that pokemon..." Maxie grumbled as he recalled his Camerupt, placing its pokeball back on his belt. He paused for a moment, thinking to himself before sending out his last pokemon.

_"Why is it I seem to run into difficulties at every turn?"_ He wondered. _"It was as if fate lead me to finally awaken Groudon...but that very same fate seems to be preventing me from accomplishing anything now! Was I wrong this entire time? As soon as it was awakened, Groudon fled and would not obey me, and this...child has gone to such great lengths to stop me..."_

"This last pokemon will decide it then..." Maxie said to himself, taking his Crobat's pokeball in hand.

"Crobat, lets finish this! Go!" Maxie called out his Crobat, releasing the purple bat pokemon from its pokeball. Crobat immediately recognized its opponent and grinned widely.

"Azumarill, as much as I'm sure you'd want to fight this guy, I don't think you can in your condition. Return." Azumarill didn't really want to retreat from battle, but as it was being recalled into its pokeball it knew Alex was right. It was only by a slim margin that it had beat Maxie's Camerupt. Alex placed Azumarill's pokeball on his belt and grabbed Alakazam's again.

"Alakazam, this one's all your's! Go!" Alex sent out Alakazam to battle again now that Maxie's only dark type pokemon was out of the way. The psychic pokemon appeared before Alex, arms folded as it stared down its opponent.

"Crobat, attack with Shadow Ball!"

"Alakazam, Teleport!" Crobat formed a ball of shadowstuff and hurled it towards Alakazam. Alakazam was too quick even for Crobat, though, and vanished before the attack struck it. A yellow glow then surrounded Crobat as Alakazam reappeared just in front of it. Nothing seemed to happen to Crobat as a result though.

"Disable attack..." Maxie noted. "And without even issuing any commands. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised."

Alex simply smirked at Maxie's comment. Meanwhile, Alakazam concentrated and Crobat became surrounded in a harsh blue glow. The bat shrieked in pain as Alakazam focused its psychic powers inward on it with a crushing force. It then ended its attack by slamming Crobat into the ground before it could lose its focus. Maxie narrowed his eyes to Alex.

"So thats how you want to play...so be it." Maxie grumbled. "Crobat, get up and use Air-Cutter!"

Crobat brought its two larger wings together, creating a blade of air between them and firing it at Alakazam. Alakazam quickly threw up a barrier aroud itself. Although the attack still went through, it was clearly weakened by the blue orb surrounding Alakazam. Alakazam barely flinched when the blade of air struck it, and the barrier remained around it.

"Reflect. So now the effectiveness of Crobat's attacks will be halved..." Maxie commented to himself. "Seems this is a one sided battle."

A blue glow surrounded Crobat, holding it in place as Alakazam began crushing it with its psychic powers. While under the effects of the Psychic attack, a white beam of energy suddenly appeared out of nowhere above Alakazam. Alakazam released its grip on Crobat just as the Future Sight attack struck. Crobat was knocked to the ground and sent skidding across the floor, stopping at Maxie's feet.

"We're not holidng anything back Maxie. I think I owe you that much." Alakazam stated calmly. Crobat slowly tried to get back to its feet, but Alakazam didn't give it the chance. It fired a purple beam of psychic energy, aiming it very precisely to strike Crobat. Crobat almost disappeared entirely under the beam of energy. When Alakazam was no longer able to maintain the attack, it was clear Crobat had been defeated. The pokemon lie unconcious as Maxie recalled it.

"Looks like I lost..." Maxie thought to himself, eyes closed in contemplation.

_"Perhaps it was too much to believe I could change the world and control a legendary pokemon. I cannot even contend with a mere child. But if I my plans were so flawed, then Archie..."_ Maxie thought back to when he awakened Groudon. Groudon refused to listen to him and fled.

_"...Archie will be unable to control Kyogre if the pokemon is awakened, and Kyogre and Groudon will fight just as they did in ancient times! I should have realized this sooner!"_

"Nothing to say, Maxie?" Alex said with a smirk. Maxie ignored him and started on his way out of the hangar. He stopped for a moment as he passed by Alex.

"It seems you may have been right all along." Alex was quite surprised to hear this from Maxie so suddenly, and his face didn't hide this. Maxie continued out of the hangar, nodding to Steven on his way out.

"Come on, Melany. We're done here." Steven said to her. Alex hesitated for a moment, then nodded to Steven. He quickly took up Alakazam's pokeball and recalled it, thanking his pokemon mentally before leaving the Space Center with Steven.

After leaving the Space Center, Alex, or rather Melany went with Steven to his place. Steven had plenty of things to talk with Alex about. Despite his upbringing, Steven actually lived in a relatively modest house. He didn't quite keep the place tidy either. There were books and papers piled up everywhere, most of which were related to either Geology or pokemon.

Upon arriving in his house, Steven went into the kitchen/dining room. He filled an electric kettle with water then set it down on the counter to boil for tea. He then sat down at one end of a small wooden table and Alex sat down at the other end.

"Now..." Steven began. "Earlier you said Groudon had been awakened?"

"Yeah, I'm not entirely sure what happened, but the ruby was pulled out of Maxie's hand. Groudon woke up, then dug into the volcano wall and disappeared. I was able to retrieve the ruby with Golem but..." Alex reached into his backpack and retrieved the black crystal to show it to Steven.

"Hmm...I'm no expert, but shouldn't a Ruby be red?" Steven asked.

"It was, until Groudon got it. Which is odd because as far as I know it was red even before it was used to put Groudon to sleep the first time according to ancient writings."

"And what about Kyogre?"

"Hopefully May's managed to stop Archie. She was handling that while I came here to Mossdeep."

"Letting someone else handle something important? That doesn't sound like you at all." A whistling sound pierced the air, indicating the water that Steven had set to boil was ready.

"Tea's ready, would you like a cup?" Alex nodded, and Steven got up to fetch two cups of tea.

"May's been dealing with Team Aqua before we even started travelling together, and she's proven on several occassions that she's at least as good as me. Which I guess kinda bothers me a bit. I spent two years studying before becoming a trainer and she just falls into it and is practically an expert."

"I see. Thats not entirely uncommon though." Steven retrieved two teacups from the cupboard and placed a teabag in each, then filled each cup with the boiling water and let them sit to allow the tea to mix with the water.

"Most trainers simply use their pokedex or a similar device to serve as a guide, telling them which techniques their pokemon knows or which types are effective against which. They simply learn as they go. Even with your studyies I'm sure there's much even you don't know about pokemon."

"Well I guess you'd know more about that than I would..." Alex commented dryly. Steven shrugged, picking up the two teacups and taking them to the table. He placed one in front of Alex and sat down with the other. There was already sugar set out on the table, and Alex was quick to add three cubes to his tea.

"You know, you ruin the taste like that." Steven commented before taking a sip of his own tea, no sugar added.

"Whatever..." Alex muttered, not wanting to get into another argument with Steven over tea.

"So does May know who you really are, then?" Steven asked him. Alex shook his head. "Why not tell her? There hardly seems to be any point keeping it a secret from her, especially considering its hardly a secret anymore."

"Its...complicated..." Alex took a quick sip of his tea, a slight redness in his face betraying his thoughts to Steven.

"Hmm...so May's fallen for 'Alex' has she?" Alex nearly choked on his tea. Steven chuckled. He was able to read her like a book.

"Well it certainly seems that way..." Alex replied, thinking back to the cafe where he heard Suzy sing. "She obviously wants to think of us as more than just friends at least..."

"I suppose were you not disguised as a boy this wouldn't be bothering you." Alex blushed and looked off to the side, avoiding eye contact with Steven.

"In any case, you're going to have to explain to her who you really are. As well as explaining to dad and the police that have been searching for you why you decided to run away from home. I doubt you gave thought to any of that before running away, or even to the possibility of just leaving home and becoming a trainer since its wouldn't really have made any difference."

Alex was about to say something when his pokenav started beeping loudly. He picked it up and left the room for a moment to answer it. Steven took another sip of his tea while he waited. It was a short call, and Alex returned only a moment later.

"May wants me to meet up with her at the pokecenter." Alex announced as he returned to the kitching, stopping at the entrance.

"Well then, I suppose now we'll learn where the scales lie..." Steven replied. "Lets go."

Author's Notes: Hope I captured Steven's personality well since there was a lot of stuff relating to him in this chapter. Don't know if I mentioned this, but I'm probably going to keep referring to Melany as Alex until she ditches the disguise.

Fun fact, most authors tend to deposit some aspect of themselves onto their characters. I'm guilty of this myself. When I wanted Melany to have a fear, my own hydrophobia came to mind. May's love of pasta is also from my love of spaghetti (and I'm pretty sure she's crazy for noodles in the anime). Both are exaggerated though.


	46. Chapter 36: Seeing Double

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Thirty Six**

**Seeing Doubles**

"So how'd it go?" Alex asked, approaching May outside the Mossdeep pokecenter. Steven was with him as well.

"They were waiting for me..." May replied, sounding upset. "They stalled for time until Archie could leave in Explorer 1. There's no way we could catch them now..."

"There is still one way you could catch them. If you had the HM Dive and a set of scuba gear you could go after them." Steven smiled knowingly. "And I happen to have both."

"Really? Well lets go after them!" May replied excitedly.

"Only two problems with that. First off, I only have scuba gear for one person as normally I only need to worry about scuba gear for myself. Which means only one of us can go after Archie."

May looked to Alex, expecting that he would want to go after Team Aqua personally. Alex noticed her looking and turned away, not saying a word.

_"Alex wouldn't turn this down unless he really was afraid of water..."_ May thought. _"So Matt was right then."_

"I'll go. I need to make up for what happened at their hideout anyway." Steven nodded to May.

"I figured you would want as much...however, there's still the second issue. As I'm sure you're away, all HM's need a badge inserted to function. The Dive HM is no different, and it requires the gym badge from here in Mossdeep. Something I am no longer in possession of."

"So then why don't we just ask Tate and Liza for the badge?" Alex suggested.

"Its against league rules to give out badges unless the trainer earns it." May said to him. "At least, thats what my father told me."

"He's right." Steven added, obviously referring to Norman. "Which means you're going to have to beat Tate and Liza to get the Mind Badge."

"I'll take them on." Alex and May said simultaneously, then looked at each other.

"Alex! You're not even interested in getting the badges, so I'm battling them!"

_"Not interested in getting the badges?"_ Steven thought. _"Hmm..."_

"You don't stand a chance against them!" Alex shot back. "You need to have a strategy, because they will be working together to beat you and making the most of their pokemon's respective strengths and weaknesses."

"Now, now you two..." Steven interrupted them. "This is no time for petty arguments. Gym rules allow for two trainers to challenge Tate and Liza simultaneously because they battle together, so there is no reason you two couldn't both battle them. I'm sure between the two of you you'll come up with a way to beat them."

May and Alex thought for a moment, then nodded to each other.

"We'll battle them together then." Alex stated.

"I take it you have a plan?" May asked him. Alex thought for a moment, quickly going over his pokemon as well as May's in his head, then gave a nod.

"Yeah, think I do. It still won't be easy though. Tate and Liza are not only twins, but they can usually tell what the other is thinking. They'll be co-ordinating their pokemon to make up for their weaknesses. Basically, they're masters when it comes to double battles. We're not."

"So whats the plan then? Or do you just plan on telling me how much of a disadvantage we're at?" May shot back.

"We'll lead off with Plusle and Minun, and follow up with Grovyle and Combusken."

"I don't know...Combusken's a fighting type, and they're a psychic gym aren't they?"

"Just trust me. If we go this route we might just pull it off." May hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"Alright...I'll take your word for it. You're better at coming up with strategies than I am."

"Meet me at the gym then. There's just one thing I need to take care of first." May nodded. Her pokemon were already healed, so she went straight for the gym.

"So whats your plan?" Steven asked curiously.

"Minun and Plusle can gain strength from each other while both present in a battle. Add in their Helping Hand technique and they make a pretty good team."

"I see, interesting. You realize they'll likely start with Xatu and Claydol though? Claydol will just block any electric attacks aimed at Xatu."

"I know..." Alex took Minun's pokeball from his belt. "Which is why I'm teaching Minun a new trick first from a TM I've been holding on to for a while."

* * *

"This is twice today you've kept me waiting you know..." May stated irritably as Alex finally showed up outside the Mossdeep gym.

"Heh...sorry about that. Ready to go?"

"Yeah." May replied with a nod. "This could be the most important badge we'll ever get. I'm kinda nervous..."

"Well, just don't let that hold you back. We can't afford to lose." Alex walked past her and opened the doors to the gym, then went inside.

_"Well that wasn't very nice..."_ May thought, following Alex into the gym.

"We're here to challenge the gym leaders!" Alex declared, once both he and May were inside the gym. Looking around, though, they realized the gym was empty. The gym didn't seem to be anything special, while the battlefield itself was about twice as wide as a regular battlefield to accomodate double battles and had a rocky floor.

"I'm...not seeing any gym leaders..." May said, stating the obvious.

"Prepare for battle!"

"And make it double!"

Alex and May heard a female's voice, followed by a male's voice. Two figures suddenly dropped down from the rafters above the battle field, spinning through the air. They uncurled themselves just before landing on the battlefield itself, then quickly followed up with a backflip to land on the gym leader's position at the other side of the gym.

"We, the gym leaders..."

"Accept your challenge!"

The two individuals, of course, were none other than Liza and Tate of the Mossdeep Gym. They were nearly identical in appearance, looking no older than the trainers themselves. They were both wearing matching blue outfits with red trim that seemed to be of eastern origin and had their blue hair tied back with a white bow. The only notable difference between the two was that Liza had longer hair hanging down on either side of her face.

"Wow! That was quite the entrance!" May said in amazement.

"Thank you."

"We have been practicing." Liza spoke first, followed by Tate. It was already clear the two of them had a tendency to continue each other's statements. May could tell the two of them were just as much in synch as Alex had said they were.

"The battle will be..." "Two on two." "We will use..." "Two pokemon each."

"We already have..." Alex began, but was interrupted by May.

"Our pokemon picked!" May looked at Alex and winked.

"Cute..." Alex muttered, taking Minun's pokeball from his belt.

"So are we going to..."

"Get this started or what?" Alex flinched as May once again interrupted him and finished his sentence. May giggled to herself as she took Plusle's pokeball from her belt as well.

"We can see you two..." "Have bonded well." "Is it enough?" "Time will tell!"

Tate and Liza nodded to each other, smirking at May's antics. They two took a pokeball, preparing for battle as well.

"Minun, lets go!"

"Plusle, I choose you!"

"Claydol!" "Xatu!"

"Come forth!" Tate and Liza said the last part simultaneously, and all four trainers released their pokemon for battle. Minun and Plusle appeared next to each other on Alex and May's side of the battle field, and Claydol and Xatu appeared on the gym leaders' side.

"May, Claydol's going to use Earthquake." Alex informed her quietly. "Follow my lead so we can clear that attack, then when I give the signal I need Plusle to use Helping Hand."

May nodded, though unsure of herself. She had her doubts that Plusle and Minun could withstand the power of an Earthquake.

"Claydol, end this quick. Earthquake!" Tate called out, commanding Claydol.

"Minun, Quick Attack! Aim for Claydol's head!"

"Plusle, you too!"

Claydol slammed itself into the ground, sending a shockwave throughout the gym floor that caused the ground to rupture and ripple outwards from it, fracturing and bending. Minun and Plusle charged towards Claydol, jumping and using Quick Attack to sail over the rupturing floor of the gym. They hit Claydol one after the other with seemingly little effect, however the area of ground around Claydol was safe for them to land on while the Earthquake continued.

"Xatu, attack Minun with Psychic!" Liza commanded Xatu.

"Minun, Quick Attack! Go up!" Minun jumped and shot straight up into the air with a Quick Attack. A harsh blue glow surrounded it as Xatu began using its Psychic attack, Minun had a surprised look on its face as Xatu's attack seemed to push it up further. Claydol's Earthquake attack was just ending by this point and the ground levelled out, although there were now large cracks everywhere.

_"As expected."_ Alex thought. _"When Xatu saw Minun go up, it decided to try to use that in combination with the Psychic attack Liza. Now if May can take advantage of the situation..."_

"Plusle, jump on Claydol and use Thunderbolt on Xatu!" Plusle easily jumped up to land on Claydol's head and quickly charged up and fired a powerful blast of lightning from the electric sacs on its cheeks. Normally, Xatu would probably be able to take a Thunderbolt from Plusle. Its proximity to Minun, however, charged up its attacks.

Xatu was struck by the attack and lit up as the electricity coursed through its body. It fell over, unconcious and stiff as a statue, releasing Minun from its attack and sending it into a free fall. Alex nodded to May without saying anything. May realized what he wanted her to do though.

"Claydol, use Rapid Spin to shake it off!"

"Plusle, use Helping Hand on Minun!"

"Minun, Iron Tail!"

Plusle was quick to jump up off Claydol as the pokemon began spinning rapidly. As Minun was falling down, Plusle's hands emitted a soft glow and it grabbed Minun's hands. Plusle empowered Minun while throwing him straight upwards again while Minun's tail began to turn silverish. Liza was just now recalling Xatu, but for some reason didn't immediately send out another pokemon.

Plusle landed on the ground next to Claydol while Minun came crashing down on top of it, slamming its tail down on Claydol's head with a tremendous force. The impact of the attack smashed Claydol into the floor of the gym and actually cracked the ground. Despite the power of Minun's attack, Claydol was still concious although barely. Minun bounced off Claydol, landing next to Plusle.

_"Claydol's no threat now..."_ Alex thought. _"So when Liza sends out her Lunatone Plusle and Minun can concentrate their attacks on that and...hey, wait, why didn't she send out Lunatone yet?"_

"Claydol, Self Destruct." There was a noticeable regret in Tate's voice as he commanded his pokemon. Claydol began glowing, then released a massive burst of energy all around it. There was no time for Plusle and Minun to get out of the way, the two electric pokemon were completely engulfed by the attack and disappeared behind the blast along with Claydol. When the energy finally vanished, all three pokemon were ko'd.

"So thats why Liza didn't send out Lunatone yet..." Alex commented. "I thought for sure we'd be able to win with just Plusle and Minun too after that. I should have anticipated a Self Destruct or Explosion from Claydol."

"So I guess we're all down to one pokemon..." May noted, recalling her Plusle. Alex did likewise with Minun, and Tate recalled Claydol.

"We may have..." "Underestimated you." "We will not make that..." "Same mistake again."

"Then I suppose the real battle..." Alex began, but once again May cut him off.

"Starts now!"

"Your timing was a bit off on that one." Alex said to her with a smirk on his face.

"Well its not like I can read your mind like those two can read each other's!" May shot back, sticking out her tongue.

_"Too bad..."_ Alex thought. _"That'd make a lot of things easier on me right now. And not just this battle..."_

"Lunatone, go!"

"Solrock, go!"

The twin gym leaders each released their pokemon. Liza released a pokemon that looked like a floating, crescent moon-shaped rock. Tate's pokemon, also floating, was a sun-shaped rock.

"Rock and psychic types?" May asked Alex.

"Yeah, and they're a lot alike in terms of their battle capabilities. I'm pretty sure Liza focuses more on psychic attacks though while Tate is known for using Sunny Day to fire powered up Flamethrowers. This one's going to be tricky."

May and Alex each reached for a pokeball, then quickly called out their next pokemon.

"Grovyle, go!"

"Combusken, you're next!"

The grass lizard Grovyle and the fire and fighting chicken Combusken appeared on the gym's battlefield next to each other. Spotting the two floating psychics on the other side, they looked at each other and blinked.

"-Well this is certainly different...-" Combusken commented.

"-Just try not to get in my way.-" Grovyle replied stiffly, taking up a fighter's stance.

"-Tch, whatever...-' Combusken likewise prepared for battle.

"So whats the plan this time Alex?" May asked.

"I honestly never thought about it much past trying to make up for each other's weaknesses." Alex replied, rubbing the back of his head slightly.

"Well thats just great..." May grumbled.

Without warning, Tate's Solrock spewed out a stream of flames while Liza's Lunatone fired a blue beam of energy, both attacks were aimed at Grovyle. Grovyle quickly backflipped out of the way to avoid the attacks.

"Why'd they attack?" May wondered. "Neither of them were given any orders."

"Isn't it obvious? Its the same technique I've used with Alakazam." Alex informed her.

"Grovyle, use Agility!"

"Combusken, Fire Spin! Aim for Lunatone!"

Grovyle concentrated, relaxing its body and focusing on increasing its speed with Agility. Combusken, meanwhile, fired out a stream of flames that formed into a funnel as it shot through the air. The funnel of flames came down around Lunatone, seemingly trapping it inside a wall of fire that continued even after Combusken was finished with the attack.

"That won't hold my Lunatone." Liza stated calmly. As if to demonstate this, a blue glow shone outwards from the funnel of flames around Lunatone. There was a loud pop as the funnel burst and faded into nothing. Solrock began glowing brightly as it also used a technique. Heat and light began to radiate down from the ceiling of the gym, creating an intense indoor sun.

"Grovyle, now! Get in there and use Leaf Blade on Solrock!"

"Combusken, Flamethrower! Hit that Lunatone with everything you've got!"

Grovyle dashed across the battlefield, swinging back one of its arms as a green blade extended from it. As it closed in on Solrock, it brought its blade forward and jumped up, slicing Solrock from bottom to top with its Leaf Blade then doing a backflip in the air to land on the floor in front of it. Solrock made a strange noise from the impact, communicating its pain.

While Grovyle was attacking Solrock, Combusken breathed out another stream of flames. The flames reached Lunatone and engulfed the rock pokemon. Normally such an attack would have had little effect. Combusken's attacks were being powered up by the Sunny Day effect, but Lunatone was still able to endure.

Without warning, Solrock fired out a blast of flames at Grovyle. Grovyle became completely engulfed in flames for a moment before escaping out of the attack's range. By the time Grovyle was that far away, however, it nearly collapsed. It had been weakened immensely. A green glow surrounded it momentarily, signifying the activation of its Overgrow ability.

"Grovyle!" Alex called out, worried for his pokemon. He routinely used his thoughts to give instructions to Alakazam to gain an advantage in battle, but now he was seeing how effective it was. If Tate had called out the Flamethrower attack, Grovyle would have had time to get out of the way.

Grovyle wasn't the only one caught off guard, however. Combusken became surrounded by a harsh blue glow as it was subjected to the effects of a Psychic attack. Combusken grunted in pain as it felt the psychic force crushing it. Lunatone finished the attack by tossing Combusken into the ground next to Grovyle.

"Combusken!" May called out to her pokemon. Combusken was in an immense amount of pain as it climbed back onto its feet, a red glow surrounding it briefly as its own Blaze ability activated.

"Well, looks like we're losing this battle anyway." May snapped at Alex.

"What do you mean?" Alex replied with a smirk. "From where I'm standing, we've got this in the bag."

May thought Alex was going crazy for a moment, but then she realized he was right.

"Alex's Grovyle and even Combusken are nearly beaten, but because of that their special abilities activated to raise their power." May thought _"On top of that, Grovyle's speed is increased. Alex can rush in and probably take down Solrock with one more attack. Lunatone will aim for Grovyle then because of the threat it poses, and Combusken can finish it off!"_

"Grovyle, quickly! Attack Solrock with Leaf Blade again!" Grovyle seemed to quickly regain its strength for another attack and quickly charged towards Solrock. Its Leaf Blade was extended, slightly larger than before. It moved to the side of a Flamethrower attack from Solrock, then jumped straight towards it and delivered a powerful slash as Grovyle flew past it.

Grovyle landed on the floor of the gym and Solrock came crashing down next to him. The rock pokemon was knocked unconcious by Grovyle's attack. Grovyle didn't have time to relax, however. A blue glow surrounded it as Lunatone began using its Psychic attack.

"Combusken, now! Flamethrower!" Combusken fired another, even stronger, Flamethrower attack at Lunatone. As the rock pokemon became engulfed in the intsensely hot flames, Grovyle was released from the Psychic attack. After a moment, Lunatone dropped from its levitating position as well as it was unable to endure the second, more powerful Flamethrower attack and fell to the ground unconcious.

"That one really came down to the wire." Alex breathed a sigh of relief. Tate and Liza simultaneously recalled their respective pokemon.

"Alex! Look!" May shouted in excitement, pointing to Grovyle and Combusken. Both pokemon had become shrouded in a white light and had begun growing.

"Combusken and Grovyle are evolving!"

Grovyle grew considerably larger, almost doubling in height. Its tail grew much longer and looked much like a plant. On its back, starting just below its neck, three pairs of small spheres grew. The leaves on its arms went from three to two sharp and elongated leaves, one pointing up and another pointing down on each of its arms.

Combusken grew even taller than Grovyle did, going from being the same height as Grovyle to being about half a foot taller. Its feet seemed to completely disappear into its legs from the feathers that grew down over them, and its claws became more like three fingered hands. Long beige feathers grew out from its head, spreaidng out behind it almost like a pair of wings.

When the changes were complete, the white light faded from around them and both pokemon gave a triumphant roar. Grovyle had evolved into its final form, Sceptile, and May's Combusken had now evolved into a full grown Blaziken.

"Combusken! You evolved into Blaziken!" May cried out happily, rushing to her pokemon and hugging him tightly. Blaziken looked a bit surprised at first but carefully returned the embrace. Alex likewise crossed the gym floor, approaching Sceptile.

"Well congratulations buddy, looks like you finally evolved to your final form. I guess this is something you've been wanting for a while now." Sceptile nodded in agreement.

"It seems we have been defeated." "In recognition of your victory..."

Tate and Liza simultaneously pulled out a badge and a TM disc from their pockets, then did a forward flip out onto the gym floor. Liza landed next to Alex, but Tate had to walk to May after he landed.

"We award you these badges!" Liza and Tate held out the badges and TM's to Alex and May respectively.

"You know, the delay from Tate kinda messed that one up on you guys." Alex said to them as he took the Mind Badge and Calm Mind TM from Liza.

"That would be your fault for not standing closer together after your victory." Tate shot back, handing May her badge and TM as she finally unwrapped her arms from Blaziken.

"You two clearly have a strong bond with each other." Liza said to Alex and May.

"As well as with your pokemon." Tate added.

"Well we have been travelling together for a while I guess...and we've known each other since we received our first pokemon from Professor Birch..." Alex replied sheepishly.

"And these two were our first pokemon!" May added enthusiastically. "That makes seven badges now too, so I guess we've really come a long way."

"We both wish you luck at the Hoenn League." Tate and Liza said simultaneously, giving a bow. Alex and May each recalled their newly evolved pokemon and left the gym.

"You know, its not like we haven't been in double battles before, but it felt like that was really the first time we've worked together in battle." May said as the two exited the gym.

"I know what you mean." Alex replied. "We really worked together for that one. It was a quick match, but definitely intense! Then when it was over, both our first pokemon evolved into their final forms. You know, May, I might have been wrong about you not being able to handle them on your own..."

"Well I'm still glad we battled them together." May smiled brightly. "Still not interested in collecting badges though?"

"Well I have seven now, it'd be a waste not to get the eigth. Besides..." Alex smirked. "Someone has to keep you on your toes once you become champion."

"Ahem..." Alex and May looked up to see Steven standing nearby.

"As much as I hate to interrupt such a heartwarming conversation, you don't exactly have time to be standing around." The two of them nodded in agreement.

"Right, lets get to work." Alex stated. The two of them went with Steven back to his place to retrieve the scuba gear. First, though, Steven took a few minutes to explain the various gauges and other equipment to her.

"A key rule in diving is that you never go without a buddy." Steven stated, following his lessons on the equipment. "Fortunately, you will have a pokemon with you. Many water type pokemon can learn the Dive technique. While most pokemon don't need a special technique for diving, the technique allows for them to dive to incredible depths without being affected by the water pressure. The same would go for a trainer that'd be hanging on to them."

"So I should be fine as long as I stick with my pokemon then?" May asked to make sure she understood the lesson.

"Exactly. All you will need to worry about is your oxygen supply. Now, do you have a water pokemon with you?" May shook her head.

"I have a Pelipper, a Lombre, and a Crawdaunt in storage though."

"The Lombre will do, but we can probably do better." Steven smirked slightly. "For now you should just go and get it. Then you can use my place to get changed, unless you plan on wearing your usual outfit in the water. Alex and I will be waiting by the shore."

"Alright, I'll see you two soon then!" May left Steven's house, heading for the pokecenter.

"Now, Al...Melany, I'll carry the gear down to the shore. I want you to go get a water stone from my collection."

"You're actually going to part with one of your evolution stones?" Alex asked, somewhat surprised.

"Well, I'm sure I can afford to spare one of my water stones..." Steven replied, chuckling lightly. He then paused for a moment.

"You know, as much as I hate to say this, you probably weren't helping your situation much back there." Steven said to him, referring to their conversation outside the gym.

"Yeah, I know..." Alex replied, sighing. "Really wish I just told her from the start..."

"Something I trust you will handle on your own." Steven stated coldly. "Although you are my sister, I'm not going to solve your problems for you. Especially when you do something so...stupid, for lack of a better word."

"I know, I know..." Alex grumbled. Without saying another word, he quickly went off to the room Steven had set aside for his rare stone collection. As soon as he entered the room, what looked like a floating blue steel leg dropped down in front of him and glared at him. It was a Beldum.

"Beldum, its me, Melany..." The pokemon looked him over curiously, though didn't seem to be convinced. Alex removed his hat, hoping it'd make him more recognizeable. His hair had actually started growing back a bit, but he kept it hidden under his hat. Beldum decided Alex was telling the truth, and floated off to rest on a nearby table with some odd rocks on it. It kept its single red eye fixed on him though.

The storage room was filthy, to say the least. Steven was always adding new rocks to his collection, which meant tracking in dust. In the center of the room was a large glass case with one of every kind of rare stone on display. At the back of the room were several cabinets, where Steven would store spares. Alex walked through the room to these cabinets.

"Lets see, water stones..." Alex looked through the labels on the cabinet drawers until he realized they were alphabetical order. He was then quickly able to find a drawer labelled 'Water Stones'.

"Aha, here we go..." Alex opened the drawer and found it full of blue stones. He quickly took one, then left the room. Steven was already gone, so Alex quickly went down to the shore to meet up with him.

"I've got the stone." Alex announced, holding up the water stone for Steven to see as he approached.

"Good, the gear is all set up and ready to go too. Now we just need to wait for May." Steven stated. "In the meantime, though, I'd be curious to see what pokemon you have."

"Alright then." Alex gave a nod then took his six pokeballs from his belt, three in each hand. One by one he released all six of his pokemon for Steven to see. Sceptile, Minun, Golem, Swellow, Azumarill, and Alakazam were all released from their pokeballs.

"These six are the ones I planned to train from the beginning. Most of them I chose for their speed, and durability for the slower ones. At the same time I obviously aimed for a balanced team in terms of pokemon types." Steven nodded, looking over the six pokemon. All of which were fully evolved.

Alex's pokemon didn't seem at all bothered by being shown off as they were, and actually took pride in the fact that Alex had chosen them from the beginning. Azumarill, of course, was an exception. The poor water pokemon actually seemed rather confused by it all.

"I can tell they're strong pokemon, and I see you were even lucky enough to catch an oddly colored pokemon. Shiny is the term I believe..." Steven noted, referring to Alex's Swellow.

"Yeah, she kinda just came down out of the trees and landed in plain view..." Alex stated sheepishly.

_"I was curious..."_ Swellow thought. _"Next thing I know I get beat up by a lizard and stuffed into a pokeball. Well, if nothing else I've gotten much stronger since then and I'm sure I can beat a certain lizard now. Even if he's fully evolved."_

"You've already seen Alakazam, Azumarill, and Golem in battle." Steven nodded, looking to the three pokemon in question.

"Yes, they were quite impressive. Your pokemon are even a match for Maxie's it seems. This little one seems to be the odd one out, however..." Steven pointed to Minun, the smallest pokemon of the group and the only one that hadn't evolved. Not that Minun could evolve anyway.

"He may be small, but he's also fast and packs quite a bit of power for his size." Alex commented. Minun blushed and scuffed the dirt shyly at its praise. Steven chuckled, then shifted his gaze to Sceptile.

"And obviously this one was your first pokemon I take it?"

"Yep, that would be the Treecko I got from Professor Birch. It just evolved during the gym match alongside May's Blaziken."

"-For the record, I could have handled that match without Blaziken's help.-" Sceptile grumbled.

"Are you two having a battle or something?" Steven, Alex, and his pokemon looked back to see May had finally caught up with them. Only now she was wearing a green two piece bikini instead of her usual outfit as well carrying her shoes and pokeball belt in a plastic bag. Alex's eyes went wide with shock, his face reddening slightly.

"May...where did you...get that?" Alex asked her.

"You mean the bikini? I bought it in Lilycove, I thought just maybe I'd get the chance to relax on a beach with so many nearby. So what do you think?" May replied, offering a smile.

"How can I respond to that question without risk of injury?" Alex wondered.

"Well green is certainly your color." Steven commented. "Did you get your Lombre?"

"Sure did." May reached into the bag and took out a pokeball. She quickly held it up and released Lombre.

"Good. Now, how would you feel about evolving your Lombre first?" May thought for a moment and looked at Lombre.

"Well what do you say Lombre?" May asked her pokemon. Lombre nodded its response.

"Alex?" Steven's voice snapped Alex out of his thoughts. Alex looked around and realized everyone was waiting for the water stone. Alakazam glared at him, knowing full well what was on his mind.

"Uh, right...sorry." Alex quickly handed over the water stone to May, who in turn handed it to Lombre. The radiation from the stone was absorbed into Lombre's body, triggering its evolution. The usual white light enveloped its body.

Lombre's body seemed to change shape immensely. It went from standing on four legs to two, standing at nearly five feet tall. The lillypad on its head changed shape to look more like a Mexican hat, its body looking much like a pineapple. Its front legs had moved up its body to become a pair of hands. When the glow finally faded, Lombre had evolved into a Ludicolo.

"Good, now..." Steven held up several HM discs in his hand. "Shall we get started?"

"I thought we were just teaching May's Lom...err, Ludicolo Dive?" Alex asked curiously.

"Well no point stopping there. For example, while your Swellow is likely strong enough to carry you it likely has some problems." Alex and Swellow both shuddered, remembering the flight to Mossdeep.

_"I've never been so exhausted in my life, even after a battle..."_ Swellow thought.

_"I can't even count how many times Swellow almost dropped me..."_ Alex also thought.

The trainers quickly set to work teaching their pokemon new techniques from Steven's HM's. While most of the techniques had little use in battle, they were quite useful for transportation. Alex taught Surf and Dive to his Azumarill, and May did the same with Ludicolo. May released Altaria briefly so both it and Swellow could learn the Fly technique. When they were finished, all pokemon except Ludicolo were recalled.

"Well I guess we're ready to go then?" May asked. Steven shook his head and pointed to the air tanks.

"Oh...right..." May rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. With Steven's help, she donned the pair of air tanks and the rest of the gear that went with it, then tied the plastic bag carrying her shoes and pokeballs around her waist so she wouldn't lose it.

"Now you're all set." Steven stated, nodding to her.

"Great." May removed her fanny pack, then held it out to Alex.

"Mind holding on to that for me?" Alex looked at the fanny pack, then at May with a raised eyebrow.

"Shouldn't you take that with you incase you need something from it?"

"I don't think there's really anything in it that'd I'd need, and it'd be one less thing to carry anyway." Alex nodded and took the fanny pack from her.

"Alright, be careful down there. I'll be heading to Sootopolis, so lets meet up there. I take it you know where Sootopolis is?"

"Yep! I'll go there as soon as I get that sapphire and stop Team Aqua." May replied cheerfully.

"One more thing, which pokemon did you deposit for Lombre anyway?" Alex asked her out of curiosity.

"Wynaut." May could tell that her answer surprised Alex, so she went on to explain.

"He can handle himself against the grunts but thats about it, and I figured it wouldn't bother him since he doesn't seem to mind the pokeball and I don't think any of my other pokemon ever complained about being put in storage."

"You're right I guess..." Alex commented, scratching his head. "You moved awfully quickly from putting it in a pokeball to putting it in storage though."

"I'm sure he'll understand." Alex nodded in agreement.

"Well, in any case, good luck..."

"I don't need luck. There's no way Archie's escaping this time!" May ran off into the water with her Ludicolo following behind her, trying to keep up on its short legs. As Alex watched May leaving, he found himself staring at her, his eyes low...

"Don't you think thats rather rude?" Steven chided him. Alex blushed slightly and looked away, rubbing the back of his head in embarassment.

"You pull off the role of a twelve-year-old-boy a bit too well you know." Steven whispered to him. Looking out to the water, Steven chuckled to himself quietly.

"I probably should have told her about that sudden drop..." Alex looked out to see what Steven was talking about. Only May's head was above the water and she was gasping for breath while Ludicolo held her above the water. May held onto Ludicolo as the two of them swam out to sea.

"Well I guess its my turn to be going now." Alex took Swellow's pokeball from his belt.

"What are you going to Sootopolis for anyway, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Its where the Cave of Origin is." Alex replied. "If something goes wrong and Kyogre wakes up, both Kyogre and Groudon will probably head there, starting their conflict all over again."

"I see..." Steven folded his arms and thought about this for a moment.

"You should hurry then and warn Juan." Alex nodded and quickly released Swellow. He raised his hand up and Swellow grabbed hold. Using the Fly technique it learned only minutes before, it easily lifted Alex into the air and flew off over the ocean towards Sootopolis.

"Seems I have some calls to make..." Steven quietly said to himself.

* * *

Author's Notes: So, apparently, the three asterisks I've been using to denote a scene shift don't actually show up on Html code does. So now I'm using horizontal lines.

Anyway, gym battle in this chapter felt a bit rushed. Fit in everything I had planned for the battle (Minun/Plusle and Grovyle/Combusken tag teams, Grovyle/Combusken evolution) but it still feels like it was too short.

Also, was going to make the next chapter (as in the chapter after this) the final History chapter, but I think I'll put that off for another chapter or two.


	47. Chapter 37: Aqua Showdown!

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Thirty Seven**

**Aqua Showdown**

_"That must be the cave there!"_ May thought, seeing the underwater entrance. She pointed toward the opening and Ludicolo nodded in understanding. The pokemon dove down toward the cave with May holding onto it.

Swimming through the wide opening, the two of them found themselves in a large underwater cavern. Rising up, they broke the surface of the water and found a cave leading further into the caverns above the water. Explorer 1 was docked near the cave.

May took her breathing apparatus out of her mouth and swam to the mouth of the cave, then pulled herself up out of the water.

"Phew..." May took a deep breath and looked around. "Well this is definitely the place, and no doubt Team Aqua's waiting further ahead..."

Looking into the cave, May could see battery-operated lanterns hooked into the walls roughly every 25 feet providing dim lighting. May realized Team Aqua must have been putting up lights to guide their way.

"Looks like I just have to follow the lights...awfully nice of them to leave a trail!" May giggled to herself, and Ludicolo laughed loudly as well startling May.

"Not so loud, Ludicolo!" Ludicolo clamped its duck-billed mouth shut and nodded to May.

May took her shoes out of the plastic bag she was carrying and slipped them on before starting off into the cave. Ludicolo quickly hopped out of the water to follow behind her. The cave opened up into another small cavern, so May stopped at the edge of the tunnel to peek around the corners. There were no Team Aqua members in sight.

Another pair of tunnels lead away from this small cavern, however only one of the two tunnels was lit up. May grinned to herself, immediately knowing what tunnel to follow. Looking into the tunnel, however, she saw two male Team Aqua members leaning against the walls of the tunnel.

"I can't believe we're stuck on guard duty..." One of them grumbled. "I wanted to see Kyogre..."

"I don't get why Archie thought we'd need guards anyway, who the heck is going to come after us down here?!" The other shouted angrily.

"Looks like we're not sneaking by them..." May commented to Ludicolo. "Well, its not like they're going to put up much of a fight anyway."

May and Ludicolo entered the tunnel, and the two Team Aqua grunts immediately spotted them.

"What the?!"

"The brat followed us here?!"

The two grunts quickly stood up from the wall, drawing a pokeball each.

"Zubat, go! Stop them!"

"Corphish, you too!" The grunts simultaneously released their pokemon, the eyeless bat pokemon Zubat and crab-like Corphish.

"Ludicolo, Nature Power!" Ludicolo jumped out in front of May and began drawing power from its surroundings. It then began forming a ball of shadow-stuff in its hands and fired it at Zubat, instantly knocking it out.

"Damn it..." The grunt owning the Zubat grumbled as he recalled it.

"Wimp..." The other muttered. "Corphish, Vice Grip!"

Corphish moved toward Ludicolo as fast as its small legs would carry it, jumping at the last second to clamp down on Ludicolo's left hand with its claws. Ludicolo cried out in agony and began prancing around waving its hand to try to fling Corphish off of it.

"Ludicolo, calm down! Thats not going to work!" Ludicolo didn't seem to pay any attention to May and kept running around in circles until it crashed into the wall of the cave and fell over in a daze. The impact succeeded in knocking Corphish off, but it took Ludicolo a moment to shake it off and get back up.

"He's way too energetic all of a sudden..." May said with a sigh, then refocused on the battle at hand. "Ludicolo, use Fury Swipes!"

Ludicolo was quick to make its attack, swiping at Corphish furiously. After a few quick swipes, the enemy Corphish was knocked out by the attack giving Ludicolo an easy victory. The grunt recalled his Corphish.

"Damn it...we've got to warn the others!" The two grunts ran off ahead to warn the rest of Team Aqua.

"Well that was easy, as expected..." May sighed. Ludicolo clapped its hands together, congratulating itself on its victory.

"Ludicolo, I think it'd be best if you sat the rest of this out, just to be on the safe side. I'll need you in one piece to get out of here later..." Ludicolo nodded in agreement and May quickly recalled it. She placed Ludicolo's pokeball in the bag she had tied around her, then drew another one.

"Heracross, come on out!" May held up the pokeball and released Heracross. The powerful bug pokemon appeared on the wet rocky floor and quickly looked around as if expecting a fight.

"Its Team Aqua again..." May explained. Heracross turned around to face May and immediately noticed May's outfit.

"-What'd they do? Steal your clothes?-" Heracross asked her, although she didn't expect a response.

"I need you to stay with me just in case Team Aqua tries to ambush me or something." Heracross nodded in agreement.

"-Same deal, different location. Gotcha.-"

May, now with Heracross, continued on through the tunnel. The tunnel lead into another large, curved cavern this time with only one tunnel leading through it. A large body of water, possibly from another entrance to the caverns, blocked May from getting to the other side. A rope hooked into the wall at each end of the cavern hanging above the water seemed to be the method Team Aqua used to get across it.

"Well I'm already dressed for swimming anyway..." May said to herself. "Might as well just swim across."

"-I'd prefer not to get my wings wet.-" Heracross spread its wings out from under her shell. It skimmed across the water, unable to really fly very high with it small wings, and landed on the other side of the cavern.

"Show off..." May grumbled. She quickly slipped her shoes off and placed them in her bag, tying it off again to keep the water out. She slipped into the water and swam the short distance across to the other side. Heracross helped her climb out of the water once she was on the other side.

"Thanks Heracross." May quickly stood up and put on her shoes again. "Lets keep going."

May continued into the next tunnel, Heracross taking up point in front of her. When they reached the end of this tunnel, however, they also seemed to reach the end of the lighted path. Only half the cavern that opened up ahead of them could be seen, and in it were three pools of water that seemed to be connected further down, forming another water-filled cave possibly leading out of the cavern.

"Team Aqua must be turning out lanterns to throw me off..." May commented, stopping at the end of the tunnel. Heracross continued on a bit further, stopping in front of the three pools of water.

"-Something doesn't feel right about this...-" Heracross commented quietly, scanning its surroundings. It couldn't see very well in the darkness either, but it had a feeling as though danger were nearby.

"Thats as far as you go..." Came a familiar woman's voice from the shadows. May gritted her teeth, she knew exactly who it was.

"Sharpedo, attack!" A Sharpedo suddenly jumped up out of the pool of water furthest from Heracross. The pokemon came toward Heracross, opening its mouth and firing a wide stream of water forcefully at Heracross. The bug pokemon held up its arms defensively and was pushed back several feet by the attack but remained standing. Before Heracross could deliver a counter attack, though, the Sharpedo had already dived down into the pool in front of Heracross.

"-Cheap shot.-" Heracross grumbled, carefully watching the three pools of water to see where the Sharpedo would attack from next.

The lights on the other side of the cavern finally flicked on, revealing six members of Team Aqua including the two May had just defeated. Each was standing by one of their battery powered lanterns. Standing across from May was Team Aqua's second admin, Shelly, grinning from ear to ear.

"Wonderful spot for an ambush, wouldn't you agree?" Shelly taunted her. At that moment, two unevolved Carvanha leaped from the pool in front of Heracross, fired off a Water Pulse attack each, then back-flipped into the pool behind them. Each pulse struck Heracross, still defending itself, with little effect.

_"They're too fast..."_ May thought. _"How can Heracross hope to attack them?"_

"Nothing to say?" Shelly continued to taunt her, laughing to herself. "I fully intend to get back at you for back at the weather station. You can forget about getting to Archie, because I plan to stop you right here, right now!"

Sharpedo came back up again, coming up out of another hole directly in front of Heracross but off to the right. It fired another powerful Hydro Pump attack, but Heracross had been ready for it this time and managed to duck under the attack. Sharpedo kept going and landed in the pool furthest from Heracross.

"Heracross, get into the middle of the pools!" Heracross looked at May, wondering what she was thinking. It walked into the middle of the three pools as instructed, quietly hoping May had some sort of plan.

"Hahaha! That was just plain stupid! All of you attack at once!" The Sharpedo and two Carvanha each emerged from separate pools, aiming for Heracross as they unleashed their various water attacks. The two Carvanha used Water Pulse while Sharpedo used Hydro Pump. Heracross ducked the attacks again to dodge them. Because of the angle they were pointing at, however, the Carvanha's attacks hit Shelly's Sharpedo and knocked it onto the ground behind the pool.

"Heracross, now's your chance! Brick Break!" Heracross looked up and saw the Sharpedo caught on dry land. It quickly got up and charged toward it, slamming its fist down on Sharpedo's snout. Sharpedo's eyes went wide from the impact, but then it fell unconscious. Shelly recalled her Sharpedo, not even slightly phased by the outcome.

"Well I'll just remember not to make that mistake again." Shelly stated calmly, clipping Sharpedo's pokeball to her belt. She only had one other pokemon with her, and quickly grabbed its pokeball to release it.

"Mightyena, go!" Shelly released her only other pokemon, a Mightyena. The dark type pokemon appeared before Heracross, staring down the pokemon menacingly despite being at a severe type disadvantage.

"Another Mightyena?" May groaned. "Between you guys and Team Magma you're giving Poochyena's, Zubat's, and their evolved forms a bad name!"

"Shut up, brat!" Shelly shot back. She quickly shot a look to two female Team Aqua grunts.

"You two! More Carvanha!" The two of them nodded quickly, taking out a pokeball and approaching the three pools. They released the Carvanha above them and the two mean looking fish dove down into separate pools. There were now four Carvanha swimming around ready to attack. May was already formulating a plan to deal with the Carvanha, however she knew the Mightyena needed to be dealt with first.

"Mightyena, attack Heracross with Take Down!"

"Heracross, use Brick Break!" Shelly's Mightyena charged toward May's Heracross. Heracross got ready to attack, raising a fist back. As Mightyena neared Heracross, the bug pokemon brought its fist forward to slam into Mightyena head on. The dark type pokemon was instantly knocked out cold, but Shelly still didn't seem to be worried as she recalled her last pokemon.

_"I don't get it..."_ May thought. _"She practically let her Mightyena get knocked out by Heracross's attack. If it wasn't using Take Down it might have survived..."_

"How about we finish this annoying insect off now, boys and girls?" Shelly stated smugly, a smirk crossing her face. One by one each Carvanha popped out of the pool nearest May. Heracross had its back to them as each Carvanha popped out and fired a Water Pulse attack at it before diving back into the pool. Heracross grunted in pain as each attack struck it, collapsing to its knees from the assault. Although the attacks were weak, the frequency took a toll on the pokemon.

_"So thats it then..."_ May thought. _"She intends solely on winning with the grunts Carvanha and, if it hadn't been dealt with already, her own Sharpedo. I can't believe how cruel she is to her own pokemon though, especially what she did to Mightyena..."_

"Heracross, thats enough! Return!" May recalled Heracross to its pokeball, returning the pokeball to her bag in exchange for a different one.

"Plusle, your turn! Go!" May called out, releasing the yellow and red electric mouse to take care of the remaining Carvanha.

"How cute! You actually intend to use that pokemon?" Shelly laughed derisively and the rest of the grunts joined in like a bunch of mindless followers. Plusle hung its head sadly.

"Don't let them get to you Plusle." May said in an attempt to cheer up her pokemon. "We're going to make her eat her words!"

Plusle turned to her trainer and nodded enthusiastically, looking determined now as it readied itself for battle.

"Plusle, Thunderbolt!" May commanded, despite the lack of enemy pokemon in sight. "Aim for the water!"

Plusle jumped up, its cheeks sparking with electricity as it fired a bolt of lightning from its body. The lightning bolt arced through the air, striking the pool nearest to it. All three pools of water lit up as electricity flowed through them. Shelly looked on in horror, realizing her plan could fall apart.

Plusle landed and struck a triumphant pose, though not entirely sure itself what it had just accomplished. It got its answer soon enough, however, as four unconscious Carvanha floated to the surface of each pool of water on their sides. Four of the Team Aqua grunts recalled a Carvanha each.

"Damn you..." Shelly muttered angrily. "That plan was supposed to be fool proof!"

"Considering I exploited its flaws twice I'd hardly call that foolproof!" May taunted her. Plusle nodded its agreement, still standing proud.

"No matter, Archie is more than capable of handling you and your pathetic rodent. Especially with that Heracross crippled." Shelly turned to address the six grunts that were with her.

"We're returning to the sub. Archie can handle the rest without us. Move out!" The six grunts nodded in unison and the group walked past May to leave, each of them glaring at her as they walked by.

"Well I guess that means we're in the clear now..." May stated, looking back at the fleeing Team Aqua members.

"So what do you say you accompany me until we find Archie now?" May asked Plusle as she turned around to face it. Plusle nodded enthusiastically and quickly hopped up on May's shoulder. May patted it on the head then continued off through the cavern, entering a curving tunnel at the far end.

"We must be getting close..." May stated quietly as she navigated the tunnel. "It'd make sense for Shelly to the last Team Aqua member before Archie right?"

"-I...guess?-" Plusle replied, not really sure what May was talking about. The two of them rounded the bend in the tunnel and came out into another cavern. This one was much larger than any of the previous caverns May had been in. It was mostly filled with water as well. There was solid ground on the end of the cavern May was at, as well as a section of ground leading out to the water.

At the very end of the cavern, sitting in shallow water, was what appeared to be a stone statue of a whale. The statue was huge, easily over twelve feet long and standing taller than May. The statue's tail seemed to be shaped much like a short fork at the end. The two fins on either side of its body were wide and seemed to end in four large claws.

"Is that it?" May stated, blinking in surprise. "All this just for some statue?"

"-It doesn't even look that special...-" Plusle added.

"Its not just a statue..." May turned around quickly, nearly throwing Plusle off her shoulder. Near the tunnel that lead into the cavern, Archie emerged from the shadows.

"The sleeping form of the ancient pokemon Kyogre...soon its power will be mine, and with it I will create a better world for people and pokemon alike!" Archie seemed to be addressing the statue, rather than May. He then turned his attention to her.

"You have been a thorn in my side for some time, girl. Its a shame you could not see the glory of my plans. Your meddling ends here." Archie slowly drew a pokeball, glaring at May menacingly. Plusle hopped off her shoulder to stand in front of her defensively.

"Mightyena, go!" Archie called out, releasing an angry looking Mightyena to fight.

"Not another Mightyena..." May said, sighing. Archie wasn't bothered at all by May's comment.

"Mightyena, attack with Shadow Ball!"

"Plusle, counter with Thunderbolt!" Mightyena formed a ball of shadow-stuff in front of its mouth and launched it toward Plusle. Plusle quickly fired of a blast of lightning from its body to meet the attack. The Thunderbolt attack struck the Shadow Ball, causing it to explode.

"Mightyena, Crunch! Chomp down on that pest!"

"Plusle, Charge!" Plusle's cheeks sparked as it began charging electricity. It didn't move from its spot as Mightyena charged toward it, snatching up the small electric pokemon and biting down on it with tremendous force. Plusle cried out in pain and struggled to free itself from Mightyena's jaws.

"Plusle, now! Thunderbolt!" Plusle struggled for a moment to focus before discharging a powerful blast of electricity directly into Mightyena. Mightyena yelped in pain and dropped Plusle as the powered up Thunderbolt attack struck its mouth and traveled through its body. Plusle hit the floor with a thud and slowly got back up on its feet, weakened by Mightyena's Crunch attack, while at the same time Mightyena collapsed on its side as it fell unconscious.

"Seems I may have underestimated that rodent of your's..." Archie stated as he recalled his defeated Mightyena. "I won't be making that mistake again."

"Crobat, go!" Archie released Crobat, another pokemon May had seen too many times to count at this point. The four winged bat pokemon appeared and immediately began flapping its two larger wings to stay in the air.

_"Plusle has the type advantage, but Crobat's fast and I doubt Plusle can take another hit."_ May thought.

"Plusle, good job! Return!"

"Crobat, Pursuit!" May held up Plusle's pokeball to recall it, but as Plusle was being recalled into its pokeball Crobat seemed to vanish. Plusle turned into a red beam of energy and was being pulled back into its pokeball when suddenly something collided into it. Crobat appeared next to it as Plusle was knocked into the ground and fell unconscious.

"What? Plusle!" May quickly picked up Plusle, cradling it in her arms.

"Pursuit. Not only is it capable of hitting a pokemon as its being recalled..." Archie explained, grinning. "But it hits harder when a pokemon is being recalled."

"Jerk..." May grumbled, holding Plusle's pokeball above it to recall it again. This time there's no interference on Archie's part as Plusle has already been KO'd.

"Altaria, I choose you! Go!" May held up Altaria's pokeball, releasing her cloud-like dragon pokemon to battle Crobat. Crobat quickly backed up away from May as she released her pokemon, flapping its two smaller wings to move in reverse.

"Altaria, use Ice Beam!"

"Crobat, dodge with Double Team!" Crobat created multiple images of itself, seven in total forming a semi-circle in front of Altaria. Altaria fired a blue energy beam where Crobat had been previously, but the Crobat struck by the Ice Beam attack turned out to just be one of the Double Team images.

"Use Dragon Breath and hit them all!" Altaria breathed out a stream of blue flames, starting from the left and turning to the right while continuing the attack to hit all the Crobat images. All the images vanished, however there was no sign of the real Crobat.

"Crobat, now! Sludge Bomb!" Archie's Crobat had used the Double Team attack as a distraction to get above Altaria. It spat out a ball of purple sludge straight down at Altaria. The ball of sludge exploded as it struck the dragon pokemon from above, sending the poisonous substance all over it. Altaria flapped its wings frantically to try to get the stuff off itself.

"Altaria, Fly!" Altaria gave one strong flap of its cloud-like wings and shot straight up, hitting Crobat as it passed by it and sending the pokemon into a spin toward the ground. Altaria continued to rise up to the ceiling of the cavern, then began a sharp dive downward straight toward Crobat. The sudden dive managed to shake off the remaining sludge from its body.

Crobat managed to recover before hitting the ground, but before it could react Altaria came crashing down into it from above, pulling up at the last second to hit Crobat without hitting the ground itself. Crobat was slammed into the ground hard by the attack while Altaria managed to land safely on the ground beside it. Crobat was down, but it wasn't out yet. The four winged bat managed to pull its battered body off the ground, still capable of continuing the fight.

_"That was a pretty hard hit and its still standing..."_ May thought. _"Well it definitely won't be able to defend itself from a sing attack, and then Altaria can defeat it while its asleep."_

"Altaria, put it to sleep with Sing!" Altaria began singing a soft lullaby, quickly putting Archie's Crobat to sleep.

"Now! Use Ice Beam!"

"Damn it, Crobat! Wake up!" Despite Archie's request for it to wake up, Crobat stayed snoozing. Altaria fired a blue energy beam from its close proximity, encasing Crobat in a block of ice as the beam struck it. Crobat showed no sign of breaking free as Archie recalled it. The pokemon simply had no strength left.

"Whatever..." Archie grumbled. "I've saved my best for last anyway."

Archie placed Crobat's pokeball on his belt. He had one pokeball remaining containing a pokemon that was still at fighting strength. He took the pokeball from his belt

"Sharpedo, go!" Archie pointed the pokeball at the water as he released Sharpedo. The shark pokemon appeared over the water before diving straight down into it.

_"Another Sharpedo..."_ May thought. _"Looks like it'll be using the same strategy as Shelly, only with one large water source. I can't take advantage of this with Plusle though, and I don't want to send Ludicolo in after it because if Sharpedo beats Ludicolo I'm pretty much stuck down here. Looks like my best shot at beating it is to get it out of the water somehow..."_

"Sharpedo, Ice Beam!"

"Altaria, fly up and dodge it!" Altaria flapped its wings and began to rise up. Sharpedo stuck its mouth out of the water and fired a blue beam toward the fleeing Altaria. Though Altaria was fast in its climb, courtesy of its Fly technique, it was struck in the back by the Ice Beam attack. While it was merely a glancing blow, it was enough to knock Altaria out of the sky and send it plummeting to the ground with a crash.

"Now finish it with another Ice Beam!" Before Altaria even had the chance to get up again, Sharpedo fired another Ice Beam attack to strike the grounded Altaria. Altaria cried out in pain but was quickly silenced as it became encased in ice. Like Crobat before it, it didn't have any strength left. May quickly recalled her pokemon.

_"I need to start watching for those ice attacks."_ She thought as she placed Altaria's pokeball in her bag. _"Altaria just can't handle them very well..."_

_"How can I defeat Archie's Sharpedo?"_ May wondered. _"It has a clear advantage in this terrain. I'm down to Gardevoir, Ludicolo, Blaziken, and Heracross. Heracross won't survive another attack, Gardevoir can't attack a dark-type pokemon period, and Blaziken will just be a sitting duck with Sharpedo in the water. Come on, May! Think!"_

"You should just give up and spare your pokemon the torture." Archie taunted her. "You're not beating my Sharpedo."

_"Maybe I should just use Ludicolo. Its pretty much my only chance to beat his Sharpedo, and if I lose to Archie it won't matter if I still have Ludicolo with me or not."_ May reached for Ludicolo's pokeball, ready to release her pokemon, when another idea suddenly dawned on her.

_"Wait a minute! If I use Gardevoir, Archie will probably attack with a dark-type technique! He'll use his best attack too, which in Sharpedo's case will easily be Crunch. So if I send out Gardevoir, lure it into a Crunch attack, then switch Gardevoir for Blaziken his Sharpedo will be left on dry ground and open to attack from either Heracross or Blaziken!"_

With this new idea in mind, May reached for Gardevoir's pokeball instead and plucked it from the bag.

"Gardevoir, I choose you!" May released Gardevoir from its pokeball, and the pokemon gave a pirouette as it appeared. Seeing no opponent yet knowing its in a battle, Gardevoir searched around for its target with its psychic powers. Though it couldn't sense the dark type pokemon, it could sense the void in the water where it would be and kept a close eye on it.

"Your Gardevoir won't last five seconds." Archie declared. "Sharpedo, use Crunch!"

Sharpedo leaped out of the water toward Gardevoir, mouth opened as it prepared to chomp down on it.

"Good! Gardevoir, return!"

_"Not that I'm complaining, since I can't even hurt that thing, but why was I even sent out in the first place?"_ Gardevoir wondered as May returned it to its pokeball. Having missed its target, Sharpedo ended up hitting the ground instead and was stranded at least for the moment. May quickly dropped Gardevoir's pokeball in her bag and took Blaziken's in hand, not wanting to waste the opportunity at hand.

"Blaziken, go!" May called out, releasing Blaziekn from its pokeball. Once the orange feathered fighting pokemon appeared, May wasted no time issuing commands.

"Blaziken, use Brick Break!"

"Sharpedo, quick! Into the water!"

Blaziken quickly moved forward, bringing its fist down toward Sharpedo. The shark pokemon rolled away at the last second, however, and slowly made its way to the water's edge. As soon as it realized it had missed Blaziken followed after it and brought its fist into the Sharpedo's side. The impact sent the pokemon into the water, skidding across it for a moment before sinking in. After a moment, it resurfaced and was still conscious.

"I can't believe Sharpedo actually survived that..." May muttered in disbelief.

_"I can't believe how much hitting something as soft and fragile as a Sharpedo hurts..."_ Blaziken thought, shaking its hand. Hitting Sharpedo had scraped it up a bit.

"Heh, nice try. I should have realized something was up when you sent out a psychic type. I won't make that mistake again."

_"Well it should be weakened at least, so maybe if Blaziken can just manage to hit it with a Flamethrower attack..."_

"Blaziken, use Flamethrower!"

"Sharpedo, Hydro Pump!"

Archie's Sharpedo fired a wide stream of water from its mouth while Blaziken spewed a stream of flames. The attacks collided, creating a cloud of steam. For a brief second neither attack gained any ground, but Sharpedo's Hydro Pump soon won over and blasted Blaziken. The fire pokemon was knocked back a few feet by the attack and grunted in pain. Fortunately the impact was lessened by the Flamethrower.

"Blaziken, use Flamethrower again!"

"Sharpedo, hit it with another Hydro Pump!" The two pokemon launched their attacks again, with similar results. Sharpedo's Hydro Pump pushed back against Blaziken's Flamethrower until it finally hit the fire-type pokemon, causing the pokemon to grunt in pain again.

_"This isn't working..."_ May realized. _"Blaziken can't touch Sharpedo because of Hydro Pump...there's one thing I can try, I just hope Blaziken will go along with it. I'll need to wait for Archie to make his move and..."_

"Sharpedo, use Hydro Pump again!"

"Blaziken! Jump above Sharpedo and use Flamethrower!" As May issued the attack, she prepared Blaziken's pokeball to make a quick recall.

Blaziken hesitated for a moment, but jumped just in time to avoid the Hydro Pump attack from Sharpedo. Soaring above the water, Blaziken aimed down at the surprised Sharpedo below it and fired a stream of flames straight down on top of it and creating a cloud of steam. As Blaziken plummeted toward the water, May quickly recalled it to avoid Blaziken getting wet. When the steam cleared, Archie's Sharpedo was unconscious.

"So I lost. It hardly matters." Archie stated as he recalled Sharpedo. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out the sapphire.

"As long as I have this, nothing matters." Archie held the sapphire above him triumphantly. The sapphire was immediately ripped from his grasp. The crystal soared through the air until it struck Kyogre in the head and seemed to stay there.

"What the?! I didn't even do anything yet!" Archie growled, glaring across the water at the sapphire and trying to figure out what to do next. May turned to look as well, just as surprised as Archie by what had happened.

The sapphire began to glow brightly, but then slowly turned black before falling into the water. The 'statue' of Kyogre then began to change. Its gray stone appearance changed to the blue skin of a pokemon, with a white underbelly. Kyogre opened its eyes and gave a mighty roar, then dove down into the water and disappeared beneath the surface.

"What? Why...why did Kyogre leave? I didn't do anything yet..." Archie paused and put his hand to his ear to receive an incoming transmission. Archie turned his back to May and talked quietly so she wouldn't overhear. May was shaking in fear from what she had just seen.

"That...that really was a legendary pokemon!" She thought to herself, the realization dawning on her having seen Kyogre awaken.

_"That means both Kyogre and Groudon are awake now, and if Alex is right then all of Hoenn is in danger...did I really stand a chance at stopping them? Is this it? Is it all over now?"_ May fell to her knees, fighting back tears.

_"Wait...Alex said to get the sapphire no matter what...does he know a way to stop them then?"_ May looked back at Archie, who was still talking to someone and seemed to be upset about something. She quietly reached into her plastic bag and took out Ludicolo's pokeball. Examining it for a moment, she released Ludicolo into the water.

"Ludicolo, somewhere down there is a black crystal. I need you to find it and get it for me." Ludicolo gave a nod, then dove down under the water.

"Archie, what have you done?!" May looked back again to see Maxie had arrived in the cavern, along with his two admins Tabitha and Courtney.

"You awakened Kyogre, didn't you? Do you have any idea what you have done?" Maxie demanded, glaring at Archie.

"I...I, well..." Archie stammered at first, but quickly regained his confidence.

"Don't you get all high and mighty with me, Maxie! Was it not you who awakened Groudon?"

"We don't have time for this. Come see for yourself what you've brought upon us..." Maxie stated calmly, then turned his attention to May.

"May, was it? You should leave as well..." May nodded in agreement and looked back to the water for any sign of Ludicolo. Ludicolo emerged from the water, holding the now black sapphire in its hand.

"Thank you..." May whispered, taking the sapphire from Ludicolo. May recalled Ludicolo to its pokeball and quickly placed it in her bag, then got up and followed the Team Magma and Team Aqua leaders out of the caverns.

* * *

After leaving the caverns, May went with Team Magma in a submarine they managed to get their hands on similar to Explorer 1 while Team Aqua went in Explorer 1. The two subs surfaced near a sandbar, where Archie, Maxie, and May got out to look around. Water was flowing over the sandbar up to their ankles.

"This...this can't be happening..." Archie stated in disbelief. It was raining, and hard. The wind was blowing hard, stirring up large waves and churning the seas. The sky overhead was completely hidden behind dark clouds for as far as any of them could see.

"This isn't what I wanted...I only wanted to expand the ocean, but if the rain continues like this it'll drown all of Hoenn..." Archie stated quietly, bowing his head in shame.

"Come on..." Maxie placed a hand on Archie's shoulder. "We need to at least try to set things right now. We'll make our stand at Sootopolis."

Archie turned to Maxie and nodded, agreeing to work with the man for the first time in over two years. The two of them got back into their respective submarines, leaving May behind on the sandbar.

"It'd be nice if they at least offered me a ride..." May said with a sigh. "Still though...I can't believe the power that pokemon has! I mean I've seen pokemon change the weather before but not to this degree..."

May looked around at the weather around her for another moment before reaching into her plastic bag to pull out Ludicolo's pokeball and once again releasing the pineapple-lookalike. Once Ludicolo appeared it immediately began dancing around happily, excited by the downpour.

"Ludicolo! This is serious! We need to get to Sootopolis!" Ludicolo stopped its dancing and nodded enthusiastically. It quickly ran to the edge of the sandbar and hopped into the water, then waited for May to catch up with him. It was hard for May to run while carrying an air tank on her back, after all.

Once May was in the water with Ludicolo, she grabbed on to the top of Ludicolo's head. Ludicolo then took off toward Sootopolis, swimming faster than it had been before. May had to hang on tightly so she wouldn't get left behind.

_"Both Groudon and Kyogre are awake...so what happens now?"_

* * *

Author's Notes: Although I didn't use my typical "Chapter blah A/M" title, the next chapter basically takes place the same time as this one. I think I had something else to say here but I can't remember now... 


	48. Chapter 38: Calm Before the Storm

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Thirty Eight**

**Calm before the Storm**

"There's the gym, Swellow. Land there!" Swellow nodded and dove swiftly towards the gym. One wouldn't think the bird pokemon had a twelve year old held by the hands in her talons. Swellow flew towards the Sootopolis City gym then slowly lowered itself in front of the gym to let Alex down first before landing on the ground itself.

"Thanks Swellow, that went a lot better this time around."

"-No kidding!-" Swellow stated, nodding its agreement. "-I feel like I can carry a Wailord!-"

Sootopolis was a city built inside an extinct volcano. Houses and other buildings were built up the sides of the crater. The walls of the crater completely blocked out the sea, the only way into or out of Sootopolis was by air. Usually by helicopter or pokemon. The crater was also largely filled with water, with a bit of a shore extending out from the walls of the crater itself.

"This has to be one of the stupidest places they could have thought of to build a city. If it rains the water has nowhere to go but up. Only worse place I can think of would have to be Pacifidlog. They should at least open one of the walls to the sea and maybe make it into a port city. Not that I'd want to live here..." Alex shuddered at the thought. He didn't like water, and it was bad the gym was practically on its own small island in the city. It was backed up against the wall of the crater behind it and surrounded by water on every other side.

"Certainly not going to be escaping all this water in the gym either since the battlefield in Juan's gym is an olympic sized swimming pool..." Alex sighed. "Lets just get this over with, I need to convince him to make preparations for an evacuation."

Alex recalled Swellow and entered the gym. As expected, the first thing Alex encountered was a large pool of water with three floating green 'islands' spread around it in sort of a triangle pattern. Though, naturally, they weren't stationary. Since they were floating they could move around as a battle waged on.

On the far side of the gym, where the gym leader would stand during battle, was a raised stone platform with a Luvdisc fountain on either side of it. The gym leader, Juan, was nowhere in sight however.

"Juan?" Alex called out to the empty gym. There was nothing but silence for a moment, then a slight rippling from the pool as a pink, heart-shaped fish pokemon poked its beak out of the water and examined Alex curiously.

"Juan's Luvdisc..." Alex noted, looking at the pokemon. "I don't suppose you know where Juan is?

The pokemon didn't seem to make any sort of response at first. In fact it didn't even acknowledge Alex's question. After several moments, the Luvdisc finally gave Alex a response in the form of a Water Gun to the face, knocking Alex onto his ass.

"Thanks..." Alex muttered sarcastically, wiping his face. "Damn Luvdisc..."

The Luvdisc quickly swam to the other side of the pool after attacking Alex, then stopped and looked back at him from the far right corner of the pool. Alex got up and looked around the gym again, looking for where Juan might have gone. Noticing the door at the far end of the gym, Alex reasoned that Juan must be in his office and decided he would wait outside rather than barging in.

After about five minutes of waiting the door finally opened and an older man with black hair, white on the sides, and dressed much like a musician with a blue overcoat stepped out.

"Hmm? I was not aware I had a visitor." Juan stated, spotting Alex. "And who might you be?"

"I'm..." Alex had a brief moment of indecision, as if unsure of how to answer that question. "Alex."

"I see..." Juan rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then clapped his hands together. "Ah, of course! Where are my manners? I am Juan, gym leader of Sootopolis and holder of the Rain Badge."

"Yeah, great, thats not what I'm..." Alex began to explain, but was quickly cut off by Juan.

"You must be here for a battle. Very well then!"

"Actually no, I'm..." Juan once again interrupted Alex before he could explain.

"It will be a three on three battle, pokemon will be selected before the battle begins." Juan explained as he took his place on the other side of the pool.

"You're not listening to me! I'm..."

"I have my three pokemon selected. Luvdisc will start off the battle." Juan made a gesture with his hands and Luvdisc quickly swam over in front of him and turned to face Alex.

_"I can't even get a word in on this guy!"_ Alex thought. _"Fine, I'll do things his way then. I'll have to end this battle quickly since I doubt he's going to listen to me..."_

Alex looked down at his pokeballs and thought over what pokemon to use.

_"Golem is obviously out, he won't do a thing to these guys. Sceptile has a type advantage, but chances are Juan's pokemon know ice attacks and its not like Sceptile will be hitting much in this pool. Minun would be a good choice but he won't be able to do a thing if Juan uses Whiscash. So by process of elimination..."_ Alex took three pokeballs from his belt.

"A battle it is then. Alakazam, go!" Alex took Alakazam's pokeball in his free hand then quickly released the psychic pokemon onto the nearest floating island.

_"A Luvdisc?"_ Alakazam thought, spotting its opponent and chuckling to itself. _"This will not take long..."_

"Let the battle commence! Luvdisc, a little rain for effect if you would please!"

"Alakazam, use Calm Mind!" Luvdisc swam around in a small circle, and as it did a dark raincloud began forming at the roof of the gym then began pouring down into the pool below. Alakazam, meanwhile, assumed a meditative stance to raise its power.

"Now, follow up with Surf!" Luvdisc began to move forward towards Alakazam, a large wave forming under it. Luvdisc rode on top of the wave as it passed by the first floating island, then the second. As it began to crash down on top of Alakazam, the psychic pokemon vanished and reappeared on the first island Luvdisc passed by.

"Clever technique!" Juan said to Alex, applauding him and Alakazam. "A wonderful show of the bond between yourself and Alakazam as well as your ability to predict your opponent's tactics."

"Right..." Alex muttered to himself. "Alakazam, lets finish this quick! Psychic!"

Alakazam concentrated and a blue glow surrounded Luvdisc. It lifted the pokemon out of the water while focusing its psychic powers on crushing it. Luvdisc squealed in pain, but after several moments Alakazam dropped it as it could no longer maintain its focus. To Alex's surprise, the Luvdisc was still concious and was now staring down Alakazam.

"Since when was Luvdisc so durable anyway?" Alex grumbled.

"Ah, ah, ah..." Juan waved his index finger disapprovingly. "One should not judge a book by its cover. No pokemon, properly trained, can truly be considered weak."

_"I see now..."_ Alex thought. _"His Luvdisc was probably trained to take special-type attacks since most trainers facing him would use either grass or electric attacks. I should have expected something like that I guess. Given that Luvdisc is already pretty speedy as well he probably trained it in attacking."_

_"I doubt that Luvdisc will be surviving another attack, so lets try a different route Alakazam. Use Future Sight, then we'll focus entirely on using Teleport to avoid its attacks until Future Sight hits."_ Alakazam focused briefly, its back to Juan making its concentration unnoticeable to him.

"Luvdisc, take point!" Juan commanded, raising his right hand for emphasis. Luvdisc dove under the water, then re-emerged in front of Juan.

"Now, use Blizzard!" Luvdisc let loose with a blizzard, sending forth a blast of snow and ice across all three islands. Alakazam, unfortunately, had nowhere to Teleport to because of this. The attack struck it hard and encased Alakazam in a block of ice. Alakazam was still concious inside but seemed unable to break free.

"Damn...so much for dodging all its attacks..." Alex muttered. "Doesn't look like Alakazam can get out of there either...I wonder how its holding up? Just needs to hang in there a little longer..."

"Luvdisc, another Surf if you please!" A wave rose up underneath Luvdisc, carrying the pokemon along with it as it moved towards Alakazam. Luvdisc brought the wave crashing down on top of the frozen Alakazam while landing in the water on the other side of the island. The wave struck with enough force to shatter the ice encasing Alakazam, but it also knocked Alakazam out cold.

"Looks like I definitely underestimated that Luvdisc..." Alex commented as he recalled Alakazam. The dark clouds at the roof of the gym finally dispersed now that Alakazam had been defeated.

"Luvdisc's Serene Grace ability increases the chances of a mishap such as with your Alakazam." Juan explained, as if he had planned it out that way.

"My Alakazam isn't finished yet." Alex shot back. Juan quirked an eyebrow in curiousity.

"How so?" Juan inquired. He quickly got his answer, though, as a white beam of energy shot down out of the air above Luvdisc and forced the pokemon beneath the water. When Luvdisc rose to the surface again it was on its side and unconcious, knocked out by Alakazam's Future Sight.

"Alas, I thought I had won..." Juan stated with an exaggerated sigh as he recalled his Luvdisc.

"But a double KO makes this interesting, no?"

"I guess it does..." Alex replied, though sounding uninterested as he placed Alakazam's pokeball back on his belt.

"Azumarill, you're up next, go!"

"Crawdaunt, it is time for your performance!" Alex and Juan both released their water-type pokemon onto the floating islands nearest to them. Alex noticed Juan's Crawdaunt had a brighter orange color on its shell and pink markings across the front of it instead of blue.

"Crawdaunt, begin with Sludge Bomb!"

"Azumarill, quick! Into the water!" Juan's Crawdaunt pointed one of its claws towards Azumarill and fired a ball of purple sludge. Azumarill quickly did a backflip off its platform and into the water, avoiding the attack completely. The Sludge Bomb splattered on the platform, coating it with sludge.

"Taking to the water, are you? You forget, I am a water artist!" Juan chuckled to himself. "Crawdaunt, follow after it and use Vice Grip!"

Crawdaunt nodded and slipped off its platform, diving down below the water to search for its prey. Alex didn't seem at all worried by this, though, as a smirk crossed his lips.

"Just as planned..." Alex snickered. "Azumarill, back onto the platform then aim an Ice Beam at Crawdaunt!"

Azumarill quickly hopped out of the water, not having moved from where it had originally entered. It then turned around and fired a blue ray down at the water where Crawdaunt was beginning to surface. The water quickly froze from the attack, creating a thick sheet of ice that blocked Crawdaunt's progress. Crawdaunt tried to break through the ice, but with no luck. Instead, it went under the platform and tried to return to its own.

"I see...not an uncommon strategy, I'm afraid." Juan commented. "You will have to do better than that..."

"Azumarill, another Ice Beam! This time between the platforms! Azumarill fired another beam towards the middle of the three platforms. The Ice Beam struck the water and Azumarill kept up the attack until the area between them was completely covered by ice, linking the platforms. Juan's Crawdaunt tried emerging in the middle, only to find its path blocked again.

"If you believe you will be keeping my Crawdaunt trapped under the ice, you are quite mistaken." Juan stated.

"I don't need to keep it trapped...not anymore at least!" Juan was a bit surprised by Alex's response.

"Azumarill, now! Rollout on the spot!" Azumarill curled into a ball and began spinning rapidly to gather power while staying in one spot.

_"Interesting." _Juan thought to himself. _"Seems he intends to cross the ice to attack with Rollout. It is not often I have a trainer use water pokemon against me but choose to keep their pokemon above the water..."_

Alex kept watch on the furthest platform as Azumarill charged up its attack. Crawdaunt emerged from the water behind the platform, then began to climb onto it and out of the water.

"Azumarill, now! Attack!" Azumarill quickly shot forward, off the platform and moving across the ice. To Juan's surprise, Azumarill was able to keep going in a straight path and struck his Crawdaunt head-on as it was climbing back onto the platform, knocking his pokemon into the far side of the pool then coming to a stop on Crawdaunt's platform.

"It seems you think ahead more than many trainers I have faced in the past. Bravo to you!" Juan complimented Alex.

_"I can hardly tell if this guy is taking the battle seriously or not..."_ Alex thought to himself.

"Crawdaunt, under the water again!" Juan commanded. Crawdaunt slipped below the surface of the water again. Azumarill tilted its head to the side, not sure what it should do now.

"Now, a Brick Break! Remove the ice!" Now underneath the ice, Crawdaunt swam up to the surface and stopped underneath the ice. It then brought one of its claws into the ice hard, causing the entire surface to shatter and breaking up Azumarill's ice pathway.

"Azumarill, Ice Beam! Aim for the water!" Azumarill turned around and quickly fired off an Ice Beam attack, aiming for the water around Crawdaunt. The blue beam struck the water, freezing it around Crawdaunt and holding the pokemon in place.

"That will not hold my Crawdaunt." Juan stated, chuckling. "Crawdaunt, smash your way out with Brick Break!"

"Azumarill, Double Edge!" Crawdaunt struggled to get its claw free of the ice, then quickly smashed part of the ice surrounding it to create a path for it to get out. It was still unable to do anything about Azumarill, however, as the pokemon jumped clear of the water and landed on top of Crawdaunt shoulder first to deliver a Double Edge attack. Crawdaunt was sent straight down into the water, leaving Azumarill at the surface in its place.

"Crawdaunt, pull it down with Vice Grip!" Azumarill hardly had time to react before it felt Crawdaunt's powerful claw snap shut on its tail. Azumarill cried out in pain but was quickly silenced as Crawdaunt pulled it under the water.

"Azumarill!" Alex called out to his pokemon in vain.

"Now beat it with Brick Break!" Juan commanded. Under the water, Crawdaunt brought its free claw to smash into Azumarill hard while still holding its tail. Crawdaunt was shocked when its claw broke through Azumarill and found it hollow on the inside. It happened to look up and see the real Azumarill swimming to the surface.

"Azumarill?" Alex was surprised when his pokemon resurfaced, seemingly unscathed. Crawdaunt also surfaced nearby, glaring at Azumarill while still clutching the broken fake in its hand.

_"Did Azumarill use Substitute?"_ Alex wondered. _"When did it learn that? More importantly, how did it even think to use that attack on its own? Whatever, I shouldn't stare a gift horse in the mouth..."_

"Azumarill, Surf!"

"Crawdaunt, counter with your own surf!"

The two water pokemon each rose up on large wave, facing each other. The waves moves towards each other as each pokemon stared the other down. The two waves came crashing down on top of each other and had little effect aside from knocking the other pokemon off, but left Azumarill near the far platform and Crawdaunt in the middle of the pool again.

"Azumarill, use Ice Beam!" Azumarill quickly turned and fired a blue beam from its mouth towards Crawdaunt. Crawdaunt became encased in a block of ice, but the ice soon began cracking as Crawdaunt attempted to break free.

"Now! Get onto the platform then attack with Double Edge!" Azumarill quickly hopped out of the water and onto the floating platform behind it. It then jumped towards Crawdaunt, turning in the air to strike shoulder first. Azumarill smashed the cracking ice cube, shattering it and sending Crawdaunt down into the water again. Crawdaunt soon floated to the surface next to where Azumarill was now floating, knocked unconcious by the attack.

"An excellent performance by your Azumarill." Juan complimented Alex as he recalled Crawdaunt. "Staying out of the water turned out to be an advantage for you, despite using a water type pokemon. I must commend you on that."

_"Why does this guy keep complimenting me?"_ Alex wondered.

"It seems it is time for my final performance..." Juan stated calmly, holding his final pokeball above him.

"Kingdra, it is time for the grand finale! Go!" Juan brought the pokeball down to hold it straight out in front of him as he released Kingdra. A pokemon looking like a nearly six foot tall, blue seahorse appeared in the water.

_"Kingdra...he would choose to use that pokemon wouldn't he?"_ Alex thought. _"Kingdra is a fairly strudy pokemon, but its also only weak to dragon-type attacks. It'll be hard to take down, but I've still got Azumarill and Swellow to do it with."_

"Kingdra, a Water Pulse attack!"

"Azumarill, counter with Ice Beam!"

Juan's Kingdra fired a blue liquid pulse from its nose aimed at Azumarill, while Azumarill fired a blue ray from its mouth. The ray shot straight through the center of Kingdra's attack, freezing the Water Pulse and striking Kingdra lightly. Kingdra easily shook off the Ice Beam attack, but its Water Pulse attack dropped into the water long before reaching its intended target.

"Kingdra, now! An Ice Beam attack at the water around Azumarill!" Kingdra fired its own Ice Beam attack at the water, mirroring the strategy Alex had been using for much of the match and freezing the water around Azumarill to trap it.

_"Damn it...should have gotten Azumarill out of the water while I had the chance!"_ Alex thought, cursing himself.

"Now, for your most powerful technique! Kingdra, Hyper Beam!" Azumarill struggled to get free of its icy bonds when it realized what attack was coming. Kingdra reared its head back, then fired a wide beam of pure energy. Azumarill stared in shock at the energy wave rushing towards it, crying out in pain as the beam struck it. The force of the beam pushed Azumarill back, knocking the floating platform behind it aside and slamming Azumarill into the far side of the pool hard. Azumarill dropped down into the water as the attack finally ended.

"Azumarill!" Alex called out to Azumarill, getting his pokemon's pokeball ready to recall it. To his surprise, however, Azumarill was still concious when it resurfaced. It was obviously weakened greatly by the assault, however.

"Well, well, well...seems your Azumarill is quite resilient!" Juan commented, then looked down at his Kingdra. "Seems my Kingdra will need time to rest after that last attack..."

"Azumarill, think you can still fight?" Azumarill nodded its head slowly in response to Alex's question.

"Then I guess we better make this count..." Alex stated quietly. "Azumarill, use Surf!"

Alex stumbled backwards, startled as a huge wave suddenly rose up underneath Azumarill who was directly in front of him. Azumarill rode the wave towards Kingdra, passing over the three floating platforms along the way.

"After such a great performance from your Azumarill, I expected a far grander finale." Juan stated in mild disappointment. "You cannot possibly hope to inflict much harm with that attack..."

"Not quite my intention..." Alex replied, regaining his composure. "Azumarill, now! Jump and use Double Edge!"

As the wave drew closer to Kingdra, Azumarill jumped up into the air. The wave crashed down on Kingdra with seemingly little effect, however it was followed up by Azumarill coming crashing down on top of it from above. Both pokemon disappeared beneath the surface of the water as Azumarill's attack drove Kingdra downwards. After several moments, Kingdra resurfaced looking mildly injured while an unconcious Azumarill floated up next to it.

"You did great out there, Azumarill. Return." Alex recalled Azumarill, placing its pokeball on his belt.

"Your Azumarill made a great finish afterall." Juan commented. "A shame its own attack was more than it could take."

"Well I've still got one pokemon left..." Alex stated as he held out Swellow's pokeball.

"Swellow, your turn now! Go!" Alex called out as he pressed the button on the front of his pokeball, releasing Swellow from within. The bird pokemon appeared hovering over the pool before landing on the nearest platform. The platform was the closest to Alex, but had been knocked to the left of him now from the Hyper Beam attack.

"Interesting choice..." Juan commented. "You seem to be a trainer intelligent enough to know my pokemon would use ice attacks, yet you choose a pokemon weak to them."

"There's more to winning a battle than weaknesses and resistances. As a gym leader you should know that." Alex replied. Juan chuckled.

"You are correct. Then let the final battle commence! Kingdra, Ice Beam!"

"Swellow, Double Team!" Swellow split into multiple copies of itself, spreading out between the platforms. Kingdra formed a small blue sphere at the end of its nose then fired off a blue ray towards where Swellow was originally, but the beam passed through an false image of Swellow instead.

"Now, attack with Aerial Ace!" The Swellow images all rose up above the water, moving together until they seemed to be one Swellow. The remaining Swellow then dove down towards Kingdra, seemingly disappearing as it sped forward to attack its target. Kingdra stumbled backwards as Swellow slammed into it at full speed then shot straight up above Kingdra again.

"Kingdra, a Water Pulse attack, if you please!" Kingdra looked up at Swellow and fired a pulse of water at the aerial pokemon. The attack caught up with Swellow and struck it from behind. Swellow began to plummet towards the water but managed to pull up at the last second and landed on one of the floating platforms.

"Swellow, Double Team!" Swellow once again split up into multiple images, scattered about the floating platforms.

"Kingdra, take cover with Smokescreen!" Thick black smoke began spewing from Kingdra's mouth, almost completely shrouding its side of the field.

_"Looks like both our pokemon are going to be hard to hit now..."_ Alex thought. _"I need to do something about that smoke screen, but what? Why couldn't Swellow learn Gust and Whirlwind like so many other winged pokemon?"_

_"Neither of us are willing to make a move until the other makes a move to blow their cover. I need to lure an attack from Kingdra, then take advantage of it..."_ Alex contemplated for a moment, trying to judge what attack Juan might use and whether or not Swellow would be able to endure it after taking the Water Pulse attack previously.

"Ice Beam and Hyper Beam are the obvious choices...after taking either of them Swellow would be in bad shape...I doubt he'll use Water Pulse again." Alex thought for a moment.

_"Wait, or would he? Water Pulse is the slowest moving of Kingdra's attacks. Kingdra can fire it and be somewhere else under that smoke before Swellow can attack. But then...why hasn't he attacked yet? Hmm..."_

"Swellow, Quick Attack! Stick low to the water!" Swellow flapped its wings and took off, its multiple images disappearing as it shot off across the water at blinding speeds appearing almost as a white blur as it entered the smoke.

"Now, use Wing Attack!"

"Kingdra, use Ice Beam!"

To Alex's surprise, Kingdra surfaced from the water outside of the cloud of smoke facing toward it. It quickly fired an Ice Beam attack into the smokescreen, which was beginning to fade by now. It was aiming where it saw Swellow enter into the cloud of smoke.

_"Damn it! It was a trap!"_ Alex realized. For a moment, there was no indication of whether the attack had hit. When the smoke finally subsided, Swellow was safe and unharmed standing on the platform near Juan. In its attempt to find Kingdra and hit it with Wing Attack it had avoided the attack. Neither pokemon had hit their mark, obviously. Alex breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright, now! Swellow, use Aerial Ace!"

"Kingdra, another Ice Beam if you please!" Swellow took off from the platform it was on, flying rapidly towards Kingdra. Kingdra fired a blue energy beam at Swellow as the bird pokemon moved in to attack. Swellow tried to swirve to avoid the beam but a glancing blow struck its wing, freezing it slightly and sending Swellow spiralling toward the water. It managed to maintain enough control to land on one of the platforms.

"Swellow! Can you still fly?" Swellow flapped its wings experimentally. The ice on its wingtip was preventing it from gaining sustainable flight, however.

"Need to do something about that ice, and fast!" Swellow nodded its head quickly in agreement and began shaking its wing to try to free itself of the ice.

"Kingdra, now! Let us end this with Hyper Beam!" Kingdra quickly fired a huge beam of energy at Swellow. The ice on Swellow's wing was knocked off, but Swellow found itself being pushed across the pool and into the western wall of the gym. Swellow let out a cry, then slid to the floor unconcious.

"Damn..." Alex muttered, getting ready to recall Swellow. "Well its not like I really had to...huh?"

Alex watched Swellow closely and noticed the bird pokemon slowly opening its eyes. Although obviously in pain, the bird pokemon managed to get on its feet.

_"Swellow...you should have just stayed down..."_ Alex thought remorsefully, seeing the pain his pokemon was in. Swellow still looked determined to continue the battle, however.

_"Well as much as I hate to think this, its because you're in so much pain that you'll still win."_

"Your Swellow surprises me!" Juan commented. "Still wanting to fight in its condition..."

"Swellow's not just going to keep fighting..." Alex replied, eyes to the floor. "But she's going to win."

"Swellow!" Alex looked up quickly. "Endeavor!"

A red aura surrounded the weakened Swellow as it let out a battle cry, re-energizing itself for another attack. It took off towards Kingdra while the pokemon was still resting and slammed into it with tremendous force, sending the pokemon flying out of the water and into the opposite wall of the gym. Like Swellow, though, Kingdra was still concious when it hit the floor.

"Now! Quick Attack!" Swellow continued on its path towards the weakened Kingdra, ready to attack with a Quick Attack but coming to a screeching halt when it saw Kingdra being recalled.

"I believe it is fair to hand the victory to you at this point and save my poor Kingdra any further agony." Juan stated, clipping Kingdra's pokeball to his belt. With the battle finally over, Swellow dropped towards the edge of the pool and collapsed on the floor.

"Swellow!" Alex rushed to his pokemon's side, cradling the injured bird in his arms. Swellow looked up at him and smiled weakly.

"Swellow...I'm proud of you...and don't you worry, I'm taking you straight to the pokecenter." Swellow nodded, and Alex recalled the pokemon into its pokeball.

"Now...if you'll finally listen to me..." Alex began, looking up at Juan. As he began to explain the situation to Juan, however, his voice was drowned out by the sound of many helicopter blades. It was several minutes before the sound finally died down enough for either of them to speak.

"Ah, that must be the 'emergency evacuation team' I called for..." Juan explained, folding his hands behind his back.

"But you...then you...but that battle..." Alex couldn't quite seem to put his disbelief into words. Juan chuckled.

"I received a call from Steven not too long ago..." Juan explained. "After he explained the situation to me, I called the league for assistance."

Alex silently cursed his brother and rushed out of the gym. Juan chuckled quietly and soon followed.

* * *

Once outside the gym, Alex immediately spotted several large red and white helicopters landing around the city. There seemed to be six of these helicopters in total, each so large that they had two sets of propellers. As each helicopter landed, various members of the Hoenn League exited and made their way towards the gym.

"So you've made it this far? I guess I shouldn't be surprised..." Alex glanced to the left of him and saw Roxanne, gym leader of Rustboro City, and Brawly, gym leader of Dewford, approaching him. Roxanne had been the one who addressed him.

"I wouldn't mind a rematch against you to see where I stand!" Brawly added with a laugh. "Did you come all the way out here to battle Juan?"

"Actually no I..." Alex stopped himself and thought for a moment, then sighed.

"Nevermind...doesn't matter now I guess..."

"He has already earned his badge." Juan stated as he exited the gym, joining the group.

"Juan! Been a while!" Brawly said in greeting.

"Good to see you as well, Brawly. I see you've been keeping in shape!" Juan stated, nodding to his fellow gym leader.

"And Roxanne, still studying hard as always I presume?"

"Of course..." Roxanne replied, nodding to Juan. "There is still much for me to learn, as Alex had demonstrated in our battle..."

"Speaking of which..." Juan stepped towards Alex, holding out a badge and a TM disc towards him.

"In recognition of your victory, I give you the Rain Badge and the Water Pulse technical machine."

"Ah...right...thanks..." Alex muttered, taking the items from Juan.

_"This is so irritating its not even funny..."_ Alex thought to himself. _"All that to try to get Juan to call for an evacuation team and he already had one on the way..."_

"Now...I don't suppose either of you have seen my ex-apprentice around, have you?" Juan asked, addressing Brawly and Roxanne.

"I believe he stated he was going to the cave of origins..." Roxanne replied.

"Hmm...interesting..." Juan rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment, then looked to Alex.

"Alex, would you mind getting him for me?"

"I guess not..." Alex replied, rubbing the back of his head. "Just let me heal my pokemon first...Swellow took quite the beating back there..."

"Of course..." Juan nodded in agreement. "Do be quick about it though. I hear we may have two very important guests arriving soon..."

Alex nodded and rushed off to the pokemon center, taking unnecessary caution as he crossed various bridges to get there. Once inside he quickly handed over Swellow, Azumarill, and Alakazam's pokeballs to have his pokemon healed. The Sootopolis pokecenter wasn't particularly busy so it didn't take long.

"Your pokemon are fully healed." The nurse said as she handed the three pokeballs back to Alex. "I'd advise you give your Swellow some time to rest, however. It was in pretty bad shape and may not be ready for battle quite yet."

"I'll give it a break then..." Alex said to himself. He made a quick use of the pokecenter's computer to transfer Swellow to storage and withdraw Skarmory in its place, as usual with the intention of using it for travel. With his business at the pokecenter complete, Alex left the building and started along a path leading along the edge of the crater towards the very back. When Alex reached the cave he was greeted by an old man who simply nodded as Alex passed by into the Cave of Origins.

The inside of the Cave of Origins seemed to be filled with fog. There was a long, smooth-cut corridor leading to a flight of stone stairs. Alex followed the corridor and went up the stairs. At the top of the stairs was a blue haired man wearing a white and blue suit, white sailor's cap, matching cape, and purple pants. Alex immediately recognized the man as Wallace.

"According to legend, all life began in this cave...the Cave of Origins..." Wallace stated, thinking out loud. He was standing in front of a shallow pool of water which cast off a glow, lighting the cave.

"This is why Kyogre and Groudon would return here...and why they would battle." Wallance continued. "A sacred ground from both sea and land, it is likely both Kyogre and Groudon wish to claim it as their own."

Wallace finally turned around to address the person he had heard approaching him before. He looked Alex over, recognizing the boy but at the same time he had no idea who Alex was.

"You are?" Wallace asked him.

"Alex." Wallace nodded to him.

"I've heard of you. You seem to know much about the legendary pokemon Kyogre and Groudon. Have you heard about the third legendary, then?"

Alex thought for a moment, trying to figure out what Wallace was talking about. He then remembered something about a sky dragon.

_"Rekkuza?"_ Alex thought. _"Rayquaza...supposed to be a mediator between Kyogre and Groudon, but if my understanding is correct then they refused to listen to Rayquaza when they fought over the cave which would be why they were put to sleep..."_

"The third ancient pokemon would be Rayquaza." Wallace stated. Alex nodded in agreement.

"If Groudon has been awakened, then no doubt it has been digging its way here underground. Even if this Team Aqua is prevented from awakening Kyogre, we will still have Groudon to contend with. We will need the power of Rayquaza if we are to stop them." Wallace explained, he had been thinking over this problem since arriving at the cave.

"But we don't even know where Rayquaza is..." Alex said to him.

_"The Sky Pillar!"_ Alex blinked in surprise and looked around.

"Did you hear something just now?" Alex asked Wallace. Wallce just shook his head and turned back to the pool, still thinking over their problem.

_"Rayquaza rests at the Sky Pillar in the south!"_ Alex heard that same voice again. This time he realized the voice seemed to be in his head.

_"The Sky Pillar? Thats the tower kept locked by the..."_ Alex looked at Wallace and narrowed his eyes. _"...Elite Four."_

"What about the Sky Pillar?" Alex suggested.

"Hmm...that would make sense come to think of it..." Wallace nodded and turned to Alex. "We may need to send someone there to investigate."

"Right! I almost forgot, Juan wants to talk with you." Alex rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well then, I shouldn't keep my old mentor waiting." Wallace replied, a smile crossing his lips. "Your assistance is appreciated, Alex. I know its highly unorthodox, but I would like to ask for your assistance with the evacuation. You have an impressive record as a trainer and I'm sure we'll need all the help we can get."

"I'll do what I can." Alex replied. Wallace started on his way out of the cave, and Alex turned to leave as well when he heard the voice again.

_"Hey, you! Get back here!"_ Alex looked around the cave again, trying to find the sound of the voice.

"Is anyone there?" Alex called out into the empty cave. "Show yourself!"

_"In the pool!" _Alex moved closer to the pool of water and noticed a glowing green object in the middle.

_"...Why the heck do you look like a guy?"_ The voice asked him.

"Why should I explain myself to someone I can't even see?"

_"I'm right in front of you!" _Alex looked into the pool again. This time he reached out and grabbed the object, pulling a green crystal from the water.

"Is this...?"

_"The Hoenn Emerald."_ The voice explained. _"Which would only be visible to someone with the exact same spiritual energies as me."_

"Who are you?" Alex asked the crystal, then thought, _"I can't believe I'm talking to a crystal..."_

_"Odari." _The voice replied. _"And you're talking to a crystal because when I died my mind was transfered into the emerald."_

_"Wait, you can read my mind too?!"_ Alex thought. _"Wait, why weren't the other crystals so well protected if this one would only be visible to me?"_

_"Yes, I can read your mind."_ The voice of Odari explained telepathically. _"And guarding the crystals was a task left to me, but I could only weave magic with the emerald. Obviously someone with low spirit had the ruby near Groudon."_

_"How can you tell?" _Alex wondered.

_"Two reasons. One, I can feel that the physical ruby is in your possession. Two, I can feel the ruby's power quickly approaching us. In fact, you might want to get out of this cave. NOW!"_

Alex wondered what the voice, Odari, was talking about. He didn't have to wonder long, however, as he soon felt the ground shaking below him...

* * *

Author's Notes: Exam time, fun. Not overly late with this one though. Anyway, next chapter will be that last History chapter I've been putting off. Now seems to be the perfect time to bring it up since the final History chapter will tie in with current main-plot events. 


	49. History: Clash of the Titans

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**History Chapter:**

**Clash of the Titans**

It was the irony of ironies. Odari had gone through much trouble to seal the sky titan's, Rayquaza's, powers so that rain would return. Now her tribe wished it would go away. Everyone in Hoenn had already sought the shelter of high grounds, but now faced the problem of constantly fighting off the threat of Ptera looking for an easy meal. It was starting to take a toll on every pokemon but Odari's own Rejisteel. For Rejisteel, taking on Pteras was like swatting flies.

Odari had returned to the village on this day to observe the damage and hoping to come up with a solution. Water levels were rising, courtesy of all the rain they were getting. The ocean had already swallowed up most of the forest that separated it from the village.

"If this keeps up, the entire village will be swept away...where is all this rain coming from?" Odari looked to the sky for a moment, observing the storm before noticing two pokemon flying towards her.

"They're back...I wonder if they found anything?" Odari waited while the two pokemon landed near her. One of the pokemon was her dragon companion Latias, and the other was her own Ptera.

"Find anything?" She asked them. Ptera was the first to answer, though of course Odari had no idea what she was saying. Fortunately, Odari had a translator on hand.

_"She says she's found the Johto tribe. They were in an area she had scouted previously."_ Latias said to her telepathically. _"I have likewise found the Kanto tribe. It would seem the two tribes have moved to escape the weather as well, with little luck."_

"Well better late then never. Good job you two." Odari normally wouldn't congratulate either pokemon, especially Ptera. She had been taking Rayquaza's words to heart though, and with surprising results. Her Ptera was no longer being controlled, it willingly followed orders.

_"There is more though."_ Latias continued. _"It is something I believe you should see for yourself..."_

"Alright. We'll head to the Kanto tribe first, you can show me along the way. Ptera, you can rest in the capture jar for now." Ptera nodded, showing no qualms about being returned to the capture jar.

Odari placed Ptera's capture jar on the ground, then drew her short sword with the emerald embedded in it. The emerald glowed, and Ptera turned into a small green ball of energy. The capture jar opened, and Ptera was placed inside it. Odari picked up the jar and placed it around her neck. She was carrying Ptera's and Rejisteel's jars with her.

"Alright. Lets go." Latias lowered herself to the ground, allowing Odari to climb on her back. Latias then took off in the direction of the Kanto tribe's location. It wasn't long before Odari saw what Latias was referring to.

"My...word..." Odari said in surprise. Latias came to a stop, hovering in the air at the location of the phenomenon. The sky above them seemed to be split in a straight line. On one side, the side Odari had come from, was a torrential rain. On the other was sunny skies and a blazing heat like Odari had never felt before.

"What is the cause of this?" Odari asked Latias.

_"The titans."_ Latias replied telepathically. _"The titan of the land and the titan of the sea continue to approach each other. It will not be long before they are engaged in battle, a battle that will surely have cataclysmic results."_

"Then we have no time to lose! To Kanto, and hurry!" Latias took off again, moving as fast as she felt it would be safe with Odari on her back. After only a few minutes a large encampment at the top of a hill was in sight. Near the encampment a wildfire burned rampantly, consuming the forest to the south as well as what used to be the Kanto village.

_"That encampment must be the village..."_ Odari thought. _"Lets just hope Aisha won't mind if I drop by for a visit."_

Latias flew in closer to the encampment, but suddenly stopped in mid-air above the site.

"Latias? Why are we stopping?" Odari asked.

_"I'm sensing three lifeforms rapidly approaching us..."_ Odari looked around and spotted three figures in the distance coming from below them. As the three got closer she saw what seemed to be a bird of flames, a blue bird with a long tail, and a yellow bird with pointed feathers.

"What are those things?"

_"They are known as the winged mirages..."_ Latias informed Odari telepathically. _"Articuno, the ice bird. Zapdos, the thunder bird. Moltres, the fire bird."_

"I don't suppose they're friendly?"

"-Whoever you are, stand down or we will attack.-" The fiery bird, Moltres, instructed the two.

_"Seems they're protecting the village..."_ Latias answered, stopping in its tracks.

"In that case, keep going and ignore them. I have a plan. I need you going at full speed though."

_"If you say so..."_ Latias dove down towards the three bird pokemon, surprising the three pokemon. Latias continued to pick up speed as she dove down with Odari hanging on tightly.

"-Fine! Have it your way! Attack!-" The three bird pokemon stopped, each preparing to fire their most powerful attacks.

"NOW! Veer left!" Latias quickly moved to the left of the pokemon as the three of them fired off their various attacks. A bolt of lightning, a ray of cold energy, and a stream of flames all shot by Latias on the right as it dove down past the three pokemon. The birds scrambled to turn around and dive down after Latias, but Latias was already moving faster than they could hope to go.

"Just as I thought, you're faster than them! Keep it up, we're almost there!" Odari instructed.

_"Thats great and all..."_ Latias thought to itself. _"But what do we do once we get there with these three on our tail?"_

"Now use that ball attack of your's on the ground!" Odari commanded.

_"Mist Ball..."_ Latias corrected Odari before forming the ball of light and quickly flinging it at the ground. There was a small explosion on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust into the air. Latias disappeared into the cloud, hiding herself and Odari from their attackers.

"-That won't do them any good.-" The cold blue bird, Articuno, stated as it came to a halt in midair. It began flapping its wings, creating a gust of wind to blow away the dust. To their surprise, however, Latias and Odari were nowhere in sight.

_"That was quick thinking..."_ Latias said to Odari, getting up off of her. _"Now I'm all dirty though..."_

"Well it got us past the so-called winged mirages at least..." Odari said as she got up and dusted herself off.

_"I can't believe you remembered I can use Water Sport but couldn't remember the name of my signature technique..."_ Latias grumbled telepathically, narrowing her eyes at Odari.

_"Well Water Sport seemed like it'd have much more utility than a simple offensive attack..."_ Odari replied, rubbing the back of her head.

_"SIMPLE offensive attack!? I'll have you know...huh?"_ Latias glanced back towards the encampment. _"I sense a lifeform approaching us...human this time..."_

Odari turned quickly, ready for a confrontation but instead saw a girl about her age. The girl had blonde, almost yellow hair and wore a brown leather tunic. She seemed somewhat surprised to see Latias there with Odari.

"Oh, you must be Odari then?" The girl asked, pointing to Odari.

"I am...and you must be from Kanto..." Odari replied to the girl.

"Pleased to finally meet you, Odari! My name is Jade!" The girl, Jade, bowed respectfully.

"Aisha said you might be out here when she saw the winged mirages confronting someone and sent me to escort you to her. Please, come with me..."

"She couldn't just come herself?" Odari asked quietly. She didn't get an answer, but didn't really expect one either. She followed Jade into the Kanto tribe's encampment with Latias following behind. Above them, having spotted their targets, the three winged mirages circled to keep an eye on the them.

Jade lead them through the encampment, past several villagers. Many of which gave Odari rather dirty looks as she passed by them.

"Well I can see I'm not popular here..." Odari muttered.

"Most of them blame you for what happened..." Jade explained as they continued on their way. "Aisha's tried telling them otherwise but they won't listen."

_"Figures..."_ Odari thought. _"Even in Kanto, the blame falls on me."_

"Obviously you don't agree with them though." Odari stated to Jade, though she meant it more as a question.

"Oh no, I believe in Aisha!" Jade replied quickly. "Aisha says you're a good person, so you must be."

_"Aisha's taking my side?"_ Odari thought. _"I wouldn't have expected that...but why?"_

The group reached the edge of the encampment where a tent, slightly larger than the rest, was set up. Jade entered the tent, and Latias and Odari followed her inside.

"Miss Aisha! I brought Odari here as you requested." Jade stated and gave a bow as she entered the tent.

"Good work, thank you Jade." Aisha replied to the girl, looking across the tent at Odari and Latias. The Kanto tribe leader didn't change at all since Odari last saw her. The sword containing the Kanto ruby was hanging at her side.

"I had a feeling you would show up eventually..." Aisha said, addressing Odari. "I knew that had to be you giving the Winged Mirages trouble. The only other person who could would never come here."

"So does that mean you're willing to work with me to deal with the titans?" Odari asked her.

"That depends, do you actually have a plan?"

"Sort of..." Odari drew her sword from its sheath. "There's a third titan by the name of Rayquaza, and it seems there is some connection between Rayquaza and my emerald."

"So you think there may be a link between my ruby, Haruka's sapphire, and the other two titans?"

"Yes..." Odari replied with a nod. "Not only that, but to deal with a previous problem regarding Rayquaza's abilities I had to seal some of its power in my emerald. If Kaiorga and Groudon can similarly have their powers sealed then our problem would be dealt with."

"The only problem with that is Haruka may not be as willing to co-operate." Aisha countered.

_"Now I wonder who's fault that is?"_ Latias wondered while broadcasting her thoughts to Odari as well.

"You're not helping..." Odari said, shooting Latias a look. Aisha and Jade blinked in surprise.

"I didn't hear that thing say anything..." Aisha stated.

"Me neither..." Jade added.

_"Thing?! I'm not a THING. I'm a pokemon, and my name is Latias thank you very much." _This time Latias let all three hear her, surprising Jade and Aisha again.

"Its telepathy..." Odari explained. "She can broadcast her thoughts to us, either letting everyone hear her or just select individuals."

"I...see..." Aisha shook her head. "In any case, I suppose we'll need to get Haruka to agree with this plan somehow?"

"Yes, and I hope to call upon Rayquaza's help as well. With part of his power contained within the crystal I may be able to summon him. As I'm sure you've noticed, the two titans of earth and sea are distorting the weather. Where my tribe is located it is raining and creating flood conditions while here..."

"Its blazing hot, and a single spark is all it takes to create a wildfire..." Aisha interrupted her. "Then does this Rayquaza summon some form of windstorm?"

"No, Rayquaza's power seems to block out the weather. In other words, Rayquaza essentially negates the other titans powers." Odari explained.

"If that is the case then why not just go with Rayquaza to deal with the titans?" Jade asked.

_"I can explain that one..."_ Latias replied.

_"I have been surverying the situation with Kyogre and Groudon. Their quarrel seems to revolve around a cave in the side of an extinct oceanic volcano. It is known as the Cave of Origins. It is where my Soul Dew was found, along with the three crystals. Normally, when the two fight, Rayquaza will act as a mediator and they will go their separate ways. However, more drastic measures may be required this time."_

"So if they ignore Rayquaza, we'll need to seal their powers..." Aisha stated in understanding. "What is the Soul Dew though?"

"Its a crystal belonging to Latias and her brother." Odari explained. "What purpose it serves even they aren't entirely sure. It did suggest that humans and pokemon need to work together, as did Rayquaza. With that in mind I tamed my Ptera and no longer use my emerald to control it."

"Interesting...but irrelevant for the moment." Aisha replied. "Since it seems we need her help, do you know where the Johto tribe is?"

"Ptera can lead the way. She found it earlier."

"Very well, I'll need to explain the situation to the rest of the tribe. Then I'll follow on Thunder." Aisha turned to Jade and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Jade, you're in charge while I'm gone."

"I understand miss Aisha." Jade replied, nodding to her. Aisha released Jade then walked to the tent's enrtance. She stopped for a moment to address Odari.

"As I'm sure you've noticed, my tribe doesn't exactly like you, so I'll have to make it sound like its you helping me and not the other way around." Aisha explained to Odari before leaving the tent. Odari and Latias followed her outside.

Outside the tent, Aisha gathered a few citizens to explain the situation to, trusting them to spread the word. She told them that she had come up with a way to solve the problems with the weather and the titans, and that Odari would be helping her. Jade would be left in charge, apparently Aisha often did so when she'd be leaving for an extended period of time.

Once Aisha was satisfied the message would be spread around the encampment, she whistled to summon Zapdos to her aide. Odari released Ptera to lead them to Johto while she and Aisha followed on Latias and Zapdos.

"So whats the deal with you and those birds anyway?" Odari asked Aisha as they flew towards Johto.

"They were in the area I chose as the new location for our tribe." Aisha explained. "After beating each of them one on one they agreed to become guardians for Kanto. I used Rejice to beat Thunder, Thunder to beat Fire, and then Fire to beat Freezer."

"In other words, they're essentially your pokemon..."

"Pretty much...so whats the story with you and Latias?"

"I helped her out and we've kinda been partners ever since, though I've been keeping her a secret from the rest of my tribe." Odari replied.

_"Well I can't very well observe your tribe if they know about me..."_ Latias said telepathically to Odari.

"Odari, I want to apologize to you for getting you involved in my childish rivalry with Haruka..." Aisha said solemnly.

"Huh? You're apologizing?" Odari asked in surprise.

"Yes..." Aisha replied, closing her eyes for a moment. "The only reason I attacked Hoenn was to rub it in Haruka's face. I didn't at all think of the consequences or how it'd ruin our friendship..."

"I'm over it..." Odari replied with a shrug. "Besides, its not like its the end of the world right?"

Aisha opened her eyes at Odari's remark and looked at her. Odari was smiling.

"That is so not funny..."

The group continued to fly on for the better part of an hour, following Odari's Ptera to the area where it had located Johto. The silence was finally broken by Latias as they were nearing the edge of the village, which was far enough away to be just out of reach of the approaching weather systems.

_"Odari, I'm sensing a lifeform on the ground up ahead."_ Latias informed Odari, her tone serious. _"I think its about to..."_

Before Latias could finish her statement a bolt of lightning streaked through the sky from the ground, striking Ptera. The pokemon dipped slightly in its flight path but was able to recover, the attack had lost quite a bit of its power by the time it had reached the aerial pokemon. Odari and Aisha looked down to see a yellow tiger-like pokemon below them.

_"I'm sensing two others approaching as well."_ Latias informed the two girls.

"Looks like Haruka's found new allies as well." Odari commented bitterly.

"Well whatever they are, they're no match for Thunder!" Aisha declared. "Lets go!"

Zapdos went into a steep dive down towards the tiger pokemon, which was now accompanied by two similar pokemon. One was red and seemed to resemble a lion, and the other was blue and was more similar to a wolf.

"Damn it Aisha, now's not the time..." Odari grumbled. Ptera fell back into place next to Latias, where Zapdos had been flying previously.

"Ptera, I want you to dive down there and try to confuse those three with Supersonic. Getting into a confrontation with those three won't help our chances of getting Haruka to help us any..." Ptera nodded in agreement and dove down towards the group at incredible speeds, soon overtaking Aisha and Zapdos.

"Why can't anything ever be easy?" Odari muttered to herself, looking up ahead at the site. The village was nestled in a rocky valley, surrounded on either side by high cliffs that continued into the distance.

"Latias, take us down." Latias nodded and dove down towards the battle below them. Fortunately, due to Odari's quick thinking, the battle was between the three pokemon that had attacked them. Ptera was awaiting further instructions while Aisha watched from Zapdos's back, confused by what was going on. The three beasts were biting one another.

"Aisha, lets go already. We can't afford a confronation if we're going to convince Haruka to help us." Odari said as she approached the two on Latias.

"Fine...you're right I guess..." Aisha grumbled. "Thunder, lets go."

"Ptera, you too. We need to get moving before those three snap out of it..." Latias, Zapdos, and Ptera quickly took off toward the village again. As they passed by, the three pokemon they left behind shook off their confusion and gave chase.

"Latias, what are those things anyway?" Odari asked.

_"They're servants of the phoenix Ho-oh."_ Latias explained. _"Raikou of thunder, Entei of fire, and Suicune of water. No reward for guessing which is which..."_

"If they're servants of Ho-oh then why would they be protecting Johto?" Odari wondered aloud. Looking ahead, she saw Haruka standing in front of the village as well the answer to her question. Flapping its large wings to hover behind Haruka was a bird about twleve feet in height with golden tailfeathers and red and green feathered wings. Gold feathers on the top of the pokemon's head almost seemed to form a crown. It was the legendary phoenix pokemon, Ho-oh.

The group of flying pokemon came to a stop at the sight of the large bird before them. Ho-oh's three servants came to a stop behind them with the blue one, Suicune, leading the three. Odari, Aisha, and their pokemon were boxed in between them.

_"That would be Ho-oh..."_ Latias explained to them. _"Ho-oh and its servants exist to test the bond between people and pokemon. I do not know why they would choose to make their appearance now while most humans still think pokemon to be wild animals that they must enslave to co-exist. Regardless, it seems Ho-oh has chosen Haruka as its representative among humans. I will try to explain our situation to it."_

"Recall your pokemon and stand down." Haruka commanded. To say she didn't look happy to see the two would be an understatement.

"We can't do that..." Aisha replied stiffly, reaching for her sword.

"Latias? Any luck?" Odari quietly asked.

_"This is kind of a one-way conversation..."_ Latias explained. _"Just hope for the best..."_

"Incase you didn't notice you're completely surrounded. Now stand down or..." Haruka paused and turned to Ho-oh. The bird pokemon seemed to be saying something, but neither Aisha nor Odari could understand.

"Fine..." Haruka grumbled, turning to Aisha and Odari and glaring at them. "Why have you come to Johto?"

"I know a way we can deal with the titans of the land and sea." Odari explained. "But we need your help."

"The titans are of no concern to Johto." Haruka replied quickly. "Now I suggest you leave."

"Damn it, Haruka! Stop being so damn stubborn!" Aisha shot back. "Do you honestly think Johto is going to be safe here? It will only be a matter of time before the weather reaches here and Johto is either swept away in a flood or burnt down in a fire!"

"Then I will deal with it myself when that time comes." Haruka replied stiffly. "I do not need either of you, and I certainly don't care what might happen to Hoenn or Kanto as a result of my refusal to do so."

"Wow, who would have guessed being betrayed by her childhood friend would leave her so bitter?" Latias commented privately to Odari.

"Haruka was always emotionally unstable if you ask me." Odari replied quietly.

Haruka glanced over her shoulder towards Ho-oh as it once again spoke to her. Haruka's left eye twitched as she listened to the legendary pokemon.

_"Ho-oh is trying to convince Haruka to help us."_ Latias explained to Odari and Aisha. _"It is reminding her of her responsibility to pokemon everywhere and that if the titans aren't stopped then many pokemon will be forced out of their habitats as a result."_

"Fine...I'll help them..." Haruka grumbled, then looked to Odari. "But only if she can prove herself in a battle against me, one pokemon each."

"Fine by me." Odari replied, drawing her sword and turning to the Ptera resting next to her.

"Ptera, thank you for leading us here. You may return now." Odari focused, the emerald in her sword glowing as Ptera was returned to the capture jar hanging around her neck.

_"That Ptera...Odari wasn't controlling it...she couldn't possibly have tamed a pokemon, could she?"_ Haruka wondered, glancing to Aisha briefly. _"Well I doubt Aisha can say the same at any rate..."_

"Latias, would you mind if I had you battle as my pokemon?" Odari asked Latias quietly.

_"After facing Rayquaza, I believe I can handle any of Haruka's pokemon since Ho-oh won't be battling for her." _Odari nodded and quickly jumped off Latias's back, while Latias took up position in front of her.

"I'll be using Latias as my pokemon then." Odari said to Haruka.

"Raikou, come!" Haruka called out. Raikou ran past all the other pokemon to come to a stop in front of Haruka.

"I will be using Raikou."

"-Heh...this won't take long.-" Raikou taunted Latias. "-I don't know who you are but you're no match for the great Raikou!-"

_"Oh please..."_ Latias thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

"Let the battle commence!" Haruka called out. "Raikou, Thundershock!"

Raikou quickly released a shower of electricity towards Latias. Latias hardly seemed to flinch, though, as the attack struck it and sparks danced over her body.

_"...Thats it?"_ Latias questioned it.

"-What do you mean 'thats it'?!-" Raikou shot back.

_"Well I was expecting a bit stronger than that. I mean, sure, electricity doesn't really bother me...but still..."_

"Latias, Mist Ball!" Latias formed a white ball of light, then shot it towards Raikou. The ball of light struck the pokemon in the face, blinding it briefly and causing Raikou to stumble backwards from the impact.

_"Raikou's lightning attacks obviously won't work on whatever that...thing...is."_ Haruka thought. _"Time to try a different approach."_

"Raikou, bite it!"

"Latias, hold it off with Psychic."

Raikou charged towards Latias, bearing its fangs at the psychic pokemon. It leaped towards Latias, but when it was no more than a few inches from her face it was suddenly stopped in midair and a blue glow surrounded it.

"-What the?!-" Raikou growled in pain as it suddenly felt as though it was being crushed.

_"Wh-what kind of an attack is that?!"_ Haruka wondered, having never witnessed a pokemon with psychic powers before.

_"How is Latias doing that?"_ Aisha wondered likewise. _"It has rendered that Raikou completely incapable of attacking!"_

"Enough! Release Raikou at once!" Haruka commanded.

"Do you surrender?" Odari asked.

"Fine! You win! Now release Raikou!"

"Very well...Latias?" Latias released Raikou from her psychic powers, dropping the pokemon to the ground and gasping for air.

_"Thats...the longest...I've ever held...that attack for..."_ Latias privately broadcasted to Odari while trying to catch its breath. It required a great deal of concentration for Latias to maintain that attack.

"I beat you in a battle. Now are you going to hold your end of the bargain?" Odari asked Haruka.

"Fine..." Haruka grumbled. "Ho-oh?"

Ho-oh lowered itself to the ground so that Haruka could get on its back. Even low to the ground it wasn't easy for Haruka to get on, but she managed. Odari, likewise, hopped on Latias's back again.

"Raikou, Suikun, Entei, you three remain here and guard the village." Haruka commanded the three once she was on Ho-oh's back. The beasts nodded and ran into the village to take up their posts.

"Latias, why does it seem the others have different names for these creatures than the ones you give me?" Odari quietly asked Latias.

_"I suppose in my time spent studying humans I have learned how to better translate pokemon names into your language."_ Latias explained. _"Of course, you would never be able to prounounce any pokemon's true name."_

"I'll take your word for it..." Odari replied quietly.

"Well what are you two waiting for?" Haruka asked indignantly. "Lead the way already."

"Well, you heard the happy Johto leader. Lets go." Latias gave a nod at Odari's request, taking off slowly at first. Aisha followed next on Zapdos, with Haruka eventually taking off behind them to follow at a distance on Ho-oh.

_"How can those two act as if nothing has happened between us?!"_ Haruka wondered.

_"Has Aisha forgotten how Odari humiliated us in front of our soldiers? Has Odari forgotten how Aisha invaded Hoenn in the first place?"_ Haruka glared at the Hoenn leader flying far ahead of her.

_"I certainly haven't forgotten how she betrayed me..."_

* * *

"This is great, isn't it?" Haruka commented idly to the woman sitting beside her while lying back in the sand. "Whole shoreline to ourselves and the ocean stretched out before us. If you weren't so afraid of water we could go for a swim."

"Just because I don't want to swim doesn't mean you can't." Odari sighed. "You know, I envy you. You look out at the ocean and you can see how beautiful it is. I look out, and all I see are creatures potentially hiding under the surface of the water waiting to drag me away while I'm helpless to do anything. Kinda like I am now..."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Hoenn is always under the control of either Kanto or Johto...been like that ever since I became leader. I wish there was something I could do about it but I don't even have any pokemon. I'd nead something as strong as your guardians to even stand a chance..."

"You know I can't trust you or anyone else in your tribe with a pokemon right now..." Haruka replied, sighing softly. "Do we really need to talk about this kind of thing right now? I just wanted the chance to relax..."

"I guess you're right...I mean, how long might we have together before Aisha comes and beats you again and claims Hoenn as her reward?"

"That won't happen!" Haruka replied, quickly sitting up. "I won't lose you to her again!"

"What difference would it make anyway?" Odari replied, turning to Haruka with a smile. "You'd just come back eventually and beat her again..."

"Yeah I guess I would..." Haruka said rather unenthusiastically, looking out to the ocean. "I really don't want to talk about this right now..."

Odari gently put her arms around Haruka, pulling the girl closer to her and planting a quick kiss on her cheek.

"Sorry Haruka, I'll stop now..."

"Its ok...none of that matters...because for now, its just me and you..." Haruka replied quietly, leaning against Odari. "I wish this moment would never end..."

* * *

"When I saw that steel monstrosity I knew then and there that you had gone behind my back to obtain it...that you tricked me into thinking you loved me, just to distract me..." Haruka looked away, trying to hold back tears.

"I didn't want to look weak in front of Aisha but you could never understand how much you hurt me then..." Haruka could hold back no longer, a few tears running down her face and dripping onto Ho-oh's back.

"-Haruka, is something wrong?-" Ho-oh asked her, noticing her crying. Haruka quickly wiped her eyes on her arm.

"I'm...I'm fine Ho-oh..." Haruka looked ahead again, putting on a determined expression. "Lets just get this over with."

The group flew off back in the direction of Hoenn, passing over the village before heading out to sea. After quite a bit of flying they eventually reached the mouth of a very large crater where the weather disturbances seemed to clash overhead and were split evenly over the dead volcano. Odari shuddered, knowing now that should there be a need to battle they will likely be over the water. The crater itself was even full of water except near the edges. Kyogre, the whale-like water titan was attacking from the water while the ground titan Groudon defended itself from the land.

"L-Latias...if we have to fight them..." Odari began, her voice shaky.

_"I won't let you fall, I promise."_ Latias assured her telepathically.

The group came in for a landing in front of the Cave of Origins, which was on a plateau above Groudon. The legendary pokemon didn't even seem to notice the others landing, too caught up in its battle with Kyogre and launching powerful beams of sun energy at its opponent while Kyogre attempted to attack back with powerful bursts of water.

"So those are the titans..." Odari muttered, jumping down from Latias. "They certainly don't look as intimidating as Rayquaza did, as large as they are..."

Odari observed the two titans for a moment as Aisha and Haruka jumped down from their respective mounts. Nodding to herself, she turned to address the two.

"Seems the titans are conveniently colored similarly to the gems. Rayquaza was green and had a connection to my emerald, so I would dare say Groudon would be connected to the ruby and Kyogre to the sapphire." Odari explained to the two of them.

"Well then, lets get started." Aisha took her sword in hand. "If our pokemon can weaken them then we should be able to trap their power in the gems. Zapdos, attack the red one."

"Then I guess Ho-oh should attack the blue one." Haruka nodded to Ho-oh, likewise drawing her sword. Ho-oh nodded back and flapped its broad wings, gliding down towards Kyogre. Zapdos followed suit, gliding down towards Groudon.

"I don't think your pokemon are strong enough..." Odari looked to Latias, noticing she seemed to be looking around for something.

"Something wrong, Latias?" Odari asked her.

_"He's here..."_ Latias explained. _"My brother is here...I can sense the Soul Dew as well..."_

Zapdos flew in towards its target, firing off a blast of electricity as it came to a stop behind Groudon. The electricity struck Groudon but had no effect. Groudon then quickly turned around and fired off a Solar Beam attack at Zapdos sending the bird flying back up the side of the cliff to land on the plateau.

"Zapdos!" Aisha rushed to her pokemon's aide. Zapdos was hurt pretty bad, but the pokemon got back on its feet and was still ready to fight.

"Settle down, Zapdos..." Aisha instructed it. "I don't think we can hurt it..."

Ho-oh, meanwhile, had reached Kyogre and its advances had not gone unnoticed. Kyogre fired a stream of water at the phoenix. Ho-oh tried to avoid it but was too slow and was knocked out of the air and into the water by the attack. Fortunately, even though Ho-oh was weak to water, it was a durable pokemon. Ho-oh flapped its wings to get out of the water and prepared to attack again.

"HO-OH! FALL BACK!" Haruka called out, fearing for Ho-oh's safety. Without any hesitation, Ho-oh quickly flew back towards Haruka while dodging another Hydro Pump from Kyogre. Ho-oh landed near Haruka, awaiting its next move. Kyogre and Groudon, meanwhile, temporarily forgot about their battle to face the newcomers.

"Well, we've suceeded in making them angry it seems." Aisha noted. "Now what?"

"If we're to be successful then we need Rayquaza's help." Odari drew her sword and concentrated for a moment. The emerald glowed as Odari contacted Rayquaza through it, the emerald acting as a beacon to allow Rayquaza to find them.

"How long until this beast of your's shows up?" Haruka asked impatiently.

"Hopefully not long..." Odari replied, looking down at the two titans. "In the meantime it seems we will likely have to defend ourselves."

"Our pokemon don't seem to be able to put up much of a fight against them though." Aisha noted. "Even a pokemon as powerful as Ho-oh is at a disadvantage."

"Ho-oh is a pokemon of fire and this Kyogre seems to use water attacks. Water puts out fire, so clearly Ho-oh is at a disadvantage against Kyogre." Haruka grumbled.

_"And electric attacks have no effect at all on Groudon..."_ Odari thought to herself. _"But perhaps, being the titan of the sea, Kyogre's body conducts electricity like the sea? As for Ho-oh, perhaps the intense heat created by Groudon could be used against it with fire attacks..."_

"Clearly the best solution is for you two to switch targets." Odari finally said to Aisha and Haruka. "Zapdos's attacks should be more effective on Kyogre, while Ho-oh's attacks can take advantage of Groudon's own ability..."

"You always were the smart one..." Aisha commented with a smirk. "Alright, you heard her Zapdos! Attack Kyogre!"

"Well I'm certainly not helping you, so Ho-oh you attack Groudon!" Haruka commanded Ho-oh, talking as though she was ignoring Odari's idea. The two pokemon once again soared down the cliff to attack their targets.

This time, Ho-oh was the first to reach its target. Groudon was the first to strike, though, falling back on its ranged Solar Beam attack and firing a beam of concentrated sunlight at Ho-oh. The beam struck Ho-oh head on, but the fire bird was hardly even affected by the attack. Ho-oh quickly answered back by firing a ball of fire which quickly expanded into something resembling a flaming stick figure without a head almost as large as Groudon. The attack slammed into Groudon, pushing it back and briefly surrounding it in fire. Groudon roared in pain and cast a glare at Ho-oh.

Kyogre likewise attacked Zapdos as the electric bird move in, firing a Hydro Pump attack. Zapdos was able to dodge to the side of the blast of water, being a smaller and more agile target than Ho-oh. Zapdos then returned fire with a blast of electricity. Sparks danced over Kyogre's body as the attack struck it and the pokemon growled in pain, though the attack still seemed to have little effect.

Their attack run complete, Zapdos and Ho-oh quickly returned to the safety of the plateau. Zapdos had to dodge another Hydro Pump attack along the way while Ho-oh took another Solar Beam attack.

"Well our attacks are working now...but we're still not doing anything..." Aisha noted, looking to the sky for any sign of Rayquaza.

"At least they don't seem capable of reaching us up here with any attacks." Haruka commented. "If they ever wise up though we'll be in trouble..."

_"I'm not surprised to find you here..."_ Odari, Aisha, and Haruka looked around as they heard the male voice. Latios floated down in front of them, hovering at the edge of the plateau with his back to them. A strange purple aura surrounded him as well.

_"Latios?!"_ Latias looked upon her brother in shock. _"I knew you were here to observe but...you merged with the Soul Dew?!"_

_"Merged with the Soul Dew...?"_ Odari wondered, not understanding what Latias meant.

"With the power of the Soul Dew I should be on the same level as Groudon and Kyogre." Latios explained, then looked over his shoulder at the group and at Odari in particular.

_"Its odd how I find myself aiding you against yet another powerful opponent and yet would just as soon turn these powers on you. I don't think I'll ever understand why the Soul Dew wishes for us to co-operate with humans, but you only continue to live because of it."_ Odari blinked in surprise at Latios's message. To her, he seemed to have an air of confidence about him and was strangely calm.

_"Latios, please be careful..."_ Latias begged of her brother. _"You may be as strong as them but you are still outnumbered."_

_"Hmph. I'll be fine."_ Without another word, Latios dove down below to engage in battle with the titans.

"Odari...who was that?" Aisha asked Odari in confusion.

"That would be Latias's brother Latios..." Odari explained. "He doesn't like humans much, me especially. I'm sure that was obvious though."

"Ho-oh, does that Latias really stand a chance at holding them off?" Haruka asked it.

"-I do not know...-" Ho-oh replied. "-But right now it would seem only Latios and I are truly strong enough to truly do battle with them. Though Aisha's Zapdos is strong in its own right, as is Latias, neither of them can do much against such powerful opponents. I will go down there and aide Latios...-"

Haruka nodded to Ho-oh, and the legendary bird once again took off and dove down to the battlefield below where Latios was currently engaging in battle with Kyogre and dodging Solar Beams and Fire Blasts from Groudon. Ho-oh was once again aiming to engage in battle with Groudon, against whom it had an advantage. Kyogre had given up trying to use water attacks and was now trying to hit Latios with Ice Beam while Latios struck the mostly immobile Kyogre with Luster Purge.

_"I should be down there helping him!"_ Latias moved forward, but Odari quickly put her hand out to stop her. Latias looked at her questioningly.

"I think it'd be best if you stayed here..." Odari explained.

_"Neither of them are more powerful than Rayquaza was..."_ Latias protested telepathically.

"There's two of them though, and Ho-oh and Latios are holding them off well enough."

Latias looked down at the battle below them. Ho-oh was now trading blow for blow with Groudon and actually seemed to have the upper hand, keeping it distance to force Groudon to use its less powerful ranged attacks which Ho-oh happened to be more proficient with. Latios, meanwhile, continued to dodge Kyogre's attacks while firing back with his Luster Purge technique whenever an opening presented itself. It actually seemed as if Ho-oh and Latios could win on their own.

_"I am not too late to be of service, am I?" _Odari heard a familiar voice in her head and looked up to see a huge, green, serpent-like dragon floating above her. Aisha and Haruka followed Odari's gaze to see Rayquaza. Aisha's jaw dropped in surprise at the sight of the pokemon, but Haruka remained largely unimpressed. Rayquaza's attention was focused on the battle below them.

_"I will need you to temporarily return my powers to me for this."_ Rayquaza instructed Odari mentally. Odari had learned that, because of her emerald, she had a telepathic link with Rayquaza as well as being able to understand it similar to how Haruka understood Ho-oh.

As per Rayquaza's request, Odari held up her sword towards Rayquaza. A green burst of energy shot from the emerald and surrounded Rayquaza. Almost immediately, a hole began to form and stretch out from Rayquaza until eventually the rain clouds and intense heat were both gone entirely. Groudon and Kyogre immediately noticed Rayquaza when they found their powers being negated. Rayquaza gave a loud cry and began to speak to them.

"-Kyogre! Groudon! That is enough of this!-" Rayquaza bellowed. Latios and Ho-oh turned their attention to Rayquaza as well. "-Explain to me, what is the meaning of this quarrel?-"

"-The Cave of Origins resides within this volcano.-" Groudon explained. To Aisha's surprise, she was able to understand the beast. "-Volcanos are land and give birth to land, therefore the cave is in my territory.-"

"-The volcano is inactivate, and is surrounded by the ocean.-" Kyogre quickly countered. Due to her sapphire bearing a connection to Kyogre, Haruka was ale to understand it. "-It has also filled with rainwater. It is hardly land anymore and if anything it is in my domain.-"

"-Enough of this, both of you! Must I remind you time and time again the effects your powers have on other living creatures both in the sea and on the land? Humans and pokemon alike are losing their homes because of your quarrel!-" Rayquaza growled deeply, but neither Kyogre nor Groudon backed down.

"-This is none of your concern, dragon.-" Kyogre snapped, growling back. "-The Cave of Origins is sacred ground and I shall claim it.-"

"-Not in this lifetime, whale!-" Groudon bellowed as it turned to Kyogre, its footsteps shaking the ground. "-The Cave of Origins shall only belong to the great Groudon!-"

"-Can you not agree to both claim ownership and end this peacefully?-" Rayquaza requested of the two.

"-Not a chance.-" Groudon replied, slamming its fists together.

"-For once we are in agreement.-" Kyogre likewise answered, casting a glare at Groudon.

_"I have never seen them like this before..."_ Rayquaza privately informed Odari. _"I believe negotiations have reached an impasse. I will have no choice but to sentence them to an eternal slumber. To do so, I will require somewhere to store all of their power."_

"I already thought of this." Odari said to Rayquaza, nodding slightly. "The Kanto ruby and the Johto sapphire should serve to store Groudon and Kyogre's powers respectively."

"Well that would be the reason we came here in the first place." Aisha noted, holding up her sword.

"The only reason..." Haruka added bitterly.

"-The crystals will serve this purpose well. For you see, when Kyogre, Groudon, and I were born, those three crystals were born as well. The crystals serve as a balance for our powers should they ever run rampant. With the power of the Soul Dew and its guardians we have what we need to rob Kyogre and Groudon of their powers fully and put them in an eternal sleep.-"

"So what must we do?" Odari asked Rayquaza.

"-Aisha and Haruka must attack Groudon and Kyogre with their swords while Latios and Latias channel the power of the Soul Dew. If Aisha and Haruka attack them whilst riding Latios and Latias, it should suffice.-" Rayquaza explained, then nodded to Latias.

_"Rayquaza wants you two to attack Kyogre and Groudon with your swords while riding Latios and I, and we will channel the power of the Soul Dew to allow you to capture Kyogre and Groudon's powers in your swords."_ Latias explained to Aisha and Haruka. She then telepathically contacted Latios and Ho-oh to call off their attacks and explain the situation to them as well.

"So I'll ride Latias to attack Groudon and Haruka can ride Latios." Aisha stated, nodding in understanding. "Sorry, Zapdos, but it looks like you'll have to stay behind." Zapdos nodded to Aisha, knowing that at this point there was nothing more it could really do.

_"Lets just get this over with..."_ Latios grumbled telepathically. _"The less time I have to spend with you humans the better..."_

"I agree entirely..." Haruka said, approaching Latios as the pokemon lowered itself to the ground and jumping on its back. Aisha followed suit, getting on Latias's back, and the two of them took off towards their respective targets. Odari watched them for a moment when a thought suddenly occurred to her.

"Wouldn't this have been easier if we weakened them to a point where they could no longer fight back first?" Odari suggested.

"-That train of thought would have been best a minute ago...-" Rayquaza replied, shaking its head sadly.

Fortunately it didn't seem necessary, at least for Latias and Aisha. The two easily dodged a Fire Blast attack from Groudon as they dove down towards it, flying beside it close enough for Aisha to strike it in the side. Though Aisha's attack barely left a scratch, it seemed to achieve the desired results as a red electricity danced over Groudon's body and the titan bellowed in pain.

Latias concentrated to focus some of the Soul Dew's power from Latios into Groudon, causing the pokemon to drop to its knees and clutch its chest in pain as its power was drained from it. Aisha's ruby glowed brightly as the red bolts of electricity went from Groudon and into the ruby, storing Groudon's powers within.

"Thats one down, lets move Latias!" Latias nodded in agreement and quickly turned around to return to where Rayquaza and the others were. Groudon stood tall as it prepared to attempt a counter attack, but its body began to harden to stone as Rayquaza used its powers in conjunction with Odari's emerald to send it into an eternal sleep from a distance.

Latios, meanwhile, was having a much tougher time getting close enough to Kyogre as it was forced to dodge Ice Beam after Ice Beam, each ray just narrowly missing it.

"Can't you get us any closer?" Haruka asked of Latios.

_"We'll get there as soon as I can get there without getting hit by Kyogre's ice attack."_ Latios replied telepathically. _"I'm not much a fan of the cold."_

_"So Latios doesn't like the cold..."_ Haruka thought to herself, a light smirk crossing her lips. _"Latias would likely dislike the cold as well since they are similar species, definitely something to keep in mind should I ever find myself in battle with Odari and Latias..."_

A blast of electricity suddenly struck Kyogre, distracting the pokemon briefly as it turned its attention to Zapdos hovering nearby. Latios looked back quickly to see what was going on before taking the opportunity to fly across Kyogre's backside and give Haruka the opportunity to strike Kyogre with her short sword. Like with Groudon, striking Kyogre with a sword left little physical damage but achieved the desired effect.

Blue lightning formed around Kyogre's body and the pokemon growled in pain as its strength was drained from it courtesy of Latios and Haruka. The lightning was channeled into Haruka's sword, trapping Kyogre's powers within. Shortly after, Kyogre's body began to turn to stone and quickly sunk to the bottom of the crater. Job done, Haruka, Zapdos, and Latios returned to the others.

_"I certainly wouldn't have expected help from Zapdos..."_ Haruka thought. _"But the job is done."_

"That was almost too easy." Aisha commented as she hopped off Latias. "What did we need to drain their powers for in the first place if you could just turn them to stone?"

"-If they still had their power then they could eventually break free. This way, assuming no outside interference, they will remain asleep forever. Likewise their powers will still be available, albeit highly inaccessable. I will make sure if it by placing Kyogre's sleeping form deep beneath the sea and Groudon underground. The crystals I will leave for you to deal with.-" Latias quickly translated Rayquaza's speech telepathically for Aisha and Haruka.

"Well, now that thats over with, I'm gone." Latios announced, flipping over quickly to drop Haruka on the ground before flying off. Odari held out her hand to help Haruka up, but Haruka slapped her hand away and glared at her as she got back on her feet.

"-I shall be leaving as well.-" Rayquaza stated. "-If you need me, you will always know where to find me.-" Rayquaza dove down the side of the crater and grabbed the sleeping form of Groudon in both its hands and carried it off to hide it elsewhere deep underground.

"I think this would be best hidden as well..." Aisha flipped her large sword in her hand, holding it out to Odari by the blade. "Since we are entrusting Rayquaza to hide the sleeping titans, I will entrust you with the ruby Odari."

Odari and Haruka both looked at Aisha in surprise. Odari hesitated for a moment before taking the blade from Aisha.

"I will see to it that the ruby is hidden somewhere no human will be able to reach it." Odari replied, the two girls nodding to each other.

"WAIT JUST A MINUTE!" Haruka shouted, pointing a finger at Aisha. "Just how can you trust HER with the ruby?!"

"Haruka, don't you think you should stop living in the past?" Aisha replied. Haruka was taken aback by her response. "How long are you going to continue hating Odari for something we forced her into?"

"Q-quiet..." Haruka shot back, looking towards the ground so neither girl could see her face. "You don't know what you're talking about..."

"She's right, Aisha..." Odari stated in agreement. "I know its easy for you to put all behind you, but what I did to Haruka could never be forgiven..."

Aisha looked at Haruka, who now seemed to be fighting back tears. Aisha knew, to an extent, what had happened between them as Odari had hinted there was something going on between them before while Hoenn was under Kanto occupation.

_"Odari, don't you think now would be a good time to apologize to her?"_ Latias suggested privately.

_"She's right..."_ Odari thought. She approached Haruka and gently embraced her. Haruka looked up in surprise, but made no attempt to push Odari away.

"Haruka...I was only doing what I felt had to be done for the sake of Hoenn, and I'm sorry I hurt your feelings in the process. If its at all possible, I hope we can be friends again..."

"F-friends? Odari...I thought you loved me!" Haruka choked out in response. "I thought you loved me but you were just using me...if you still thought of me as a friend then how could you do such a thing?!"

"Haruka, we both betrayed Odari's trust as well." Aisha stated, folding her arms over her chest. "When you first defeated me to claim Hoenn for yourself, were you doing it for Odari? Or were you doing it to get back at me?"

Haruka thought about it for a moment and realized Aisha was right. At first, Haruka had no interest in retaking Hoenn for Odari's sake. It wasn't until after Odari lied about her feelings that she wanted to control Hoenn so she could be with Odari.

"We need to put all this behind us." Aisha said as she placed a hand on Haruka's shoulder. "The wars between our tribes as well as our childish rivalry. We would all be better off if we could just learn to be friends again."

"I...I guess your right..." Haruka looked up at Odari, regaining her composure. "I'm sorry too, Odari...I know we can never have the relationship I thought we did, but if nothing else I'd be glad to be friends again..."

Haruka broke the embrace and held out her sword to Odari as well as one of her capture jars.

"I'll entrust you to look after the sapphire as well as Rejirock. Rejirock hardly feels like a proper pokemon, and I have plenty of strong pokemon to look after Johto now..."

"I guess I could say the same..." Aisha added in agreement, taking Rejice's capture jar from around her neck and handing it to Odari. "I guess this means all three Reji's belong to you now."

"Thank you...both of you..." Odari took the sword from Haruka, as well as the two capture jars. "I kinda feel bad for not having anything to give either of you..." Odari joked, placing the two jars around her neck.

"Well you're the one who brought us all together, and because of that we're all friends again. I think that will do for me." Aisha replied, chuckling to herself.

"Likewise..." Haruka added, smiling. "Though if you're ever looking for a real relationship..."

"You'll be the first to know, Haruka..." Odari stated, cutting her off.

"-It seems pokemon and humans both have a bright future ahead of them.-" Ho-oh stated, its large beak seeming to form a smile. "-Each of the three leaders now have a new respect for pokemon that will be passed on to their respective tribes, as well as a new respect for each other.-"

* * *

After their ordeal, the three leaders each returned to their respective tribes. Hoenn and Kanto began rebuilding as the fires and flood waters receded and all three leaders began teaching their tribe a new respect for pokemon. As time went on, pokemon became friends and partners. The wars waged with pokemon disappeared and were replaced with friendly battles. Pokemon became stronger for their bond with humans, and humans began to thrive in a world where pokemon were no longer their enemies.

As for the three leaders, they continued to be friends and met with each other on occasion. Every year after the day the titans were put to rest the three of them would get together to celebrate with each other and give Haruka and Aisha the chance to imprint new memories into the gems.

When the time was right, Odari went with Rayquaza to the highest mountain and erected a shrine where the ruby and sapphire would be kept. Only Odari knew of their location, and only with the aide of a flying pokemon could they be safely reached. Records were kept of the events that had transpired concerning Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza as well as the three gems.

Eventually Odari also returned to the Cave of Origins with the emerald. Her own memories were etched into the emerald and a spell was placed on it so that only someone of near identical spirit to her would ever be able to find it. With all three gems safe, leadership of the tribes were turned over to a new generation and the traditions of the old generations were still kept sacred.

Centuries pass, and the land began to split. Hoenn became separated from Kanto and Johto, new species of pokemon are born and old species die off. Magic is eventually forgotten, replaced by the easy charms of technology. Pokeballs replace capture jars, yet still the bond between people and pokemon remain and the legendary pokemon continue to watch over them all.

* * *

Author's Notes: Yeesh...I was hoping to have this chapter up MONDAY, but because I tried to explain so much it ended up longer than expected. Pulling a muscle in my arm while shovelling snow didn't help any either. I think this is the longest chapter yet, so I certainly hope everything makes sense and fits together. Kinda the point of a history chapter... 


	50. Chapter 39: Evacuation

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Thirty Nine**

**Evacuation**

_"Don't just stand there! MOVE IT!"_

Alex didn't need to be told twice. He bolted down the stone stairs and towards the cave exit, the vibrations below him seeming to follow. As he neared the cave exit the vibrations seemed to move in front of him.

_"Other way! Quick!"_ Alex came to a stop just as a huge red pokemon, Groudon, rose up out of the ground in front of him. Alex ran back inside the cave as Groudon reached out for him with its large clawed hand and just narrowly missed. Fortunately for Alex, Groudon was too big to follow him into the cave. Unfortunately, he was trapped.

"Just what the heck is this guy's problem with me all of a sudden?!" Alex wondered aloud.

_"Well, first off you have the emerald now and Groudon can probably sense it because of Rayquaza's powers residing within. Second, Groudon probably isn't too thrilled with seeing you in the Cave of Origins. Third, its possible it senses the dead ruby you're carrying."_

_"Well legend or not, Groudon's still a pokemon. I just have to get it out of the way and I can make my escape." _Alex thought, reaching for a pokeball.

_"Now might be a good time for you to know that Groudon is about twice as strong as it'd normally be courtesy of draining the ruby's powers." _The emerald informed Alex._ "So unless you've got a pokemon you think would be able to take on two Groudons I suggest you rethink that strategy."_

_"Great...just great...hmm..." _Alex thought for a moment, running through ideas in his head while Groudon continued to glare at him from the cave's entrance.

_"Hey, wait a minute...why isn't Groudon coming in after me?"_ Alex thought. _"No doubt Groudon could chew through this rock like it was a slice of pizza..."_

_"I have no idea what 'pizza' is."_ Odari responded from the emerald. _"But the cave is sacred ground and Groudon wouldn't do anything to damage it."_

_"Doesn't help me any..." _Alex thought, grumbling. Alex quickly went over the situation in his mind again and a smirk crossed his lips as he suddenly got an idea.

_"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!"_ Odari shouted in Alex's mind. Her pleas were ignored, however, as Alex reached for a pokeball and released one of his pokemon.

"Skarmory, come on out and us Agility!" Alex released Skarmory directly in front of him. Skarmory actually seemed intimidated for a moment at the sight of Groudon at the mouth of the cave, but it got over its fear long enough to calm itself and use Agility.

"Hey, Groudon! This is what you're after, isn't it?" Alex taunted the land titan. The only response from Groudon was a deep growl.

_"WOULD YOU STOP AND LISTEN TO REASON!"_ Odari pleaded with Alex, but the boy had his mind set on his plan.

"Catch!" Alex through the emerald towards the mouth of the cave as hard as he could. The crystal flew passed Groudon and the legendary pokemon turned around to try to follow its movements. Groudon moved away from the cave enough in the process to create an opening. Alex quickly jumped on Skarmory's back.

"Lets go!" Alex called out. Skarmory ran forward, flapping its wings to take off and gain momentum. Skarmory flew past Groudon as it was reaching for the emerald, but Alex managed to grab it first and kept on flying.

_"Are you crazy?! Do you WANT Groudon to get the power of the emerald too?!"_ Odari screamed at Alex once the emerald was back in his hand.

_"Hey, at least we're out of the cave."_ Alex replied mentally, slipping the emerald into his backpack. "Skarmory, rise!"

Skarmory quickly angled to fly upwards just as a stick-figure shaped burst of fire passed by underneath it. Alex looked back to keep an eye on Groudon as the legendary pokemon was now resorting to ranged attacks.

"Skarmory, we need to keep Groudon busy. If its as strong as Odari says it is then even the gym leaders and the Elite 4 don't stand a chance at stopping it so we need to buy some time." Skarmory nodded slightly. It wasn't too thrilled at the idea, but it knew Alex was right none the less.

_"How did you know Groudon was going to use a fire attack?"_ Odari asked Alex. _"And just how do you plan to keep Groudon busy for that matter when it can melt this thing you're riding into liquid metal in an instant?"_

_"I'm an expert on ancient history I suppose you could say."_ Alex replied mentally. _"In particular the history surrounding the legendary pokemon of Hoenn, Groudon and Kyogre especially."_

_"Oh, well isn't that nice. If thats the case I'm sure you know that that over there means." _Alex felt a mental prodding telling him to look south. When he did, he saw a huge rain cloud forming in the sky and spreading out while moving towards Sootopolis. When Alex looked back to Groudon he realized the titan noticed this too..."

"Kyogre..."

_"Close. Try sapphire empowered Kyogre."_ Came Odari's response. _"So now you have to deal a Kyogre with the power of two and a Groudon. Anymore bright ideas? Preferably ideas that don't involve throwing the emerald away since it may be your only hope. Speaking of which, now might be a good time to use the emerald to summon Rayquaza."_

_"How would I do that?" _Alex wondered.

_"Its a simple spell..."_ Odari's response sounded tired and weary. _"In fact...its hardly a spell at all...please tell me you can use magic?"_

_"Magic is the realm of science fiction and fantasy..." _Was Alex's response.

_"Oh, well thats just great."_ Odari remarked sarcastically. _"Well on the bright side you'll get to watch the end of the world in progress unless Rayquaza happens to notice all this and decides to get involved of its own accord.."_

"Skarmory, take us down in front of the gym. I don't think Groudon's going to attack us now..." Skarmory nodded and turned around, diving sharply towards the Sootopolis gym. By now the gym leaders were busy rounding up the citizens of Sootopolis with the exception of Juan, who was in front of his gym with Wallace when Alex dropped down in front of them on Skarmory.

"Alex, glad to see you've made it..." Wallace said to him. "I thought for sure Groudon was going to let you have it."

"Groudon's found a bigger fish..." Alex replied. "Literally. Kyogre's on its way here..."

"Troubling news indeed..." Juan stated. "We must protect the city for as long as we can while the evacuation is being carried out. Glacia and Drake were dispatched to distract Groudon. Phoebe and Sidney will likely need to be taken off the evacuation team to distract Kyogre."

"You have to call them back!" Alex demanded. Juan and Wallace raised an eyebrow at him. "Look, they don't stand a chance! Groudon isn't just a powerful legendary pokemon but its absorbed the powers of the ruby that was used to awaken it, its power is effectively doubled."

"If Groudon really is that strong right now then Glacia and Drake won't last five seconds even if they're the Elite 4..." Wallace picked up a radio to contact the others, but Juan grabbed his hand to stop them.

"No, let them keep Groudon busy until Kyogre arrives..." Juan instructed Wallace. "Right now Kyogre may be the only pokemon that can fight Groudon."

"If we let Kyogre and Groudon fight then their attacks will destroy Sootopolis, its too risky." Wallace replied.

_"Yeah, about that..."_ Odari's voice muttered in Alex's head. _"Who's bright idea was it to build a settlement here?"_

_"No idea."_ Alex replied simply.

"Its our best chance. We can't fight Kyogre and Groudon but with the combined efforts of the Elite Four and the gym leaders we should be able to protect the city from their attacks.." Wallace paused for a moment, lowering his eyes to the ground as he thought over the words of his old mentor.

"Alright, we'll do it your way." Wallace finally responded. Just then, rain started pouring down around them. Looking out to the southern end of the crater the group saw a blue whale surfacing. Kyogre had finally arrived.

For a moment Kyogre's attention was fixated on Alex, but then it noticed its rival standing higher up on the crater. Groudon noticed Kyogre as well and dug deep into the ground, leaving an old sailor and an older woman in an elegant dress next to a fainted dragon and ball of ice pokemon respectively.

"These legendary pokemon are certainly not to be trifled with..." The old sailor, Elite Four Drake, commented in a raspy old man's voice while kneeling next to the blue dragon pokemon.

"Poor Salamence...one attack from Groudon and you're brought down..." Drake recalled his Salamence and placed its pokeball on his belt.

"I thought for sure Glaile's icy attacks would bring Groudon to its knees..." Glacia, the ice trainer of the Elite Four, commented as she recalled her Glaile. "It seems now the battle between Groudon and Kyogre is inevitable..."

The walls of Juan's gym began to crack and shake. The three trainers quickly ran away from the island, crossing the bridge leading to the pokecenter. The walls began to buckle and the roof collapsed in as the gym was brought to the ground. Groudon emerged from the rubble and gave a mighty roar.

Kyogre answered Groudon's roar with a cry of its own. The water in front of Kyogre began to rise up and move towards Groudon, the wave growing and building strength as it approached the land titan.

"Milotic, Tentacruel, go!" Wallace called out as he released two of his pokemon into the nearby water. A large blue jellyfish with two red domes on its head appeared next to an ever so familiar sea serpent, Milotic.

"Luvdisc! Kingdra! You must perform as well!" Juan called out, releasing his Luvdisc and Kingdra alongside Wallace's pokemon.

"Everyone! Freeze that wave with your ice attacks!" Wallace called out, taking command of all four pokemon. Juan's pokemon showed no qualms about taking orders from Wallace, however. Luvdisc let loose with a Blizzard attack while Kingdra, Milotic, and Tentacruel each fired their Ice Beam attacks at the wave. Their attacks were successful in freezing the wave a scant ten feet from the shore. The water then shattered and leveled off. Neither Groudon nor Kyogre took much notice of the interruption since the attacks weren't directed at them.

"You guys alright?" A man with a red mohawk asked, jumping down a flight of stone steps to land next to the group. Sidney, another member of the Elite Four and a trainer of dark type pokemon.

"We are quite alright, Sidney." Wallace responded. "Groudon destroyed the gym though."

"We have more important things to worry about than the gym." Juan stated. "Have any of the helicopters taken off yet?"

"No, we're still loading them up." Sidney replied, shaking his head. "To make matters worse they're completely defenseless. The gym leaders are rounding up as many citizens as they can. Pretty sticky situation, eh?"

_"I hope May's ok..."_ Alex thought, looking to the sky for any sign of her.

_"I don't know who 'May' is but I don't believe you have time to be worrying about her at the moment."_ Odari's voice responded coldly.

_"Yeah, cause I'm just being so helpful, right?"_

"For now our best course of action would be to station one of the elites by every helicopter as originally planned." Wallace stated. "Only problem is that leaves us with one helicopter unprotected."

Juan and Wallace both looked to Alex, who wasn't really paying attention to either of them until he noticed the awkward silence. He blinked in confusion when he noticed he seemed to become the center of attention all of a sudden.

"Eh...Wallace...he isn't exactly a member of the pokemon league, isn't it against the rules to get his help?" Sidney asked, scratching the back of his head. "I mean, why not get Juan's help instead? He is the highest ranked gym leader..."

"This boy defeated me just before your arrival." Juan explained. "And with a variety of pokemon at his disposal rather than just one type as gym leaders often have he will do much better I am sure."

"He also seems to know a thing or two about these ancient pokemon." Wallace added. "So how about it? Think you could manage to defend a helicopter until they're ready to take off? With any luck they won't be attacked anyway but we need to be sure..."

"I'll do it." Alex responded with a nod. "Where's the helicopter?"

"Over there..." Wallace pointed to a helicopter at the highest point in town, probably the safest place to be. Wallace held his radio to his mouth again after giving Alex his post.

"This is Wallace, all members of the Elite Four are to be stationed at their assigned helicopters and protect them until they are clear of the city. I repeat, all members of the Elite Four are to go to their assigned helicopters."

"Alright Skarmory, lets go." Alex hopped on Skarmory's back and the pokemon hesitated for a moment.

"-If this keeps up someone's going to have to give me a flight number.-" Skarmory grumbled to itself before finally taking off, heading towards the helicopter that Wallace had signled out and flying over the water as two beams of energy collided underneath it. One was a Solar Beam attack fired by Groudon, which it charged up with the intense scattered sunlight filtering through the rainclouds. The other attack was Kyogre's Ice Beam. The two attacks met and cancelled each other out, the Solar Beam attack being used up to block the Ice Beam.

_"Well, are you happy now? You finally get to do something."_ Odari chided Alex.

_"I'm really getting the feeling you don't like me much."_ Alex thought, rolling his eyes.

_"In my day, someone like you would have been exiled for being a danger to the tribe!"_ Odari shot back.

_"In your day, Aerodactyl ruled the skies..."_

Skarmory came in for a landing near the doors of the helicopter as another family was being ushered on board by May's father and gym leader of Petalburg, Norman.

"I want to watch the pokemon fight!" A little boy complained to Norman.

"Well you better hurry and get on the helicopter then, else all the window seats will be taken!" Norman said to the boy while sounding enthusiastic. That was all the encouragement the boy needed to get on the helicopter with his family.

"This one's almost full..." Norman looked up to see Alex and Skarmory as they landed nearby. "Alex? You're all the way out here now?"

"Yeah, Wallace asked me to protect this helicopter." Alex replied, jumping off Skarmory. "You're not working this one alone are you?"

"Winona's flying in the citizens on her bird pokemon. Speaking of which, here comes the next group." Alex and Norman looked up to see a Skarmory, Tropius, and Altaria flying towards them. Tropius was carrying two passengers, Altaria was carrying one, and Skarmory had one passenger plus Winona. The three pokemon landed and everyone got off and rushed towards the helicopter.

"One at a time, there's plenty of room." Norman helped each person into the helicopter one at a time while Winona helped an eldery lady off of Skarmory and both gym leaders helped her into the helicopter.

"How many more do we need before we can take off?" Winona asked Norman.

"Another five I'd say." Norman replied. Winona nodded, then looked to Alex.

"I can't say I'm surprised to see you here." Winona commented. "Wasn't Norman's daughter with you though?"

"May went to stop Team Aqua from awakening Kyogre and was going to meet up with me here in Sootopolis..." No sooner had Alex responded before Norman grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Where is she then?!" Norman shook Alex as he asked him. "Where's my daughter?!"

"I...don't know..." Alex gasped out.

"Norman! Calm down!" Winona grabbed Norman by the arm. "May is a smart girl with strong pokemon, she'll be fine!"

Norman released Alex and the boy dropped to his knees, gasping for breath. Norman didn't seem entirely convinced thought.

"-Well, you had that coming...-" Skarmory commented. If the bird could smile it probably would have.

"-It disheartens me to think I could only manage a draw against one such as yourself who does not get along with his trainer.-" Winona's Skarmory quietly stated.

"-Ah shut it...-" Alex's Skarmory snapped back.

"You're right..." Norman quietly said to Winona. "But she's still my daughter...if anything were to happen to her..."

Winona's Skarmory gently poked her with its beak to remind her that they still had a job to do. Winona nodded to it.

"Norman, try to keep it together until we're finished here." Winona got on her Skarmory's back again and took off with the rest of her pokemon to gather more people to evacuate.

"I'm sorry about that Alex..." Norman stated quietly as he helped Alex to his feet.

"I'm sure I deserved it anyway..." Alex muttered.

_"What you really deserve is a good crack on the head."_ Odari chided him.

_"When this is over I am so getting rid of you..."_

"Well, if I'm going to be defending a helicopter I should probably have some more pokemon out." Alex quickly unclipped four pokeballs from his belt and released the pokemon contained within.

"Sceptile! Minun! Alakazam! Azumarill! Lets go!" Alex called out as he released them, each pokemon appearing in front of the helicopter and waiting for instructions.

"We need to protect this helicopter from those two down there..." Alex pointed down the crater at Groudon and Kyogre battling below. Kyogre was still attacking with Surf and Hydro Pump while Groudon wasn't really attacking at all. Instead, it appeared to be creating land extending out from the edge of the crater to give it a bridge to Kyogre while Juan was fending off Kyogre's attacks to protect any residents still in the city.

_"Wow, when you guys mess up, you certainly do a good job of it." _Odari remarked sarcastically. _"But, hey, if I was going to choose sides I suppose I'd choose Groudon too."_

_"I really wish you came with an off button..." _Alex thought, sighing to himself.

"Anyway, it doesn't look like anything will come this way but if it does hold it off any way you can. Don't assume you can take the hit though, these pokemon are frighteningly powerful." Each of Alex's pokemon nodded in agreement and stood by awaiting attack.

"Your Grovyle evolved I see..." Norman commented. "What about May's Combusken?"

"Combusken evolved into Blaziken the same time Sceptile evolved." Alex informed him. "May has her best pokemon with her right now including Gardevoir and a recently evolved Ludicolo."

"Well as long as she has her best pokemon with her..." Norman sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well I hope she'll have enough sense not to come here when she sees the storm..."

_"Dont count on it..."_ Alex thought, keeping his comments to himself. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Alex turned around to find Alakazam had teleported behind him and was pointing at the water. Following Alakazam's direction, Alex spotted two figures in the water behind Kyogre. He could vaguely make out a green shape that seemed to resemble Ludicolo and a girl holding onto it.

"Well, looks like May's here..." Alex muttered. Norman quickly stepped up to see.

"Is she trying to go around Kyogre?!" Norman asked in shock.

"Looks like it...Skarmory, can you go get her?" Skarmory glared at Alex, not really interested in helping May however it decided to do as requested and took off down towards the water.

* * *

_"I was so hoping we'd be here before Kyogre..."_ May thought, clinging to Ludicolo for dear life as it slowly swam around Kyogre while trying to keep quiet. The water around them was choppy, waves were being whipped up by the wind accompanying the storm.

_"Please don't look this way..."_ May mentally willed Kyogre as she slowly made her way past with Ludicolo. She could see Groudon up ahead as well and hoped that if it attacked Kyogre then it had a good aim.

Groudon was standing almost directly in front of Kyogre now and the two pokemon charged each other. Kyogre jumped up out of the water while Groudon charged the edge of its land bridge shoulder-first. The impact of the two titans echo'd throughout the crater as their attacks met and Kyogre was knocked back into the water, sending a wave in every direction. May lost her grip on Ludicolo and slipped below the surface of the water, weighed down by her air tank, but Ludicolo was quick to catch her and pull her to the surface

"Thanks Ludicolo..." May breathed a sigh of relief. "This air tank is dead weight but its not mine so I don't want to lose it..."

Ludicolo noded and began slowly swimming towards the shore again. It was slow going, though, and the waves weren't helping any. May's airtank was completely empty as well so they couldn't go underwater to avoid it. May continued to watch the two titans closely in an effort to prepare herself for their next attacks, however it didn't do here any good. The next attack was from Kyogre in the form of a Surf attack.

A wave rose up underneath May and Ludicolo and May once again found herself losing grip of her pokemon. Before she slipped under the surface of the water, however, she felt something grab onto her hand and pull her up out of the water. May looked up to see a Skarmory had taken hold of her and was carrying her out of the water and towards the shore.

"Ludicolo, return!" May, sure she was safe now, quickly recalled her Ludicolo before it was carried off by the wave. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked up again at the pokemon that had saved her.

"Alex's Skarmory...?" May asked it. Skarmory nodded slightly while continuing to carry May higher and higher even after it was over the land.

"C-couldn't you just put me down now?" May asked it as she saw the ground getting further and further below her. She didn't like the idea of hanging from a Skarmory so high up, especially knowing it was a Skarmory that didn't particularly like her much.

Unfortunately for May she got no response, but looking up ahead she could soon see Alex and her father standing in front of a large helicopter. Skarmory continued to go higher until it was actually above them.

"-Hey, jackass.-" Skarmory called down to Alex. "-Catch.-"

Skarmory let go of May, sending her falling the short distance to land on top of Alex. May landed on Alex's back after he was knocked face first into the ground.

"May, are you ok?" Norman asked his daughter, quickly helping her to her feet.

"I'm fine..." May replied in a tone teenagers would often use when their parents are nagging them. "Or at least I was until I got here." She added, casting a glare at Skarmory.

"I'm fine too...if anyone cares..." Alex muttered before Alakazam finally helped its trainer back to his feet.

"Whats going on here anyway?" May asked her father. "Whats with the helicopters and all the gym leaders here?"

"Sootopolis is being evacuated." Norman explained. "May, the helicopters will be leaving soon and I want you on one of them."

"What?! There's no way I'm leaving!" May shot back.

_"I'm noticing startling similarities between this 'May' and a certain tribe leader I use to know."_ Alex heard Odari's voice say to him._ "She knows you're not really a boy, right?"_

_"No, she doesn't." _Alex replied bitterly. _"Not that its any of your business you stupid glowing green piece of..."_

_"Oh, it seems we're not alone in this empty void that is your head." _Alex thought for a moment and realized she must be referring to Alakazam.

_"Alakazam, I don't suppose you can find her off button?" _Alex mentally asked Alakazam.

"May, you're..." Norman began, but stopped as he saw his Slaking climb up the side of the cliff separating the various levels the houses in Sootopolis were built on. Slaking was carrying a girl on its back.

"We'll discuss this later." Norman stated sternly, helping the girl down off Slaking and then into the helicopter. Winona showed up with all her pokemon again, this time only carrying two passengers. One on Tropius and one with her on Skarmory again. Her pokemon landed near the helicopter and the two citizens dismounted from Winona's pokemon.

"Thats the last of them." Winona informed Norman as they each helped one of the citizens into the helicopter.

"Alex, you're staying here right?" May quietly asked him. Alex paused for a moment, then shook his head.

"Not a chance..." Alex replied to her, his gaze fixed on the battle below. May smiled slightly, having anticipated he would say that.

"There's still room for two more." Norman stated quietly, looking to his daughter and Alex. "You two should get on and let us handle things here now..."

May stared down her father defiantly. "Alex, can you hand me my pack?" May asked while keeping her gaze on her father. Alex reached into his backpack and took out May's smaller fannypack and handed it to her.

"I'm going to the pokecenter to get changed and heal my pokemon." May informed the group, though the statement was directed at her father more than anyone. Norman didn't say another word to her as she walked off, heading towards the pokecenter on the other side of town.

"Oookkk...I'm sensing quite a bit of tension here..." Winona stated quietly, looking between Norman and May.

"Alex, if you leave I know May will leave too." Norman said to Alex, who still had his back to the group. "Please, for her sake, get on the transport."

"I probably should...since this is a pokemon-related emergency its the league's duty to deal with it, not mine." Norman smiled slightly, thinking for a moment that Alex would do it.

"I can't though..." Alex stated solemnly. "I know more about the three titans than anyone else here. Besides, it wouldn't make sense for me to take up a spot on the helicopter when I've got my own transportation..."

"-Yeah, Air Skarmory...-" Alex's Skarmory muttered bitterly. "-When this is over I better get one heck of a battle against someone.-"

"Then I guess its no use convincing that stubborn daughter of mine..." Norman stated as he sighed in defeat.

"Well think of it this way Norman." Winona spoke up, offering a friendly smile. "If she's here she does have all of us to protect her, including her father."

"I guess you're right." Norman replied, nodding to Winona before looking to Alex again. "Alex, you claim to know about these pokemon. So what are we up against exactly."

"Well, if I'm right, Groudon is a ground type and Kyogre is a water type." Alex informed Norman. "Both pokemon have absorbed the power from the gems used to awaken them, rendering the gems useless and Groudon and Kyogre twice as strong. If either of them chose to they could easily wipe out this entire city in the blink of an eye. They won't, however, because of the Cave of Origins. If my information is correct, then the cave is sacred ground to them and the reason they're fighting. Its also the reason Groudon didn't kill me while it had me trapped in there..."

"They won't damage the cave, in other words." Winona stated. Alex nodded affirmatively. "Well that gives us somewhere to run to if things get rough..."

"Well if neither you nor May are getting on then there's no reason to keep this helicopter waiting." Norman stated, turning to signal to the pilot to take off.

"Wait!" A pair of voices called out. Norman, Alex, and Winona all turned to see Tate and Liza running up a flight of stone steps to the plateau they were on.

"Is something wrong?" Winona asked them.

"That helicopter is going to Mossdeep..." Tate began, letting his sister finish.

"We need to get on!"

"Well there's room for you..." Norman said to them. "But why do you need to get to Mossdeep? And can't you take your own helicopter?"

"The storm has reached Mossdeep..." "It is our duty to protect it!" "Our helicopter is full." "So we need your's!"

"Can't you two skip the double talk at a time like this?" Winona asked the two, agitated.

"Sorry..." They both replied sheepishly.

"Mossdeep may need our help though." Tate then explained. "It is only Steven there now. His pokemon are strong but I don't know if he can do it alone."

"Well if you're getting on then get on." Norman said to them. The two nodded and moved towards the helicopter, with Liza stopping briefly by Alex.

"Alex, please be careful. My Xatu has forseen a dangerous trial for yourself and May..." Liza bowed quickly, then followed her brother into the helicopter. Norman then signaled for the pilot to take off.

_"Dangerous trials?"_ Alex thought. _"Well I don't need a Xatu to tell me that..."_

The helicopter roared to life and began to life off the ground. Alex raised a hand to hold onto his hat as the helicopter began to take off. Down below, Groudon also seemed to notice the helicopter taking off and apparently wasn't too impressed. It quickly took aim at the fleeing copter and fired a huge beam of sun energy at it.

"Everyone get down!" Alex called out while dropping to the ground. Sceptile, who had been standing idle the whole time, fired a Solar Beam of its own to counter Groudon's. Norman and Winona quickly dropped to the ground as well though not entirely sure what was going on.

Sceptile's Solar Beam didn't seem to be holding Groudon's attack off at all, however it was soon met by an Ice Beam from Azumarill and a Psybeam from Alakazam which seemed to slow down the attack greatly but still not holding it back.

_"Ok, now I have to ask..."_ Odari's voice began. _"How did you know Groudon would attack that machine you call a helicopter?"_

_"I didn't."_ Alex responded mentally. _"I had Alakazam get everyone ready just incase Groudon attacked. I only knew its attack would be Solar Beam if it did. Sure as heck glad Sceptile learned Solar Beam when it evolved for whatever reason...latent technique it was born with I guess..."_

To end off their combo attack, once the Solar Beam from Groudon was in range, Minun fired off a bolt of electricity to meet the beams. There was a blinding blast of light as the combined attacks created an explosion. A shockwave shook the city, smashing windows in houses on the side of the city closest to the blast. The helicopter that had taken off, fortunately, was unharmed.

"Well..." Alex slowly got up and dusted himself off. "Thats one down, five to go. Maybe there won't be anymore explosions..."

* * *

May let out a cry as the shockwave from the blast knocked her off her feet and sent her crashing to the stone pathway. She had yet to reach the pokecenter so she could get changed and had nearly dropped her fannypack.

"Haha! You alright, kiddo?" May looked up to see Wattson standing over her, offering a hand to help her up. "That was quite the shocking display your friend put on there!"

"Wattson?" May blinked slightly in disbelief, accepting the old man's hand. "What just happened?" She then asked him. Wattson have his usual hearty laugh.

"Groudon just tried to blast one of the transports out of the sky! It took four simultaneous attacks just to counter it!"

_"It took all four of Alex's pokemon to stop it?"_ May thought. _"These legendary pokemon must be really powerful then..."_

"Well, I must keep searching and making sure everyone's gotten out of the city alright. Its great to see you kids still taking charge though." Wattson walked off to search the city, leaving May to ponder where she was going before she bumped into Wattson.

"Oh, right! The pokecenter!" May took off towards the pokecenter once again, but didn't get much further before another explosion knocked her off her feet. Looking up into the sky May could see another helicopter had taken off and there seemed to be a variety of dark colored pokemon guarding it. This time Kyogre took advantage of the distraction to hit Groudon with an Ice Beam, ensuring Groudon wouldn't risk attacking a helicopter again.

"At this rate I'll never get there..." May groaned as she got back to her feet. Standing up again she noticed Flannery standing by, looking at her.

"New bikini?" Flannery asked her curiously.

"I bought it in Lilycove..." May replied, blinking in surprise at Flannery's question.

"I haven't been out shopping since that day we went together..." Flannery replied, sighing in exasperation. "When this is over I just HAVE to go to Lilycove! This is the first day off I've had since then!"

"Welcome to being a gym leader!" May replied, giggling slightly. "I'd love to go with you so I'd have someone to talk to while shopping for a change buuuut I don't think this is the time to talk about that..."

"I guess you're right..." Flannery replied, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "I guess this whole thing just seems kinda surreal, you know? I mean, I know the league is supposed to deal with pokemon-related emergencies and all but two ancient pokemon duking it out just seems kinda out there..."

"I know what you mean." May stated quietly, looking out towards the two pokemon battling and exchanging blows while neither seeming to gain the upper hand. "When Alex told me Team Aqua and Team Magma were after two legendary pokemon I found it kinda hard to believe. It wasn't until I saw Kyogre after Archie accidentally awakened it that I realized what I was getting into..."

"Alex...I can't say I know him that well..." Flannery paused for a moment, looking off towards where Alex was stationed. "Wallace entrusted him with guarding one of the helicopters though because he recently beat Juan, the highest ranked gym leader in Hoenn. Though now..."

Flannery looked back to where the Sootopolis Gym lie in ruins on a few yards away. It took May a moment to realize it was the gym she was looking at.

"Great, now how am I supposed to get my badge?" May wondered aloud, sighing and hanging her head.

"Knowing Juan he'll probably just find somewhere outside to battle until the gym is repaired, so I wouldn't worry about it too much." Flannery stated cheerfully. "By the way, where were you going before anyway?"

"I was on my way to the pokecenter to get changed and heal my pokemon..."

"Well I hope you can operate that machine yourself then, the nurses were evacuated already..."

"I kinda used one before." May nodded slightly. "Anyway, I guess I'll see you around. Later!"

"Yeah, later!" Flannery replied as May took off once again, this time managing to make it to the pokecenter without anymore interruptions or explosions.

The pokecenter was completely empty, as would be expected. She quickly located the restoration machine and put all six of her pokeballs in it. After looking over the machine for a moment she found the various buttons she had to press to get it started. While waiting for her pokemon to be healed she quickly changed out of her bikini and into her dry clothes.

"Maybe while I'm in Lilycove I'll finally get a chance to relax at the beach." May quietly said to herself as she packed away her bikini. "I doubt Alex would be too interested in joining us so it'll be just me and Flannery.

May put her finger to her lip and thought for a moment. "Suzy didn't like Alex much, but we got along just fine so maybe she could go with us too if she's not busy..." May shook her head and sighed softly.

"Need to get through today first though..." May picked up her plastic bag and took out her belt and the sapphire. She strapped the belt around her waist and examined the sapphire for a moment.

"Maybe something about this will help us..."

"Who you talking to...?" May blinked slightly in surprise and looked up to see a little blonde-haired girl standing near the women's bathroom.

"My...self...I guess..." A million thoughts ran through May's head at once. Who was this girl? Why wasn't she on one of the transports already? Did the girl see her getting changed? A ding from the healing machine snapped May out of her thoughts.

"Where is everyone?" The girl asked shyly. "Did the monsters get them?"

"Monsters?" May asked curiously. The girl nodded.

"I saw big scary monsters outside s-so I came in here and hid in the bathroom!" The girl ran over to the door of the pokecenter and looked outside. "There they are! There they are!" She repeated excitedly, pointing outside.

_"This isn't good..."_ May thought, quickly grabbing her pokeballs from the machine. _"I need to get her to one of the transports before they're all gone!"_

"Well I won't let those monsters hurt you!" May said to the girl, trying to sound confident. "So you just follow me and I'll get you to a helicopter so we can get you away from the mean old monsters!"

The girl nodded, letting May take her by the hand and lead her out of the pokecenter. Immediately outside May spotted Flannery again and quickly called out to her.

"Flannery!" Flannery looked up and spotted May leaving the pokecenter with the girl.

"ACK! Where did you find her?" Flannery asked in surprise.

"She was hiding in the bathroom..." May explained, walking down the stone steps in front of the pokecenter with the little girl beside her. "We need to get her on a transport!"

"All the transports are gone though..." Flannery replied. "I don't know what we can..." Flannery looked up as she heard footsteps approaching them. A tan-skinned woman wearing a blue skirt and bikini top came down from one of the upper levels.

"Phoebe! We've got a problem here!" Flannery quickly informed the woman, Phoebe of the Elite Four. Phoebe's eyes immediately fell onto the little girl.

"Indeed we do..." Phoebe bent down to the girl's height and smiled at her. "And whats your name?"

"Angela..." The little girl replied shyly.

"Well, Angela, me and Dusclops here are going to look after you and until we can get you reunited with your folks!" At Phoebe's statement, a black one-eyed ghostly pokemon looking similar to a mummy faded in behind Dusclops. Angela shrieked and hid behind May.

"Make it go away!" The girl pleaded, tugging on May's skirt with one hand and pointing at Phoebe's Dusclops with the other.

"Or maybe someone else will..." Phoebe said sheepishly, hanging her head for a moment before standing up again.

"Flannery, Wallace wants us all to meet up. Wallace worked out a plan and..." Phoebe paused for a moment and looked to May. "May, right?" She asked her. May nodded.

"Well, Wallace wants to go with you and Alex to the Spear Pillar."

"He does? Why does he want me to go?" May asked in confusion.

"I'm not entirely sure, but we'll find out when we meet with the others." Phoebe explained. "We'll need to keep an eye on Angela too, but I doubt that will be much of a problem."

"I don't know, Angela looks like she's already quite attached to May!" Flannery said, giggling to herself. May turned to Angela and kneeled down to her level.

"I don't think I've properly introduced myself." May said to her, smiling. "May name's May Maple, my father's the gym leader of Petalburg City. I might have to go away soon to find a way to stop the...uh...monsters. So while I'm gone my friend Flannery here will look after you. She's a gym leader herself so you'll be safe with her."

Angela peered over May's shoulder at Flannery, who gave a nervous wave. Angela smiled and waved back.

"Alright then, so lets go meet up with the others!" May and Flannery started on their way, with May still holding Angela's hand, while Phoebe stayed behind for a moment.

"How could anyone be afraid of a ghost pokemon?" Phoebe wondered aloud. Her Dusclops gave a shrug in response before fading away again.

"Aye...I'll never understand children..." Phoebe said to herself before starting off after Flannery and May.

* * *

Author's Notes: Tried to give all the gym leaders and elite four at least a brief appearance this chapter, save for Brawly and Roxanne since they got to appear last chapter. Was a bit more brief with Wattson and the twins too. Wattson because he appeared twice already and the twins because they were in a gym battle not too long ago.

Angela was a bit of a last minute inclusion. For the moment she's not a particularly important character but will obviously have a fair bit of interaction with May. Mostly she's just there for a potential future character, but she'll probably have minor appearances/references in future chapters.


	51. Chapter 40: Sky Pillar

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Forty**

**Sky Pillar**

_"Have I mentioned how crazy this idea is?"_ Odari asked Alex. _"There's no way you're getting past my traps and you refuse my help!" _

_"If you haven't, then I haven't told you how much I'd love to just drop you into the ocean right now."_ Alex thought in response. _"Since you're apparently hydrophobic as well I imagine that would be a very terrifying experience for you."_

_"Clearly you have no idea how much a shallow pool of water compares to a shallow sea when you're only a crystal. Nor do you realize how much time I have had to get over that fear as a result. I'll gladly fill you in though..."_ The emerald glowed in Alex's backpack, projecting an image in Alex's mind of the shallow pool of water from the emerald's point of view.

"ACK! Cut that out!" Alex shouted while hitting himself in the side of the head.

"Alex what ARE you doing?" May asked, pulling up alongside him on Altaria. The two of them were flying south to the Sky Pillar, with Alex on Skarmory as usual.

"Err...momentary lapse in sanity?" Alex replied sheepishly. May gave him an odd look and slowly distanced Altaria from him.

_"Screw losing you, I'm SMASHING you!"_ Alex snapped at Odari.

_"Good luck with that. Even Groudon at the peak of its power wouldn't be capable of such a feat."_ Odari taunted Alex. _"The sacred gems are virtually indestructable. Destroying them would be a very bad idea anyway."_

_"Back to plan A then...conveniently losing you."_

"Think Wallace will be ok?" May asked Alex, still keeping her distance from him.

"He's probably already there." Alex replied. "That storm would have been nothing for his pokemon, even with the high seas."

The weather disruptions created by the two titans fighting in Sootopolis was continuing to expand, but Alex and May had already long cleared the storm as they got closer and closer to the Sky Pillar. The pillar, a tall tower rising up near Pacifidlog, was looming in the distance as they drew nearer.

"Alright, take us down there." Alex instructed Skarmory, pointing to the base of the Sky Pillar.

_"Odd...I remember that being built into a mountain..."_ Odari commented.

_"Well clearly, things have changed."_ Alex replied.

Skarmory and Altaria quickly dove down towards the base of the tower, coming in for a landing only a few yards away. The two trainers dismounted from their pokemon and recalled them before approaching Wallace, who was standing by the door of the tower waiting for them. The door was already unlocked and opened, and Wallace was holding a stone tablet of sorts in his hands.

"Glad to see you two finally made it." Wallace said as the two approached. "Rayquaza likely rests at the top of the tower, but there's no telling what dangers lie ahead."

_"Someone could probably tell you how to get past every trap thats in there if she'd stop ignoring me."_ Odari's voice grumbled in Alex's head. Alex decided not to dignify her with a response for once, though he knew she'd know that since she could read his mind.

"You two ready for whatever lies beyond this door?" Wallace asked them. May and Alex nodded in response.

"One question though..." Alex began. Wallace nodded, giving him the opportunity to speak. "Why is she here again? I don't think you ever explained that part to anyone but Norman because he was against it..."

"Like you could get..."

"Ah, ah..." Wallace quickly shushed May. "You two need to work together. May is here with you for that very reason, Alex. You two know each other well and your ability to co-operate could prove useful here. There's no telling what lies up ahead."

_"I could give you a very detailed list actually..."_ Odari began, but was quickly cut off verbally by Alex.

"Would you just shut it already!" Alex yelled angrily.

"Well, excuse me then..." Wallace shot back, crossing his arms.

"Err...I didn't mean you Wallace...I was talking to..." Alex looked between Wallace and May, then sighed. "Nevermind..."

"Lapse of sanity again?" May asked, smirking slightly. Alex just nodded.

"Lapse of sanity...?" Wallace questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Nevermind, lets just..."

The sound of rain hitting the ground began to grow closer until the three of them found themselves in the midst of a heavy rainstorm. The weather distortion had finally reached them.

"This isn't good...its all the way down here now..." Wallace noted.

"Pacifidlog could be in trouble. I'm going to head there now, think you two can handle this on your own?" Wallace asked them while reaching for a pokeball.

"Oh I'm sure I can handle it, I don't know about mister 'lapse in sanity' here." May replied, gesturing to Alex.

_"Wonderful, they all think I'm insane. It stands to reason, though, since you ARE driving me crazy."_ Alex grumbled mentally.

_"I don't know what any of that means but you're welcome."_ Odari replied casually.

"Well good luck you two, everyone's counting on you." Wallace gave the two trainers a salute then took off running towards the shore, in a hurry to get to Pacifidlog. Pacifidlog was a town built on a reef and sitting directly in the middle of the ocean with strong currents on one side and the storm now bearing down from the other.

"Well...lets get to work I guess." Alex said to May. The two of them walked through the open door of the Sky Pillar and wandered into the first floor. They were immediately met with a corridor about 20 feet long that turned at a ninety degree angle at the end. The corridor itself was barren stone weathered by time.

"Kinda feels like Mirage Tower in the desert all over again?" Alex commented to May.

"Except you're not complaining it shouldn't exist..." May replied with a giggle.

"I've been running into a lot of things that shouldn't exist..." Alex muttered. _"Talking emeralds for one..."_ He then noted mentally.

"So...do you think those would qualify as traps?" May wondered, pointing towards several small holes in the walls lining the length of the corridor.

"That looks like a typical cliche arrow trap." Alex stated, nodding. "I was hoping this place would have more interesting traps than that..."

_"More interesting?"_ Odari laughed. _"If you know of a way to get passed an entire floor of arrow launchers be my guest!"_

"So I guess we just ice the walls and go past?" May suggested.

"I doub't we'll even need to do that." Alex replied, reaching for a pokeball. "Golem, go!"

Alex held up the pokeball and released Golem before him. Golem quickly scanned the corridor ahead before turning to Alex, wondering what it was released for.

"I have my doubts those arrows will even fire, but even if they do they won't pierce Golem's rock shell." Alex explained. "Golem, I want you to use Defense Curl then roll down the corridor."

Golem nodded and withdrew its head, arms, and legs into its rock shell and began rolling down the corridor. Sure enough, just as Alex had expected, no arrows were fired.

"Huh? Its not even firing? What gives?" May wondered, looking to Alex for an explanation. Alex started off down the corridor, stepping into the area where the arrow slits were. Again, none were fired.

_"Ok, what'd you do?"_ Odari asked Alex. _"You should have been swarmed by arrows, they were only supposed to ignore pokemon!"_

_"Huh, so they ignore pokemon? Guess testing them with Golem was pointless then." _Alex thought, scratching the back of his head.

"Its simple really, the trap couldn't stand the test of time." Alex explained. "Either other poor souls wasted its arrows or the firing mechanism rusted into oblivion."

"Think this means the other traps won't work either?" May asked him.

_"Ha! Don't count on it, girl!"_ Odari snapped at May, even though only Alex could hear her. _"The arrow trap might not have survived but the rest of my traps will definitely still be active."_

_"Hopefully they'll be more inventive too..."_ Alex thought, rolling his eyes. He continued down the corridor with Golem still rolling ahead and May following behind. Rounding the bend they found a similar corridor, and again at the end of that corridor. Finally, in the last corridor which would have taken them full circle ended in a flight of stairs instead. Alex recalled Golem and the two trainers went up to the second level.

"Well this floor seems fine, maybe that was the only trap?" May commented when she reached the next floor. The second floor looked the same as the first, only without the arrow slits. Alex bent down to take a closer look at the floor, not entirely convinced.

"I think the floor up ahead is like that one we encountered in the Mirage Tower..." Alex stated, noticing how the stone floor seemed more weathered after a certain point suggesting a weaker material.

"Another common trap I guess..." May sighed, taking a pokeball from her belt. "I have this one then. Altaria, lets go!"

May released Altaria from its pokeball and the dragon pokemon appeared before her, looking out at the corridor. It turned its head back towards May, wondering what it was called out for.

"Altaria, I need you to Ice Beam the floor up ahead. The entire floor too." Altaria nodded and turned to the corridor again, aiming an Ice Beam attack at the floor. It didn't take long for Altaria to have the entire floor stretching out before them encased in ice.

With the floor safe to walk across, Alex and May continued through the corridor. Around the next corner they had Altaria freeze the floor again and continued as such until, like on the first floor, they came nearly full circle and reached a flight of stone steps leading to the third floor.

_"Well, your second trap was just as lame as your first trap."_ Alex taunted Odari.

_"You're far from out of danger."_ Odari shot back.

_"Really? I wasn't even aware we were in danger to begin with..."_ Alex retorted.

When the two trainers reached the third floor they noticed what seemed to be a far more obvious trap. On the walls of the corridor were four images of Baltoy, two on each side, with an image of a Claydol at the end of the corridor.

"Well this is interesting..." Alex commented, taking out his notepad and ripping out a blank sheet of paper. "Bet the eyes fire lasers or something."

"I don't think they had lasers back then." May said in response. "Magic is possible but you don't believe in that. What are you doing with that paper anyway?"

"Watch..." Alex crumbped up the paper into a ball. "Lob this towards them and..." And gave the paper ball a light toss towards the images. To Alex's dismay, nothing happened and the paper ball fell to the floor without incident.

"So...what was I supposed to be watching?" May asked jokingly.

"I thought for sure they'd fire at it..." Alex grumbled, reaching for a pokeball. "In that case I'll just have a pokemon destroy it from here. Alakazam, go!"

Alex released Alakazam from the pokeball he retrieved. The psychic pokemon immediately knew what Alex had planned, wanting her to attack and destroy the Baltoy figures. However, Alakazam didn't attack. It peered about the corridor, as if it could sense something.

"Hey, why aren't you attacking?" Alex asked Alakazam. The psychic pokemon turned to him and pointed at the Baltoy image.

"Yeah, thats what I want you to attack..." Alex stated, thinking Alakazam was confirming his orders. Alakazam slapped her hand against her forehead in exasperation.

"-Language barriers can be so aggravating at times...-" Alakazam grumbled.

"I think Alakazam's trying to tell you something." May said to Alex. Alakazam nodded in agreement and pointed to the image again. Alex rubbed his chin and thought for a moment.

"Alakazam, is there something preventing you from destroying that figure?" Alex asked. Alakazam shook her head.

"Is there any danger, as far as you can tell, in destroying it?" Alakazam thought for a moment, then shook her head again.

_"No, I am sure they can get out without my assistance..."_ Alakazam thought.

_"Would you like for me to give you and your mind-reader friend there the answer?"_ Odari asked Alex. _"You'll never figure it out until its too late otherwise."_

"Alright, lets try this then..." Alex took a pen from his backpack now, still having his notepad in hand. He flipped open to another blank page and held the pen and notepad out to Alakazam. The psychic pokemon nodded and focused its psychic powers on the pen, a blue aura surrounding it as Alakazam took the pen and began writing on the notepad. When Alakazam was finished, Alex took the note and read it.

"Whats it say?" May quickly asked, trying to peek over Alex's shoulder.

"Alakazam can sense the presence of other psychic pokemon on the other side of these images." Alex replied to her, looking up at the stone images again. "If I were to guess, I'd say there's four Baltoy and a Claydol waiting to attack..."

"You mentioned those pokemon before...psychic and ground types, right?" May asked. Alex nodded in response. "So then I'll use Ludicolo and you use Sceptile and we can lure them out and fight them.

"Was thinking the same thing." Alex replied with a smirk, reaching for Sceptile's pokeball and releasing the grass lizard pokemon in front of Alakazam. Alex watched the images for a moment after releasing Sceptile until he was sure nothing was going to happen.

"Ludicolo, I choose you!" May called out, releasing her own grass pokemon next to Alakazam.

"Alright, wait until they appear to attack." Alex instructed May. "Sceptile? Time to really test out that new attack of your's on that Claydol."

Sceptile nodded, already knowing what attack Alex was referring to. Sceptile's tail began to glow as it slowly absorbed light energy in preparation to attack. Once Sceptile had charged all the energy it needed it expelled it all in the form of a beam. The Solar Beam attack travelled down the corridor, piercing through the thin wall that formed the Claydol image and striking something on the otherside. Soon after all the images, including the one of Claydol, began to crack as four Baltoy and a damaged Claydol burst through the walls and into the corridor.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised to see a Claydol survive a Solar Beam after it smashed through the wall..." Alex said to himself. "It won't last much longer now, so lets get this battle started! Sceptile, finish that Claydol off with Leaf Blade! Alakazam, use Reflect!"

"In that case I guess its time for your first real battle in a while, Ludicolo!" May added in her excitement. "Hit all the Baltoys with Surf!"

The three pokemon simultaneously set to work. A wall of water rose up in front of Ludicolo and Alakazam as Sceptile shot forward and formed a large green blade from one of the leaves on its forearms. Meanwhile, all three of them became encased in a blue barrier as Alakazam focused on protecting them. Once created the Reflect technique would remain in effect for a short period of time and hinder physical attacks.

Sceptile was the first of the two grass pokemon to land its attack, slashing the weakened Claydol with its Leaf Blade and instantly knocking it out. Oddly enough the Claydol disappeared afterwards and was resealed behind the wall. Ludicolo's Surf attack swept up the four Baltoys afterwards, sending them crashing into the far wall of the corridor by Sceptile and narrowly avoiding hitting the grass pokemon.

All four Baltoy were still concious, however none moved from the spot they landed in as they began to attack. The Baltoys began to glow then each released a massive blast of energy that engulfed Sceptile as well as half the corridor briefly. Sceptile was blasted back, landing in front of Alakazam and Ludicolo unconcious despite its extra protection from Protect. The Baltoy, like Claydol, then disappeared as the wall mysteriously reformed.

"An explosion trap..." Alex muttered as he recalled Sceptile. "Well I hope thats the last of them then, we might be in trouble otherwise..."

May ran ahead to the end of the corridor to look down the next. Sure enough, there were four more images of Baltoy and an image of a Claydol arranged to mirror the previous corridor.

"There's still more up ahead..." May informed Alex. "I think we could be in a bit of trouble here..."

_"Of course you're in trouble."_ Odari stated in agreement. _"You're lucky enough to have survived the first encounter."_

"Well if they're just going to Self-Destruct as their first attack then we've got nothing to worry about." Alex replied, moving through the corridor to meet up with May again. Ludicolo followed behind, and Alakazam teleported to the end of the corridor.

"Do you have a plan then?" May asked, then rolled her eyes. "Silly question, of course you do..."

"Yep, already set in motion too." As Alex said this, Alakazam disappeared and teleported into the middle of the corridor ahead. At first. nothing happened. After a moment though, the images broke apart as the Claydol and the four Baltoy came out from behind the wall and moved towards Alakazam. As the five pokemon began glowing, Alakazam vanished again leaving them all to Self-Destruct on nothing and return to the wall. Alakazam reappeared in front of Alex and May again, having used Teleport to escape.

_"That shouldn't have worked."_ Odari said to Alex. _"Those Baltoy and Claydol shouldn't have attacked pokemon."_

_"I knew this, and Alakazam knew this."_ Alex replied. _"In fact, this would have been obvious after hearing about the arrow trap. I suppose that means I'm cheating a bit but whatever. Anyway, Alakazam is smarter than I am so of course she knew to provoke the Baltoy and Claydol into attacking using her psychic powers."_

"So I guess there's just one corridor to go." May noted. "Think I could get this one with Gardevoir?"

"You probably could..." Alex replied. "But why?"

"So I feel like I'm doing more than just tagging along..." May replied in a sour tone while reaching for Gardevoir's pokeball. "Ludicolo, thanks for your help but we probably won't be fighting anymore Baltoy or Claydol like that. Return!" May recalled Ludicolo, and subsequently held up Gardevoir's pokeball.

"Isn't that exactly what you're doing?" Alex asked her with a slight smirk on his face. "I mean, we haven't really come across anything that I wouldn't have been able to handle on my own. I definitely didn't need your help for-ow!" Alex's comments were cut short by an elbow to the stomach from May.

"Hmph. You should be thankful for my company." May shot back. "At least you have someone to talk to, a pretty girl who's actually willing to put up with you for some reason..."

_"The lass certainly thinks highly of herself."_ Odari commented dryly. _"Should be interesting should the sapphire ever be reunited with her, powers and all. I'm sure Haruka's conciousness will have several choice words for her."_

_"You can say whatever you like about me, but not May." _Alex thought in response to Odari. _"Destiny has reserved that right for me. Observe."_

"You're right I guess." Alex said to May with a shrug. "Afterall, this would hardly be a quest without the token female." No sooner had Alex finished his statement than had he felt the impact with his face, followed by blacking out.

_"Oh yes, you truly have the gift..."_ Odari said to him sarcastically while he was unconcious. _"You have definitely enraged her like I never could, and I have no idea what that was supposed to mean either."_

"Jerk, I hope I broke your..." May stopped, watching as Alex suddenly went limp and collapsed onto the floor.

"EEK! I didn't hit him that hard did I?!" May screamed in panic. Lying on the ground, blood began dripping from Alex's nose. May quickly checked Alex for a pulse. To her relief, he seemed fine. Just unconcious and probably with a broken nose.

_"Melany shouldn't have been knocked out by that..."_ Alakazam thought to herself. _"She clearly isn't faking it though...perhaps Odari had something to do with this?"_

May put Gardevoir's pokeball back on her belt, taking Altaria's pokeball in hand instead and quickly released Altaria from its pokeball. Altaria was confused as to what had happened, looking between Alex and May. May didn't say a word, though, as she reached up to pull off her bandana.

"Altaria, I need some ice..." Altaria nodded and fired a very short Ice Beam at the wall, creating a circle of ice about a foot in diameter. Altaria followed up by pecking at it, knocking off small chunks which May collected and tied up in her bandana.

"Thanks Altaria." May placed her bandana on the ground, then bent over to untie one of her shoes and completely undo the lace and pull it out. She picked up her bandana again, then sat Alex up against the wall of the corridor.

"I overreact a lot, don't I?" May quietly said to no one in particular, taking her bandana and placing it against Alex's nose which she assumed to be broken. She took the shoelace and tied it around his head to hold the bandana in place. "I guess its a good thing mom taught me basic first aid...apply ice for fifteen minutes and sit upright..."

May wiped some of the blood from Alex's face with her glove and sighed. "You'd think I'd be used to it by now...but that one was just really mean Alex. It was still wrong of me to hit you I guess, but...Alakazam, he'll be alright right?"

Alakazam nodded to May, having already thought over everything. Alex didn't seem to be in any danger to her, and as far as she could tell May hadn't struck him with enough force to knock him out. In fact, to Alakazam, it seemed more like Alex had fallen asleep. Which didn't make much sense either since if he was he should have been woken up by May just now, unless it was an unnatural sleep.

"Good..." May replied quietly. "I should probably keep going without him then, one of us needs to reach Rayquaza. I'll come back for him after and get him to a hospital. You'll look after him, right Alakazam?"

"-Of course.-" Alakazam replied, nodding.

"I'll keep going then. Sorry about this Alex..." May gave Alex a quick peck on the cheek, then took off down the corridor. Altaria flapped its wings and followed behind her.

_"Well, Melany will be upset she missed that."_ Alakazam thought. _"Though I suppose, had she been awake, May wouldn't have done that..."_

May stopped at the edge of the corridor to peek around into the next, the last corridor before she would presumably find the stairs to the next floor. She took Gardevoir's pokeball in hand, this time calling out her pokemon. The psychic pokemon, sensitive to emotions, could immediately feel a stinging sensation of guilt from her trainer.

"Gardevoir, there's psychic pokemon hiding behind those images." May informed her pokemon. Gardevoir nodded.

"-Yes, I sense their prescence.-" Gardevoir replied, then looked back to the other end of the hall to see Alakazam and Alex. She nodded in understanding when she saw Alex sitting against the wall.

"-She must feel guilty for having to leave him behind.-" Gardevoir stated quietly.

"-Actually I think she punched him...-" Altaria corrected her. "-Humans seem so fragile at times. Anyway, I think May still needs you!-"

May said nothing as her pokemon talked, only speaking up again when they were quiet. "Gardevoir, I need you to go out into that corridor until those Baltoy and Claydol come out to attack you. They'll use Self-Destruct so use Teleport to get away when its too late for them to stop the attack."

"-Undoorstood, my lady.-" Gardevoir replied, nodding. She slowly walked down the corridor, continuing until she reached the end. Nothing came out to attack her though.

"Thats odd..." May stated in confusion. "Maybe there's nothing here?" May started down the corridor, and Gardevoir's eyes went wide in fear as the stone images began to crack and the Baltoy and Claydol all broke out of their confines and swarmed May. May gasped in surprise, having thought for sure there was nothing there.

Gardevoir quickly teleported to her trainer as the Baltoy and Claydol surrounded her. The group of pokemon began glowing as Gardevoir teleported again, taking May with her and reappearing around the corridor. They could hear the explosion nearby as dust was blasted into the wall at their end of the corridor.

"Wow...that was close..." May breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Gardevoir..."

"-Your welcome, my lady. It seems those pokemon do not attack other pokemon unless provoked, however their energy is now depleted. It is safe for us to pass.-"

"Well, now that the coast is clear, lets go!" May said to her pokemon. The two of them nodded and followed behind May as she took off down the corridor again. May found another flight of stairs and took them up to the next floor. When May reached the top, however, she was surprised to find there were no more corridors. Instead, there was a large room with three statues. Two seemingly guarding a flight of stairs at the northern wall and another standing by the southern wall.

The statues by the northern wall appeared to be some kind of flying pokemon standing upright. They had sleek bodies and tiny feet and hands. They were hardly symmetrical, however, as one stood about four feet tall while the other was a good two feet taller than it.

The third statue was more humanoid in appearance, in fact it seemed like a golem of sorts. It had a large, rounded body and stood at roughly six feet tall. Its arms ended in three claws.

"With how predictable everything else has been here, I'm going to guess those statues come to life and attack." May muttered bitterly.

"-Well that doesn't sound very fun.-" Altaria commented.

"-She is likely correct, however.-" Gardevoir stated, nodding slightly. "-I sense odd emanations from those statues...-"

May reached for another pokeball, this time taking Blaziken's pokeball in hand and releasing her fully evolved starter.

"-Well, welcome to the fully evolved club-" Gardevoir said to Blaziken, chuckling lightly.

"-Heh, thanks.-" Blaziken replied, a smirk forming on its mouth.

"Blaziken, I want you to try attacking that statue there with Brick Break. Since rock pokemon are weak to fighting attacks, then a stone statue should crumble just as well!" May pointed to the statue closest to them, the one that looked like a golem, as she addressed Blaziken.

"-This will be a piece of cake.-" Blaziken dashed forward and brought its fist into the side of the statue. The statue immediately began to crack, as May had hoped, then suddenly burst into a pile of dust.

"Well that was easy..." May commented. The destruction of the first statue, however, triggered the remaining two to seemingly come to life. They began floating and leveled off so they were horizontal instead of verticle and began moving towards Blaziken.

"Alright, Blaziken! Attack the larger one first and finish it off with a Brick Break too!" Blaziken dashed forward towards the larger of the two statues and slammed its fist into it. The statue didn't crack in the slightest. Blazken was then surrounded in a blue aura and tossed across the room and slammed into the far well.

Blaziken slid to the floor in a daze and the two statues attacked again, the larger one firing a beam of white light while the smaller fired a similar ball of energy. The two attacks struck Blaziken simultaneously and briefly engulfed it in a white light. When the light faded, Blaziken was unconcious. May quickly recalled it and the two statues shifted their attention to her.

_"Blaziken's attacks didn't work that time..."_ May thought for a moment. _"That was definitely a Psychic attack too...maybe they're actually psychic pokemon?"_

"Gardevoir, Double Team! Altaria, Ice Beam the big one!" Gardevoir quickly split into multiple images in an attempt to confuse their opponents while Altaria fired off a blue beam at the same statue Blaziken attempted to attack. To May's surprise, the beam had seemingly no affect as it hit. However, the statue shattered and disinitegrated entirely.

_"Wait...maybe specific attacks will destroy them?"_ May thought to herself, noting the success of the Ice Beam against the last statue and Blaziken's Brick Break on the first. The remaining statue chose to attack Altaria and appeared to spew out a stream of blue flames from where a mouth would be. The attack, which May recognized as Dragonbreath, landed a direct hit and sent Altaria crashing into the ground. Fortunately, Altaria proved to be far more durable taking an effective hit that wasn't ice and got right back up again.

"Now I get it! Those two were dragons, and since dragons are weak to ice an ice attack instantly destroyed the statue! Altaria, destroy this one with Dragonbreath!" As instructed, Altaria answered back with her own Dragonbreath attack. The blue flames it spewed out had no visible effect on the statue itself, but it disintegrated nonetheless as May had predicted.

"Woo-hoo! I was right!" May cried out, jumping for joy. "I actually figured that out on my own with nothing to go by and nothing on the statues to even indicate what type of pokemon they were!"

"-Well, I obviously wasn't that useful in this battle.-" Gardevoir stated bitterly, teleporting next to May as her false images faded away.

"-You didn't miss much...they all went down in one hit afterall...-" Altaria replied, sighing heavily. "-That Dragonbreath attack certainly hurt though, must have been a powerful pokemon...statue...thing..."

"Really wish I didn't punch Alex out now..." May said with a sigh. "Now I can't brag about this to him..."

- Insert Line Here -

"-We meet again...-" Alex heard a male voice saying to him.

"Huh? Who said that?" Alex looked around, but all he could see was darkness everywhere.

"Quiet, it wasn't talking to you." Came the sharp reply of a voice that was all to familiar to him. The source of the voice soon appeared before him in the form of brown-haired female wearing leather armor. She looked to be only a few years older than he was, though a lot alike aside from longer hair.

"Wait...you're Odari?" Alex asked her in surprise, looking her over from head to foot. "You...look just like me..."

"Correction, I look like what you SHOULD look like." Odari shot back, glaring at him. "I don't recall having ever felt the need to show off like you do either. If I were in her shoes I'd probably kill you now while I had the chance."

"So then...who was that other voice I heard?" Alex asked. He soon had his answer as a huge, green, serpent-like dragon appeared floating above Odari.

"-You must be Alex...-" The pokemon, which Alex immediately recognized as Rayquaza, said to him.

"Thats probably a fake name since 'he' has decided to pretend to be a boy for reasons not yet explained to me." Odari informed Rayquaza.

"-Regardless, Odari has told me about you.-" Rayquaza said to Alex. "-Normally I would have you battle me first. However I cannot afford to be at any less than full strength. I would have already attempted to intervene had I known of your arrival.-"

"Wait, you already know whats going on then?" Alex asked Rayquaza.

"-Yes, I know of Kyogre and Groudon's appearance at Sootopolis. They have absorbed the powers of the sapphire and ruby and continue their ancient battle for the Cave of Origins.-" Rayquaza replied.

"Then why are you waiting for me to climb up this tower?" Alex asked. "Why not just go there and try to stop them? Why not spare me and May from having to go through Odari's pathetic excuses for traps?" Odari visibly twitched at Alex's remark about her traps.

"-The traps will serve as your test for now.-" Rayquaza replied. "-Also, there is something at the top of the tower I wish for you to see. Perhaps you will be able to interpret it better than Odari could when she was here.-"

"I highly doubt that..." Odari muttered. "You finished with 'him' now so I can wake 'him' up?"

"-I have nothing more to say.-" Rayquaza said, nodding to Odari. "-Unless Alex has questions for me...-"

"Actually..." Alex began, but was quickly cut off by Odari.

"Too late!" Odari waved a hand and everything went black again.

- Insert Line Here -

"Ow..." Before Alex even opened his eyes he could feel the pain emanating from his nose. He could also feel something cold pressing against his face and tied aroud his head.

When Alex finally opened his eyes most of what he could see was a green cloth bundled up and tied around his head with what looked like a shoe lace. Glancing around over the cloth package he saw he was still in the same spot as before only now it was just Alakazam with him. Alex was sitting on the floor with his back against the wall.

"Alakazam? Where'd May go?" Alex asked her. Alakazam pointed down the corridor, suggesting May went on without him.

"Judging by the pain I'd say May broke my nose..." Alex muttered. Alakazam nodded in agreement. "This is her bandana though, isn't it?" Alex asked, pointing to the cloth ball tied to his face. Alakazam again nodded in agreement.

"I'm guessing that was Odari's doing when I was knocked unconcious too..." Alex muttered.

_"Guilty."_ Came Odari's reply mentally. _"Rayquaza wanted to talk with you and that seemed like an oh-so-perfect opportunity to do so as well as making your friend May feel incredibly guilty."_

_"In other words, you had this all planned..."_ Alex thought, slowly getting to his feet. He actually felt a bit tired from whatever it was Odari had done to him. _"And you're capable of doing that at any time as well..."_

_"Not quite. I can do very little with magic and used up much of my power to put you to sleep and make it look like you were unconcious instead of sleeping." _Odari replied. _"I doubt I will be doing that again anytime soon. Until my power is slowly replenished I will be reserving what little I have for communication."_

_"Or you could just shut up..." _Alex thought, rolling his eyes. _"Alakazam, you're getting all this right?"_ Alakazam nodded, it made a habit of reading Alex's mind whenever the opportunity presented itself. Alex didn't often try to hide anything from Alakazam anyway.

"Well I guess now I better get caught up with May and apologize to her." Alex said to himself. "Alakazam, thanks for watching over me but I'll be fine from here. Return!" Alex recalled Alakazam to her pokeball and placed it back on his belt.

_"One more thing..."_ Alex thought. _"Odari, I would just like to say that you are a complete and total bitch for putting me to sleep at a time that'd make it seem like it was May's fault. If at some point I am able to tell her about you I will explain this all to her and allow her the opportunity to get back at you in any way she chooses."_

_"In that case, I won't tell you what she did to you while you were asleep. For your information, she didn't just put ice on your nose."_

_"Really?"_ Alex replied, trying to sound surprised.

_"Yes, really..."_ Odari replied irritably.

_"Are you sure? I mean you did seem kinda busy in there to notice what might be going on outside."_

_"Yes, I am sure. I am also aware you're just trying to get me to talk a lot so I'll use up the last of my energy. Well for your information I'm..."_ Odari seemed to suddenly go silent. Alex smirked to himself.

"Finally, some peace and quiet...and probably no mind reading from her either..." Alex started off down the corridor, finally on his way to catch up with May.

_"You know, I'm glad I'm alone here..."_ Alex thought to himself. _"I can imagine how ridiculous I must look right now."_

Alex quickly rounded the bend and made it through the next corridor without incident, reaching the stairs to get up to the next floor. All of the Baltoy and Claydol were still incapable of fighting back, allowing Alex to safely reach the next level. Upon arriving on the next floor, Alex could see a Gardevoir moving up a flight of stairs at the northern end of the room. The psychic pokemon felt Alex's prescence and stopped to look back at him.

"Gardevoir? What'd you stop for?" May asked her pokemon from the top of the stairs. Gardevoir looked back and pointed across the room to Alex, prompting May to go back down the stairs to see what Gardevoir was pointing at.

"Alex? You're...awake?" May asked in surprise.

"Yeah...so how long was I out for anyway?" Alex asked curiously.

"It couldn't have been more than ten minutes..." May replied, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Umm...sorry about that..."

"Don't worry about it..." Alex said to her. "I'm the one who should be apologizing, I went a bit far with that one..."

May stared in disbelief for a moment. She had broken his nose and knocked him out, yet he was apologizing to her and didn't even seem the slightest bit upset.

"You're not even mad about it? Even a little?" May asked him.

"Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't..." Alex replied, slowly crossing the room to approach her. "My nose hurts like heck, but I probably deserved it. Or at least deserved the punch."

"No...no you didn't..." May replied softly. "I shouldn't be hitting you for something silly like that..."

"May, believe me, I'm used to it." Alex replied, chuckling quietly. "Just don't hit me so hard next time..."

"I'll try not to..." May smiled slightly. "I still can't believe I hit you hard enough to knock you out..."

"I'm sure there's a logical explanation for that somewhere. By the way, how long am I going to be wearing this for?" Alex pointed to the bandana tied to his face. "Its cold, uncomfortable, and getting wet..."

"You're supposed to hold an ice pack to a broken nose for fifteen minutes twice a day." May lectured him, waving a finger. "You can take it off but you still have to hold it there for at least another five."

"Fine, then I'm at least holding it against the other side..." Alex quickly reached back to untie the shoelace then took the makeshift ice pack and held it to the other side of his nose. "I didn't know you knew so much about first aid though..."

"Well we didn't really need it." May replied with a shrug. "There was the time you got stung by Roselia but that was taken care of with an antidote and some bandages. I got paralyzed by Plusle when I ran into it, but a paralyze heal fixed that. Then there was the time Electrike electrocuted me but I couldn't really help myself then anyway..."

"How about the time I was bitten by a Zigzagoon?" Alex muttered bitterly.

"It didn't even puncture the skin..." May rolled her eyes.

"True enough. So was there a trap here?" Alex asked, looking around the room.

"Oh! I almost forgot about that!" May replied excitedly. "There were these statues of pokemon that came to life and attacked and Blaziken knocked out one with a fighting attack so I thought that'd work on all of them but it ended up I had to hit the statues with an attack that'd be effective against that type of pokemon and I figured out the statues were dragon pokemon so Altaria took them both down with one hit! I actually figured that out despite never having seen pokemon like them before!"

"-Well I'm glad you two made up so quickly!-" Gardevoir said, smiling from the feeling of May's enthusiasm.

"Really? Well congratulations! Sounds like you've dealt with the only interesting trap so far all on your own." Alex also smiled, not wanting to ruin May's excitement. "Lets keep going though, we should be almost at the top now."

"Right! You should probably take it easy though." May said to him. "Your nose is probably very sensitive right now and if there was more to you getting knocked out than me punching you it could happen again."

"I'll be fine. Besides, I've got a cute nurse watching over me apparently."

"A-Alex!" May blushed deeply. "What'd you just say?"

"I was referring to your Gardevoir." Alex replied, obviously lying. He quickly brushed past May and started on his way up the stairs, thinking to himself how he just seems to keep digging himself a deeper grave.

"-M-me?!-" Gardevoir stammered, also blushing now.

"Hmph...I should have hit him harder..." May grumbled before following Alex up the stairs.

"-I suppose some things never truly change...-" Gardevoir said to herself with a sigh, following behind her trainer.

The two trainers, along with Gardevoir, made it to the top of the stairs and had finally made it to the top floor. May had already returned Altaria to its pokeball, choosing only to keep Gardevoir out incase there were anymore traps that she would be able to sense.

The floor they reached was much different from any others in the tower. It consisted of one long corridor that seemed to end with a large chamber at the northern end and at the southern end was an opening into the sky.

"Wait, you mean we could have just flown in here?!" May said in dismay when she noticed the opening. "Well that just figures! After all that..."

"I'm surprised no one ever noticed that there before..." Alex added. "Kinda makes that front entrance pointless, as well as all those traps."

"Well there could still be traps on this floor...maybe something to do with all those funny pictures?" May pointed to a line of images carved into the stone, leading down the corridor. The only colored images, which appeared to be different colored crystals, seemed to make up a large number of the images.

"I'm not so sure those are a trap..." Alex moved closer to the images to examine them. "Almost looks like they tell a story..."

"Well if its not a trap lets just keep going then. I think we're almost there." May started down the corridor, but looked back when she realized Alex wasn't following her. He was still looking over the images on the wall.

"...Alex, what are you doing?" May asked him in exasperation.

"Take a look at this..." Alex replied, waving her over with his free hand. "These seem to be several separate incidents, and take a look at these two here..."

May went over to look at the images Alex was referring to. Both showed various images, including the crystals, but one of them had six small spheres aroung the crystals. Every image from that point on had spheres around the crystals, while all the images before didn't.

"So what does this all mean anyway?" May asked. She didn't really understand what the images meant or what Alex found so interesting about them.

"May, whats round and often carried in groups of six?" Alex quizzed her. May thought for a moment.

"Pokeballs?" May blinked. "Wait, so you think those spheres all represent pokeballs?"

"Exactly...so every image from this point on must be depicting an event in our time..." Alex stated. "And every image before would be before there were pokeballs..."

"Can you tell what any of it means then?" May asked curiously.

"Give me a minute..." Alex followed the images from the first one, which seemed to show three designs in the shape of Hoenn, Johto, and Kanto each with a gem in the middle. Emerald in Hoenn, sapphire in Johto, and ruby in Kanto. The next set of images showed only Hoenn, but with both the emerald and the sapphire in it. All instances of the gems had the six spheres around them.

The next 'panel' in the story showed an image of Groudon with a gem on it followed by a similar image of Kyogre. An image after showed the two, still with gems on them, facing each other as if in battle. The image after that showed the same only with Rayquaza above them and the sapphire and emerald above Rayquaza.

_"If I was to venture a guess..."_ Alex thought. _"I'd say that emerald is supposed to represent me, since clearly I've been unfortunate enough to have this passed down to me. The sapphire, then, probably represents May..."_

Neither the sapphire nor the emerald were in the next image, which showed only the ruby out of the three. It was a far more elaborate image though showing twelve shadowy figures surrounding the ruby. Between the ruby and the figures were three birds, also facing the ruby. An image after showed the ruby and a single, larger demonic-looking figure with a heart seemingly trapped within.

_"You know, I have no idea who the ruby is, only that its in Kanto."_ Alex thought after examining the images. _"Though judging by the looks of those images, me and May get off relatively easy..."_

Alex continued down to the next set of images which showed an outline of Hoenn with all three gems in it. This image was followed by one more before the entire story seemed to repeat. The finaly image showed the ruby, sapphire, and emerald again only each was facing a demonic figure while a larger one loomed over them. Alex stood back after looking over the last image and thought for a moment.

"So...any ideas?" May asked, interrupting Alex's thoughts.

"I've got nothing..." Alex replied, deciding it best to keep his observations to himself for now. "How about you? Any ideas?"

"Well I kinda thought maybe they represented us..." May replied, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "Then I realized that couldn't be it because you've got the ruby instead of the emerald..."

_"Thats right..."_ Alex thought. _"I didn't tell anyone about the emerald yet. May also seems to be taking the gems to literally refer to the gems themselves when they actually, or at least in my opinion, refer to the owner of the gems..."_

"Speaking of which, you have the sapphire right?" Alex asked her. May nodded and handed the sapphire over to Alex.

"Alright, so I guess the only piece of this puzzle missing is Rayquaza..." Alex glanced down the corridor while using his free hand to put the sapphire in his backpack. "By the way, can I take this off yet?" Alex asked May, referring to his 'ice pack'. May quickly glanced at her watch.

"You should be fine to take it off now." May replied, nodding. "Shouldn't you be asking Gardevoir though?" May added, rolling her eyes.

"-I know nothing of human medicine!-" Gardevoir exclaimed indignantly.

"Your watch, and your bandana." Alex replied, tossing the bandana back to May. May wasn't ready for it though and missed the catch, letting it fall to the floor. She quickly picked it up in two fingers. Much of the ice had melted, leaving the bandana wet with a few spots of blood on it.

"Eww...so not wearing this..." May quickly wrung out the bandana before placing it in her fannypack.

Alex wiped his face, wet from the water seeping through May's bandana, then lightly poked his nice. He winced as even the light poke from his finger hurt slightly.

"Don't touch it!" May scolded him. "Your nose needs time to heal."

"You know, I can just imagine you someday breaking both my legs then being the one pushing me around in a wheelchair." May raised her arm back, as if about to punch Alex. Thinking on what happened earlier, however, she decided against it.

"I'll let that slide for now..." May replied, smiling slightly. "I don't have a wheelchair on me."

"-I hate to interrupt, my lady, but...-" Gardevoir tapped May on the shoulder. May looked back to see what she wanted and Gardevoir pointed down the corridor.

"Right...we need to get moving." May said in agreement. "There's probably no more traps though, so you can rest in your pokeball for now Gardevoir. Thanks for everything." Gardevoir nodded to May, and May recalled Gardevoir to her pokeball.

The two trainers took off and made it to the end of the corridor without being ambushed by anymore traps. Entering the chamber at the end of the corridor they found, to their surprise, Rayquaza was already awake and seemed to be waiting for them.

_"Finally, I thought you'd never get to Rayquaza."_ Alex heard a voice in his head almost as soon as he entered the chamber.

_"Great, I see you're back..."_ Alex thought in response.

"Thats Rayquaza?!" May exclaimed in surprise. Alex was too busy speaking with the voice in his head to take much notice.

_"I was never gone. I merely wanted you to believe I was."_ Odari said to him, a mischevious tone in her voice. _"By the way, Rayquaza was technically responsible for your nap earlier. I'm merely a messenger I suppose you could say, and now I'm passing on your findings to Rayquaza myself and claiming them as my own."_

_"Ok, seriously, and I don't use this term lightly, fuck off."_ Alex replied, his eye twitching in suppressed anger.

"Hey, Alex! We found Rayquaza!" May said to Alex in an attempt to get his attention. "Now what?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry..." Alex rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, trying to hide any sign of being upset.

"-Odari has informed me of everything.-" Rayquaza stated. Alex was surprised to find he could understand it. "-I thank you for your help. However we must now be on our way.-"

Rayquaza circled around the perimeter of the chamber until its large head was resting next to Alex and May.

"I think Rayquaza wants us to get on..." Alex said to May. May nodded, and the two trainers got on Rayquaza's back. Rayquaza flew up through the open roof of the chamber then quickly took off towards Sootopolis with the two trainers holding on tightly.

"Well, you'll probably be happy to know I won't be talking to you again until this is over now." Odari informed Alex. "Rayquaza is taking his powers back, which means I won't be able to do anything but watch what happens. Have fun."

_"Good riddance..."_ Alex thought. _"Well in any case, next stop Sootopolis to save the world..."_

- Insert Line Here -

Author's notes: You know, I've apparently made two noteworthy mistakes recently that no one mentioned/picked up on. First, Luvdisc apparently doesn't get Serene Grace. Second, I referred to the Sky Pillar as the Spear Pillar. Neither really have any significant impact on the story but...

Anyway, a bit of a note on the emerald. Basically, Odari can speak with Alex because of Rayquaza's powers stored within. She can also attempt to put him, Kyogre, or Groudon asleep. Of course, she doesn't have a chance of getting Kyogre or Groudon with it. Obviously, Odari really hates Alex/Melany despite being pretty much the same person.


	52. Chapter 41: Battle for the Cave

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Forty One**

**Battle for the Cave of Origins**

"I think this is getting worse by the second!" Sidney said to the group of gym leaders and Elite Four gathered around the pokecenter. Much of the buildings on the lower level of the crater had been knocked down by waves and Groudon had taken out two other buildings on the eastern and western edges of the crater while tunneling to avoid attacks. The group of trainers had decided to make protecting the pokecenter their priority in the event that they need to use its services before the battle is out.

"Perhaps the child should be taken somewhere safe..." Drake stated in a gruff voice. "Her family is safe and sound in Lilycove, one of my dragons could take her there."

"Wait!" Flannery called out to the group, pointing to the sky with one hand and holding Angela against her with the other. "Up there!"

Everyone looked to the sky, including the two titans locked in battle in the middle of the crater. A hole began to open up in the center of the clouds, allowing light to filter down from above. The hole began to grow wider, revealing the form of a green serpent-like dragon floating above the clouds. Soon the hole had expanded to cover the entire area around Sootopolis, but extended no further.

"It seems Rayquaza's finally arrived!" Wattson, who was standing next to Flannery, noted. "I guess now the real show begins, huh?" He added, giving a hearty laugh.

"Are May and Alex with him?" Norman wondered aloud, his voice full of concern. "I can't see them from down here..."

Rayquaza began to slowly descend towards the plateau in front of the Cave of Origins, lowering itself to allow its two passengers to get off. Norman breathed a sigh of relief when he saw May and Alex standing near the Cave of Origins.

"Why is May with that monster?" Angela asked, whimpering and hiding behind Flannery. "Its not going to eat her is it?"

"No, that one's on our side!" Flannery replied.

* * *

"-So, even after countless millenia you two seek to continue your childish squabble...-" Rayquaza bellowed to the two titans below. "-If you do not discontinue I will be forced to rob you of your powers once again.-"

"-You are nothing to us now, Rayquaza!-" Groudon bellowed back. "-Without the powers of the ruby or sapphire you cannot put us to sleep again, and you are no match for us with the powers drained from the crystals increasing our strength.-"

"-For once it seems we are in complete agreement.-" Kyogre added. "-Flee back to your tower, Rayquaza, there is nothing you can do here.-"

"-I had a feeling it would come to this...-" Rayquaza stated quietly to Alex, the only one capable of understanding it. "-We must get the power of the ruby and sapphire from them and back to the gems.-"

"We'll need to get the powers back into the gems somehow..." Alex informed May, still a bit perplexed as to why he could understand Rayquaza bit trying not to draw attention to it.

"How can we do that though?" May wondered. "Its not like we can just ask them nicely."

"Well that shoots down my first idea..." Alex said, rolling his eyes.

_"If they are weakened through combat then perhaps we can retake the powers that way."_ Rayquaza said to Alex, now speaking to him telepathically through the crystal.

_"Wonderful, I get rid of one voice in my head and gain another."_ Alex thought, looking up at Rayquaza. _"Can this one read my mind too then?"_ Alex waited a moment to see if Rayquaza would respond, but the dragon didn't even seem to notice and instead had its attention focused on Kyogre and Groudon below them.

"Maybe we can try battling them with our pokemon to weaken them?" Alex suggested, repeating Rayquaza. "Once they're weakened then maybe if we struck a direct blow with the crystals themselves we could drain their power."

"Well you might just get your chance! Look!" Alex followed May's direction to see Groudon quickly burrowing into the mass of land it had formed below it. Alex realized Groudon must be tunneling its way to them.

"Guess we don't have much of a choice then..." Alex grumbled, reaching for a pokeball. "We'll do this the same way we've been doing things all along...I'll go after Groudon while you go after Kyogre."

"Right..." May replied, nodding in agreement. "How do we fight something that powerful though?"

"Whatever way we can!" Alex said quickly. "Alakazam, lets go!" Alex called out Alakazam from the pokeball he was holding. Alakazam looked back when it appeared, towards the hole Groudon had dug previously when it had trapped Alex in the Cave of Origins. Groudon was coming up that same hole.

"May, go with Rayquaza and get out of here." May nodded, and Rayquaza quickly lowered itself for May to get on. Once May was safely on its back, Rayquaza took off out over the water, just barely avoiding having its tail grabbed by Groudon as it emerged from the hole. Groudon stood and watched its prey escape for a moment before focusing its attention on Alex.

"Alakazam, lets go!" Alex called out. Alakazam nodded quickly and concentrated. Groudon swiped at the two of them with its large claws, but Alakazam managed to teleport both itself and Alex away at the last second and reappeared inside the cave. Alakazam made sure they would be out of arm's reach inside as well.

"A direct assault isn't going to work." Alex said to himself. "Slowing it down with status effects is our best shot. Too bad I never really considered status attacks to be all that useful..."

Alex reached for a pokeball, his attention still focused on Groudon. "Need to get that thing's attention so it doesn't go after Rayquaza again. Alakazam?" Alakazam nodded, knowing what it'd have to do. Meanwhile, Alex released Sceptile from its pokeball. The grass pokemon appeared and looked ready for battle, not backing down an inch even upon seeing its potential opponent at the mouth of the cave.

Alakazam focused for a moment to use one of its attacks. It then followed up by unleashing a beam of psychic energy to hit Groudon from behind. The beam seemed to have little effect, but it succeeded in getting Groudon's attention. The massive pokemon turned to face the cave opening and immediately reached a claw out towards them in vain.

"Sceptile, Leech Seed!" Sceptile quickly spun around, flinging a seed out from its leafy tail. The seed hit Groudon's arm and sprouted vines to latch on. The seed began draining energy from Groudon, passing it on to Sceptile. Sceptile immediately fell to its knees in pain, however. The amount of energy drained by Leech Seed was relatively little as far as the pokemon it was drained from was concerned. However a small amount of energy to Groudon in its powered-up state was more than Sceptile could handle.

"Damn it...the one time we actually use that attack..." Alex grumbled. Groudon hardly seemed phased by the Leech Seed and merely looked at it's arm curiously. "Alakazam, can you blast the seed off?"

Alakazam nodded, then closed its eyes and concentrated. A blue glow surrounded the seed and Alakazam quickly ripped it off with its psychic powers. With the seed removed, Sceptile recovered from the pain and got back to its feet. Around the same time, a white beam of energy shot out of the air above Alakazam and struck Groudon in the face. Groudon roared in anger and withdrew its arm from the cave.

"Guess that won't work..." Alex grumbled. "We need a better plan before Groudon decides to re-evaluate how much it cares about this cave being intact. I wonder if May's faring any better?"

* * *

Rayquaza wasn't having much luck with Kyogre, unfortunately. It had planned to set May down on a lower level of the crater near the water, but once Rayquaza was in range Kyogre began firing off Ice Beam attacks to try and hit the dragon. Rayquaza was forced to put all its effort into dodging the attacks, knowing full well that at Kyogre's current power it would only take a single Ice Beam to fell the dragon.

"Kyogre doesn't seem to be any faster for having the sapphire's power..." May said, thinking out loud. "If it was then I doubt Rayquaza would be able to dodge its attacks. In that case..." May took a pokeball from her belt.

"Ludicolo, go!" May called out as she pressed the button on the pokeball. The beam fired out from the pokeball towards the churning water below, materializing Ludicolo in the water.

"Ludicolo, I want you to avoid Kyogre's attacks in the water while hitting back with Absorb!" May called out to Ludicolo as Rayquaza flew away from it, dodging another Ice Beam. Ludicolo nodded, having gotten the message. Ludicolo quickly swam close enough, moving with the same speed it had while swimming to Sootopolis with May. Once in range, it drew out a small amount of energy from Kyogre and absorbed it into itself.

The attack had very little effect on Kyogre, but it did get the pokemon's attention. This gave Rayquaza the chance it needed to fly over to dry land to let May off while Kyogre started focusing its Ice Beam attacks on Ludicolo. The swift swimming pokemon deftly dodged the attacks, diving under the water and resurfacing elsewhere near Kyogre after each beam was fired.

* * *

"Does May actually...intend to battle Kyogre?" Norman wondered, watching from outside the pokecenter. "What does she think she could accomplish but get herself hurt?!"

"Calm yourself, Norman." Glacia said to him, arms crossed. "If anything, she is clearly on the right track, exploiting Kyogre's only noticeable weakness. Its speed. Her Ludicolo is able to take advantage of Kyogre's storm to make itself faster, giving itself a chance. Only Juan's Luvdisc and Kingdra share a similar capability."

"Perhaps..." Juan stated quietly, interrupting Glacia. "I will be keeping my pokemon safe in their pokeballs for now until they are needed. May's Ludicolo seems to have Kyogre distracted well enough, however Alex seems to have once again cornered himself in the Cave of Origins. He may be attempting to distract Groudon, giving May and Rayquaza the chance to focus on Kyogre."

"Yes..." Glacia stated in agreement, nodding reassuringly to Norman. "They are our best hope for success now, but we will be here to help them should they get into trouble."

"Should we help Alex, then?" Roxanne asked. "My rock pokemon could easily dig their way to him..."

"Groudon wouldn't take to kindly to that." Phoebe countered, waving her finger. "Alex is safe in the cave anyway since Groudon refuses to damage it..."

"Yay! May's going to beat the monsters!" Angela cried out excitedly, loosening her grip on Flannery slightly.

"I sure hope so..." Norman stated solemnly.

* * *

"I don't think Ludicolo's actually doing anything but annoying Kyogre..." May said to herself in dismay. "Can that thing actually be hurt? Does it have some big red glowing weakspot that I'm missing and every other part of its body is invulnerable like in some kind of game?!"

"-If only it were that simple...-" Rayquaza stated quietly. "-You will somehow have to achieve the same strength level as they have...-"

_"How can I fight this thing?"_ May wondered. _"Wait, Kyogre is focusing completely on Ludicolo...so maybe I can take the chance to power up another pokemon!" _May smiled to herself as she pulled a pokeball from her belt, formulating a plan in her head.

"Go, Altaria!" May called out, releasing Altaria from its pokeball. "Altaria, use Dragon Dance and keep it up!" Altaria appeared from its pokeball, flapping its wings to hover in front of May. Its body became surrounded in orange flames as it began to power up with Dragon Dance. Kyogre looked over at the group briefly but kept up its attacks against Ludicolo.

_"An interesting strategy..."_ Rayquaza noted mentally. _"If I tried the same, however, I am sure Kyogre would not stand by idly. However, if this girl can distract Kyogre with her powered up Altaria... "_

Ludicolo, meanwhile, seemed to be having the time of its life. It was enjoying the pleasant rain falling around it as well as toying with such a powerful pokemon.

"-You're never going to catch me!-" Ludicolo taunted Kyogre before diving beneath the waves, quickly moving to resurface beside it and avoiding another Ice Beam from Kyogre.

"-Might as well give it up!-" Ludicolo called out again, diving to dodge yet another Ice Beam directed at it.

"-Silence, fool!-" Kyogre bellowed in rage. "-Stop with this infantile game already!-" Kyogre fired off another Ice Beam attack, which was once again swiftly dodged by Ludicolo. Though just barely this time, as the surface of the water froze just after Ludicolo dove down to avoid the beam.

"Come on, Ludicolo...hang in there just a little longer..." May whispered pleadingly, her attention divided between Ludicolo continually evading Kyogre's attacks and Altaria powering up with Dragon Dance. After several tense minutes in which Kyogre seemed to be coming closer and closer to actually hitting Ludicolo, Altaria finally stopped. It had reached its maximum power level.

"Altaria, you ready?" May asked her pokemon. Altaria nodded in response, prompting May to quickly recall Ludicolo much to the water pokemon's dismay. With its target gone, Kyogre turned its attention to Rayquaza, May, and Altaria.

"-I shall give you one last chance to flee, dragon...-" Kyogre addressed Rayquaza. "-Although I still do not match your speed, that will only save you for so long. You cannot hope to inflict any damage to me, and even if you do it will never amount to anything.-"

"-I shall not be going anywhere.-" Rayquaza replied, a smirk forming on its lips. "-You would be wise to return your power and flee. Your powers may dwarf mine now, but it seems human ingenuity will always be more powerful.-"

"-Hmph. I highly doubt that.-" Kyogre replied indignantly, turning its attention to Altaria now. "-I do not know what you are supposed to be, but I will end you.-"

"Altaria, attack with Take Down!" May quickly called out, fearing an attack from Kyogre. Altaria moved to attack before Kyogre could even react, tackling Kyogre with tremendous force and sending the legendary pokemon sliding backwards through the water until it hit the edge of the other side of the crater, cracking the ground.

Despite such a tremendous impact, Kyogre still looked ready for battle and cast a glare back at Altaria. Altaria, however, wasn't faring nearly as well. To Altaria, it felt like it had rammed headfirst into a brick wall and was dazed for a moment after the impact. It managed to regain its composure as Kyogre launched an Ice Beam towards it, allowing Altaria to swiftly dodge the attack.

_"Take Down is too risky..."_ May thought, taking notice of Altaria's condition after the attack. _"I'll have to try less powerful attacks...but even a fully powered Take Down doesn't seem to phase that thing! Maybe this won't work afterall?"_

May was about to call out another attack when she caught sight of something glowing out of the corner of her eye. Looking up, she saw Rayquaza surrounded by the same aura her Altaria had earlier when using Dragon Dance.

_"Rayquaza knows Dragon Dance?"_ May thought, a smirk crossing her lips. _"Alright then! I just need to keep Kyogre busy with Altaria then. After that last attack Kyogre definitely can't ignore the threat Altaria poses to it."_

"Altaria, don't let up! Fury Attack!" Altaria swooped down low to avoid another Ice Beam attack from Kyogre, moving in quickly with its enhanced speed and unleashing a flurry of swipes and pecks on Kyogre. Kyogre seemed to reel in pain from every strike, but when Altaria finally let up for a moment Kyogre still didn't seem any worse for wear.

_"Either that thing is even more durable than it is powerful..."_ May thought to herself. _"Or the power Kyogre absorbed from the sapphire made it nearly indestructable. All we can do is keep hitting it and getting nowhere until we can think of a way to take back the sapphire's power..."_

Altaria wasn't giving Kyogre the chance to strike back, it kept up its assault with Fury Attack. It was clear, however, that the dragon pokemon was getting more and more exhausted as it continued its attack. It soon got a chance to relax for a moment as something distracted Kyogre, as well as everyone else present.

Groudon, who had been standing in front of the Cave of Origins, had suddenly been blasted out over the water by a rainbow-colored beam of energy. Once out was out near the middle of the crater, a white beam of energy fired down from above it to blast the titan into the water below where Groudon disappeared below the surface.

"What was that?!" May shouted in surprise. A white flash of light suddenly erupted next to her as Alakazam teleported in with Alex.

"Well I guess that ends that..." Alex commented, rubbing the back of his head. "Kinda disappointed actually, all that power but because it refused to damage the cave it couldn't stop Alakazam from overpowering it with...huh?"

Alex quickly found himself eating his words as a mass of land rose up out of the water, Groudon riding on top of it and looking virtually unharmed despite enduring two powerful attacks. Alakazam was fully powered up with its Calm Mind technique and had hit Groudon with both a Psybeam and a Future Sight attack, but Groudon didn't even seem damaged.

"There's no way..." Alex stammered, completely in shock.

"Well, if that doesn't hurt them, nothing will..." May added, not at all phased by the situation. "I thought that might be the case when Altaria's attacks seemed to hurt it but had no lasting effect..."

"Well thats just great..." Alex muttered, clenching a fix. "And to add insult to injury you figured it out before me..."

_"They are not entirely impervious..."_ Rayquaza informed Alex mentally while still powering up. _"A powerful attack will leave them vulnerable to have their powers removed from them. We must hit them with a powerful attack and leave them momentarily weakened, allowing the sapphire and ruby to regain their power if in the hands of someone with a strong spiritual energy. Alakazam or Altaria may suffice at the moment as well..."_

Alex thought over this new information for a moment while Alakazam went back on the offensive, lifting Groudon with a Psychic attack and flinging it into the far wall of the crater away from any structures. Once again, Groudon seemed unfazed by the attack and prepared to counter with a Solar Beam. From where Alex and May were standing, Kyogre and Groudon were nearly side by side now although Groudon was further back than Kyogre.

"Alakazam, you should be able to take that Solar Beam attack." Alex stated. Alakazam nodded in agreement and teleported out in front of the group as Groudon fired the energy beam and was joined by an Ice Beam from Kyogre. The two attacks hit Alakazam and created a blinding flash of light. When the group could see again, Alakazam was on its knees. The attacks had weakened it greatly but it could still fight.

"I think I have an idea now..." Alex said, noticing Groudon and Kyogre's relative positions. "Maybe we can hit them both with one powerful attack and then drain their power..."

"But none of our attacks are working so far!" May countered. "What pokemon would be strong enough to pull that off?" Alex raised a finger, pointing to Rayquaza. The dragon pokemon was finished using its Dragon Dance technique and had reached full power.

"Oh...but will even Rayquaza be enough?" May wondered.

"Oh Rayquaza will be more than enough..." Alex replied, snickering softly. "May, you have Plusle with you right? Release it..." Alex instructed May, while taking Minun's pokeball from his belt. May retrieved Plusle's pokeball as well, and the two trainers released their respective electric pokemon. Plusle was quick to take its perch on May's shoulder when it appeared. Minun, seeing this, decided to hop up on Alex's shoulder as well.

"So now what?" May asked Alex curiously. Alex didn't respond, instead he reached into his backpack and pulled out a green crystal. May's eyes went wide, realizing it was the emerald.

"Alex! How long have you had that?!" May yelled at him, startling Plusle.

"Long enough." Alex replied calmly. He held the crystal up to Rayquaza. "Rayquaza, you should be able to use the emerald's power the same way Kyogre and Groudon used the sapphire's and ruby's..."

Rayquaza thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "-If you are willing to go through with such a plot, then so be it. I will use the emerald's power for myself.-" The emerald glowed briefly but then began to fade as Rayquaza absorbed the emerald's power.

Kyogre and Groudon weren't about to stand by idly while Rayquaza powered up. The two of them fired off their ranged attacks in hopes of striking Rayquaza, Groudon firing a Solar Beam while Kyogre attacked with Ice Beam. The two attacks began to converge on Rayquaza, however a timely Psybeam from Alakazam proved strong enough to stop both attacks. Alakazam's boosted power was more than a match for the two legendary pokemon, at least offensively.

The emerald finally faded completely to black as Rayquaza drained the last of its power to use for itself. Rayquaza gave a triumphant roar, as now with its boosted power from Dragon Dance as well as the power from the emerald. The sky overhead responded to Rayquaza's increased power as the area of clear sky expanded until Kyogre and Groudon's weather distortions were completely negated.

"-Would you two like to consider your decision to remain and battle?-" Rayquaza asked the other two legendary pokemon.

"-Not a chance.-" Groudon shot back. "-Even with your power there's no way you can defeat both of us.-"

"-You are as stubborn as ever. Very well then...-" Rayquaza opened its mouth, preparing to attack.

"Rayquaza, wait..." Alex stated calmly with a wide grin on his face. "We're not finished yet...heh heh heh..."

"Alex...you're scaring me..." May said quietly. "Just what are you planning?"

"We're adding Plusle and Minun's helping hand technique into the mix..." Alex replied with a frightening calm. "Dragon Dance...two Helping Hands...and the power of the emerald...Rayquaza's power will be off any chart you could imagine..."

"Clearly, you've become drunk with power. Allow me to bring you back down to Earth..." Alex turned to May curiously and received a light tap on the nose.

"Augh! MAY!" Alex cried out in pain, placing his hands over his throbbing nose, dropping the black gem to the ground.

"In any case, I'll go along with this." May stated, crossing her arms. "Only because I want to make sure its enough."

"Then what the heck did you hit me for if you're going along with it?!" Alex demanded.

"Because you looked like you were going crazy." May replied. "Plusle, Minun, you two ready?" She then asked the two eletric pokemon. They each nodded and jumped from the shoulders of their respective trainers to land on Rayquaza's back. They ran up to stand on Rayquaza's head then each used Helping Hand, placing their hands against Rayquaza's head to increase the dragon pokemon's power.

_"With this much power I can decimate both of them with a Hyper Beam attack."_ Rayquaza informed Alex mentally. _"After the attack hits you will need to be ready with those crystals. They won't be in any condition to fight back but the power must be retaken before they are at full strength again."_

Alex was forced to remove his hands from his aching nose to take the ruby and sapphire from his backpack. He then handed both of them to Alakazam. The psychic pokemon nodded, knowing what it would have to do.

"-This ends now...-" Rayquaza opened its mouth again and gathered a white ball of energy in front of it. Groudon and Kyogre decided to try for one final attack, Groudon firing a beam of charged up light energy and Kyogre firing a cold blue Ice Beam attack. Before the attacks could reach it, Rayquaza fired a massive Hyper Beam attack that was nearly as large as Rayquaza was.

Rayquaza's Hyper Beam easily overtook Kyogre and Groudon's respective attacks. The Solar Beam and Ice Beam both disappeared as it swallowed up by the Hyper Beam. The beam struck Kyogre first, pushing the pokemon along until it hit Groudon. Both pokemon were pushed into the far wall of the crater and a huge explosion ensued, taking out part of the wall of the crater and leaving Sootopolis open to the sea now. The blast sent a cloud of dust into the air, concealing Groudon and Kyogre.

Seizing the moment, Alakazam teleported away before the dust had even settled. It returned a bit more than a minute later, holding the crystals in its hand. Both the ruby and the sapphire had their power restored now. The sapphire was back to its original blue color and the ruby was red again. Shortly after Alakazam had returned the dust finally settled completely, revealing that Kyogre and Groudon were still concious. They were pretty banged up though, the first sign of any damage on either of them.

"No way! They actually survived that?!" May gasped out in shock.

"Probably due to the crystals power..." Alex stated calmly, taking the two gems from Alakazam and placing them back into his backpack. "So I guess all thats left now is for Rayquaza to send them to dreamland and hope no one's stupid enough to wake them up this time..."

"-You have both been removed of your power increase.-" Rayquaza bellowed. "-This is what your arrogance has lead to. For this, you shall...-"

Before Rayquaza could even finish his speech, Groudon and Kyogre began to flee. Kyogre crawled its way back to the water, then dove down and swam away through the new opening in the crater. Groudon began digging at the ground and was soon tunneling its way out of Sootopolis. Rayquaza decided not to pursue them, as it had seemed they were finally agreeing to end their quarrel.

"-It seems they have finally come to their senses and have gone their separate ways.-" Rayquaza explained. "-My task here is complete. I will return my powers to the emerald now." Rayquaza closed its eyes and concentrated on sending its energy back to the emerald. The black crystal began to turn green again, then glowed vibrantly briefly as Rayquaza once again sealed its powers inside emerald.

"Well, thats it I guess. World saved." Alex said as he bent down to pick up the emerald. He looked it over and gave a slight 'hmph' before putting it in his backpack.

"Doesn't feel like we did a whole lot in the end..." May said quietly. "I mean...we screwed up stopping Team Aqua and Team Magma, and then we went to wake up Rayquaza but it was already awake. Going through all those traps seems kinda pointless now..."

"-This is only the beginning for you young trainers.-" Rayquaza said to them. "-You will always have a role to play in the fate of pokemon of legend.-"

_"Whats Rayquaza talking about?"_ Alex wondered for a moment. _"Wait a minute...thats right! The images in the Sky Pillar!"_ Alex thought back to the images he saw, the last one in particular. _"Something even bigger than this is going to happen...but what? And when?"_

"-For now, I bid you both farewell...-" Rayquaza glanced upwards. "-You two might want to get off my head now.-" Plusle and Minun nodded and jumped off Rayquaza's head, landing precisely on the shoulders of their respective trainers. Rayquaza then began to float upwards until it was clear the crater, then took off back towards the Sky Pillar.

"Ack! No!" May screeched suddenly, falling to her knees. "I didn't even think to scan those legendary pokemon! Just having them recorded on my pokedex would have given me something over Brendan but I didn't even think about it! So not fair..."

"Well, I guess this means everything is back to normal..." Alex sighed, shrugging his shoulders lightly. "Well in any case. Alakazam, Minun, congratulations! We just meddled in the affairs of legendary pokemon and lived to tell the tale."

"-For such powerful pokemon, I found that mildly disappointing.-" Alakazam stated, crossing her arms. "-Though I suppose it does stand to reason that where such pokemon are involved there would be some trick to defeating them rather than a straight up battle. They were quite easily taken advantage of, however...-"

"-I helped Rayquaza!-" Minun exclaimed cheerfully.

"-Yeah, good for you.-" Alakazam muttered in response.

"-Well I got close up battling Kyogre!-" Altaria interrupted the two. "-You may have been doing more damage but I didn't see you in there getting mixed up in it!-"

"-And I don't recall seeing you taking an attack.-" Alakazam shot back. Altaria frowned, her argument completely deflated.

"Splendid performances, all around!" May and Alex looked up to see Juan applauding them. The rest of the gym leaders and the Elite Four joined in, causing the two trainers and their pokemon to blush slightly.

"But we didn't really..."

"May!" Angela called out, interrupting May as she rushed out to greet her. "May! You were so cool out there! Your pokemon was beating up that monster good! I wanna be a great trainer like you someday!"

"Well when you put it that way..." May began, smiling at the little girl.

"-Finally, recognition! See, Alakazam, I...-" Altaria looked to where Alakazam was before, but the psychic pokemon was gone. As were Alex and Minun. "-Huh? Hey! Where'd you guys go!-"

"Umm, wasn't there a boy with you?" Angela asked curiously. May blinked and looked back to where Alex was, finally noticing he was gone.

_"Hmph...well that figures..."_ May thought. _"When everything's over with, he takes off on me without a word. Well, I still have his pokenav number. I'll chew him out later..."_

"I'm sure he's around somewhere..." May eventually replied, smiling to hide her hostility. "Isn't it about time someone got you back to your parents though?"

"Well whats the hurry?" Juan asked May, chuckling politely. "Correct me if I'm wrong, May, but aren't you collecting badges?"

"Well yeah, but what about your gym?" May asked in response. "And someone should take Angela to her parents..."

"A gym is not required to conduct our battle." Juan stated, giving a sweeping gesture of the area around them. "Sootopolis itself will serve as our battlefield. The open waters are a perfect susbitute for the gym's pool." Juan then smiled and folded his hands behind his back. "As for Angela, I'm sure she would enjoy the opportunity to watch you battle..."

"Yeah yeah! I wanna watch May battle again!" Angela shouted enthusiastically.

"Well I guess it couldn't hurt then..." May replied, rubbing the back of her head. "The fans have clearly spoken..."

"Great..." Sidney groaned. "Someone's going to have to call this brat's parents then and-OW!" Sidney's choice of words earned him a quick jab in the side from Phoebe.

"I will call her parents." Phoebe stated, glaring at Sidney. "So you can stop your bellyaching mister."

"Eh...whatever..." Sidney grumbled in response, looking off to the side.

"It may be in our best interest to watch as well." Drake stated, a slight smile crossing the old sailor's lips. "We may be looking at a future challenger, afterall..."

"Umm...just one thing..." May interrupted them, twiddling her fingers. "Can I go to the pokecenter first?"

* * *

Author's Notes: I can't help but feel like I didn't put enough into this chapter but can't think of what I should have done honestly. Anyway, Kyogre and Groudon weren't actually 'invulnerable'. They were simply recovering faster than May and Alex's pokemon could damage them. As for Alex's disappearance at the end, thats going to be covered the chapter after May's battle. 


	53. Chapter 42: The Final Badge

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Forty Two**

**The Final Badge**

"Two legendary pokemon fought here today, and two trainers stepped forward alongside a third legendary pokemon to prevent them from causing any damage." Juan announced, standing on an area of land in the middle of Sootopolis. It was one raised earlier by Groudon. The rest of the gym leaders and Elite Four were gathered around on the shore to watch, and Angela was still with Flannery.

Several small land masses were scattered between Juan and the shore, and May was standing near the edge of the water across from him as Juan made his speech. The water and the islands scattered between where Juan and May stood were to serve as their battlefield. Night was beginning to fall, but the day wasn't quite over yet as the sunset shone in through the opening in the crater wall.

"It is a shame the other trainer left so quickly." Juan continued solemnly. "However, to commemorate this day, May Maple from Littleroot will be competing for her eigth and final badge in an all-out battle. Both the challenger and I will be using six pokemon as opposed to the usual three."

_"I already chose my six..."_ May thought, already holding a pokeball in her hand for her first pokemon. _"Thankfully the pokemon transfer machine was working, so I'm all set for a battle with a water gym leader. If I had Plusle I'd be all set but I'm giving her a break..."_

"May, are you prepared?" Juan asked her. May nodded in response. "Then let the battle for the final badge commence! Luvidsc, begin the show!" Juan held up a pokeball he was holding as he called out, releasing the heart-shaped fish pokemon Luvdisc as his first pokemon in the match.

"Tropius, I choose you! Go!" May called out as she released Tropius from its pokeball, the large leafy pokemon appearing on a nearby landmass to start the battle.

"HEY! Thats not fair!" Angela cried out, waving her arms around. "How's May supposed to battle a heart-shaped pokemon?"

"A good pokemon trainer can't allow something as simple as a pokemon's looks hold them back in battle." Roxanne informed Angela, crossing her arms over her chest. "A pokemon is a pokemon, whats matters in a battle is a pokemon's individual strengths and weaknesses."

"But its shaped like a heart..." Angela whined quietly. Flannery patted her on the head comfortingly.

"When you become a trainer someday, you'll understand..." The red headed gym leader said reassuringly.

_"A pokemon like Luvdisc isn't to be underestimated..."_ Norman thought, observing the battle silently. _"When May battled me, her pokemon consisted of Beautifly, Roselia, Kirlia, and Swablu. With those pokemon she managed to win..."_

"Luvdisc, we shall start this battle with a Blizzard attack!" Juan called out. Luvdisc complied, sending a storm of ice and snow towards Tropius.

"Tropius, quick! Up!" Tropius flapped its broad, leaf-like wings to take off from the island it was on. Luvdisc's Blizzard attack hit just as Tropius was clear, coating the ground it was standing on in a layer of ice. "Now, use Magical Leaf!" Tropius gave a strong flap of its wings, sending a barrage of razor-sharp leaves out in front of it which immediately began to hone in on Luvdisc.

"Luvdisc, another Blizzard attack!" Luvdisc sent off another blast of ice and snow towards Tropius just before the Magical Leaf attack hit Luvdisc. The leaves slashed Luvdisc, causing the pokemon to squeal in pain as it was shoved below the surface of the water. It re-emerged shortly with a few scratches on its body.

Tropius, meanwhile, didn't handle the Blizzard attack too well. This time it scored a direct hit, and Tropius was sent crashing down into the ice-covered ground below. The impact cracked the ice on the island, as well as removing the small amount of ice that had formed on Tropius. Tropius was hurt pretty badly by the attack, but managed to get back on its feet despite being in a lot of pain.

_"Ice attacks hurt Tropius just as much as they would Altaria..."_ May thought to herself. _"That Luvdisc doesn't look very tough but that one attack almost brought Tropius down for good! I'll have to be more careful...maybe I shouldn't have brought so many grass pokemon!"_

"Luvdisc, finish this with Surf!" Juan called out. Luvdisc began to rise up on top of a wave as the water bulged beneath it. It rode atop the wave, heading towards Tropius.

_"He's not taking any chances!"_ May thought. "Tropius, counter with Gust!" Tropius began flapping its broad wings, creating powerful gusts of wind. At first this only seemed to slow Luvdisc's progress, but eventually the small pokemon was knocked off and the wave crashed harmlessly in the middle of the water.

"Now, follow up with another Magical Leaf!" Tropius gave another flap of its wings, sending a barrage of sharp leaves that quickly honed in on Luvdisc. The leaves slashed at Luvdisc as they flew into the heart-shaped fish, causing it to cry out in pain again as it was pushed back through the water. Luvdisc seemed to be in as bad a shape as Tropius now.

"Looks like this matchup could go either way now..." May noted, smiling slightly. "Alright, lets finish this off with another Magical Leaf attack Tropius!"

"Luvdisc, one more Blizzard will do." Juan said to his pokemon. The two pokemon launched their attacks, Luvdisc sending out a shower of snow and ice while Tropius fired sharp magical leaves to hone in on its opponent. As the attacks crossed, the leaves Tropius fired became frozen and dropped into the water before reaching their target.

Tropius collapsed almost as soon as the Blizzard attack reached it, falling on its side as its body was slowly becoming encased in ice. May quickly recalled her fainted Tropius.

"I thought perhaps May's Tropius would have won." Winona commented as May's Tropius fell. "Her Tropius managed to overcome my own, though I suppose that doesn't amount to much against Juan."

"Oh no! May's losing!" Angela cried out.

"Yes, but Luvdisc is weakened." Roxanne replied. "May's next pokemon should be able to make up for the loss easily enough. The battle can still go either way."

_"Tropius couldn't stand up to Luvdisc's ice attacks..."_ May thought to herself. _"Using another grass pokemon would be a bad idea right now then, but Luvdisc probably won't be able to do much to Ludicolo!"_ May placed Tropius's pokeball on her belt, then took Ludicolo's in hand.

"Ludicolo, go!" May called out, releasing Ludicolo onto the nearby ice-covered island. Ludicolo began dancing around as soon as it appeared, but slipped on the ice and fell on its face. It quickly got back to its feet and rubbed the back of its head in embarassment.

_"No offense to May..."_ Brawly thought, watching the battle from atop someone's house. _"But her Ludicolo doesn't look like a serious battler. Even if it managed to hold off Kyogre, that was only because of its speed..."_

_"Interesting choice for a pokemon."_ Juan thought to himself. _"My pokemon will have to resort to ice attacks to hit it unresisted, while Ludicolo can strike back with grass attacks."_

"Luvdisc, attack with Blizzard!"

"Ludicolo, into the water behind you!" Luvdisc unleashed a barrage of snow and ice toward Ludicolo. Ludicolo easily avoided the attack, however, by stepping back and falling into the water behind the small island it was standing on. The island froze over, taking any of the ice that could reach Ludicolo in the water.

"Ludicolo, use Rain Dance!" Ludicolo began happily spinning around in the water as if dancing and rain clouds began to gather over the area where the pokemon were battling. In only a matter of seconds it was raining as hard as it had been when Kyogre was there, however the trainers were all spared getting soaked by the downpour.

_"That'll give Ludicolo a speed boost."_ May thought, smiling to herself. _"Now one quick attack to finish off Juan's Luvdisc!"_

"Now, finish Luvdisc with Mega Drain!" May called out. Ludicolo quickly swam out around the island to attack Luvdisc, bringing its hands together in preparation for its attack.

"Luvdisc, circle around it!" Juan called out, not ready to let his Luvdisc sit idly as it was attacked. Luvdisc began moving rapidly through the water, then started going in quick circles around Ludicolo. The grass pokemon couldn't keep up with Luvdisc's movements to use its attack, and eventually gave up.

_"How is it moving so fast?"_ May wondered, then it hit her. _"Luvdisc must have the same ability as Ludicolo! Even though Ludicolo's faster with the rain, Luvdisc is faster too! I'll just have to bide my time until Juan attacks then..."_

May continued to watch Luvdisc circle around Ludicolo over and over, waiting for it to attack so she could launch a counterattack. Ludicolo wouldn't be able to hit it very easily with it moving so fast and would need to wait until it slowed down to attack. More than a minute passed by without Luvdisc attacking, however.

_"Why isn't Juan attacking?"_ May wondered. _"Does he realize my strategy? Is he waiting to make the counter attack?"_ May continued to think about it for a moment, then it hit her. _"Luvdisc must not be able to attack! Its water attacks wouldn't really do any damage to Ludicolo that Mega Drain wouldn't restore, and it can't reliably hit with Blizzard either. It can't do anything to Ludicolo unless it gets an opening to attack! Well in that case..."_

"Ludicolo, use Uproar!" Ludicolo began flailing about wildly in the water and shouting loudly, creating an ear-piercing noise. The soundwaves went out in all directions, and the shock from the sound burst was enough to knock out the weakened Luvdisc. The unconcious pokemon slowly came to a stop, floating on its side. Juan recalled Luvdisc and applauded May, but his applause was scarce heard admist Ludicolo's Uproar.

Likewise, no one can hear Juan as he calls out his next pokemon. They can all see it, however, as the blue furred seal pokemon Sealeo appears in the water near Juan.

_"Sealeo...I wonder if its an ice type pokemon?"_ May thought to herself. She was convinced it was, and that Juan was planning to attack Ludicolo with ice attacks from an ice pokemon. Unfortunately for May she couldn't do much about it as Ludicolo was temporarily stuck using Uproar until it stopped of its own accord.

"Yay! May won!" Angela cried out happily while keeping her ears covered with her hands. No one really took notice though, especially Wattson and Norman. Both gym leaders were quick to put in a pair of earplugs. The rest of the group were not quite so well prepared and had trouble making out Angela's cries, but they knew she was just commenting on the battle anyway.

"Sealeo, we shall take this time to remove Ludicolo's advantage! Hail!" Juan's Sealeo managed to hear its trainer shouting and began concentrating, chilling the air to change the rainstorm overhead into a hailstorm. Both pokemon were pelted by hail, but Sealeo didn't seem to mind it. It was also being hurt by Ludicolo's Uproar attack as well, but not enough for it to bother Sealeo. Ludicolo continued making its loud noise, seemingly ignoring its surroundings.

"Come on, Ludicolo! You need to stop!" May called out desperately to Ludicolo, not wanting to give Juan the upperhand. Ludicolo didn't seem to hear her though and just kept making noise. Being at the center of the noise, it was having the hardest time hearing.

"Sealeo, now! An Aurora Beam if you will!" Juan called out loudly to his pokemon. Sealeo opened its mouth as it floated lazily in the water, then fired a rainbow beam of energy towards Ludicolo. Ludicolo spun around in the water as the beam hit it in a burst of light, eventually coming to a stop facing Sealeo again. It didn't seem much worse off from the attack, but it had stopped causing an uproar.

"Ludicolo, use Mega Drain now!" May called out, louder than she actually had to. Ludicolo stretched out its arms towards Sealeo, a target that wouldn't be able to escape in time like Luvdisc did. Sealeo barked in pain as a green stream of energy flowed from it and into Ludicolo, restoring some of Ludicolo's health in the process.

_"Should I do something about that hail?"_ May wondered. _"Maybe I should just let it go away on its own instead of giving Juan's Sealeo a free chance to attack..."_

"Sealeo, use Double-Edge!" Sealeo began swimming quickly through the water, setting its sights on May's Ludicolo. May watched Sealeo for a moment, waiting for it to get closer to Ludicolo before finally commanding it.

"Ludicolo, Astonish!" As Sealeo moved in towards Ludicolo, Ludicolo made a sudden movement towards Sealeo while waving its arms and making a face. Sealeo was shocked by this and slowed down, quickly coming to a stop. It was too frightened to continue its attack. The two pokemon were about an arm's length away from each other and hail continued to swirl around them, slowly weakening Ludicolo.

"Now, Ludicolo! Grab it and use Mega Drain!" Ludicolo took hold of the stunned Sealeo, grabbing it by the sides and beginning to drain its energy directly with Mega Drain while restoring Ludicolo fully. Ludicolo kept draining Sealeo's energy though, further weakening it and causing the pokemon to growl in pain.

"Sealeo, you must shake it off! Aurora Beam!" Sealeo slowly opened its mouth slowly, hindered by the pain being inflicted upon it. It fired an Aurora Beam straight into Ludicolo at point-blank range, easily loosening the pokemon's grip and causing it to cry out as it was shot backwards. Sealeo panted heavily, growing considerably exhausted as the battle wore on. Ludicolo was still in good shape though, and the hail storm had finally ceased as well.

_"Sealeo isn't holding up as well as I had hoped it would..."_ Juan realized, sighing quietly. _"And its fighting merely to inflict damage on her Ludicolo...what a shame. I could heal with Rest, but its Snore technique is unlikely to aide it much and Ludicolo will more than make up for the health regained in the time it is asleep."_

"Ludicolo, use Mega Drain again!" Ludicolo held out its hands towards Sealeo, using another Mega Drain attack to absorb Sealeo's energy from a distance this time and restoring much of the damage inflicted by Sealeo's Aurora Beam attack. At this point Sealeo looked about ready to collapse, and May realized it wouldn't be able to take another hit.

"Sealeo, you fought well, so let us make a big finish! Double Edge!" Sealeo paused for a moment to build up energy, having no distance between itself and Ludicolo to charge, then bolted head-first into Ludicolo and injurying both of them. Ludicolo, of course, was still standing after this last-ditch attack but the recoil was all Sealeo could take. Its own attack knocked Sealeo unconcious, and Juan recalled it.

"Sealeo, you deserve a good rest my friend..." Juan said sympathetically, placing Sealeo's pokeball on his belt and taking another in his hand. "Now it is your turn! Kingdra, come forth!" Juan quickly brought up the pokeball to release the dragon pokemon, Kingdra, into the water for battle. May gasped when she saw Juan's next pokemon.

_"Kingdra! I remember that pokemon!"_ May realized, recalling what she heard about a gym leader in Johto. _"Clair, trainer of dragon pokemon...she uses a Kingdra, and she's well known for it because its only weakness is other dragon pokemon! This might be tough to take down, and Ludicolo doesn't have any really strong attacks to use on it!"_

"Umm...Roxanne? You know lotsa stuff about pokemon, right?" Angela asked Roxanne, tugging at her skirt.

"Of course I do." Roxanne replied, smiling slightly. "I study everyday. That pokemon Juan's using now is Kingdra, a water and dragon type. It has almost no weaknesses because of its unique type combination."

"Umm...does that mean May's in trouble?" Angela asked curiously. "She looked like my mommy did when I asked where babies come from..." Angela paused for a moment and looked up at Roxanne. "Where do babies come from?"

"Umm..." Roxanne blushed slightly, as did Flannery who was standing next to them. Roxanne thought carefully for a moment. "Well...thats really something your mother should answer for you!" She replied sheepishly.

_"Damn...what an annoying kid..."_ Sidney thought to himself, overhearing the conversation.

"Kingdra, let us begin! Dragonbreath!"

"Ludicolo, dodge it with Dive!" Ludicolo quickly dives down under the water, evading the blue flames of Kingdra's Dragonbreath attack.

_"It will come up soon enough..."_ Juan thought to himself. "Kingdra, ready with an Ice Beam!" Kingdra nodded, mentally preparing itself to attack Ludicolo with Ice Beam when it resurfaced.

Sure enough, after several moments Ludicolo shot upwards from below Kingdra and slammed into it. The attack didn't seem to faze Kingdra much at all, however. Ludicolo resurfaced next to Kingdra, at which point the dragon pokemon delivered an Ice Beam attack at point-blank range. The attack froze Ludicolo in place as the water around it and covering its body froze to ice.

"Now, Kingdra! Hyper Beam!" Kingdra's Ice Beam attack was quickly followed up by a point-blank Hyper Beam. The ice around Ludicolo was instantly shattered as the beam of energy was fired into it. The force of the beam then continued to push Ludicolo back until it was slammed hard into the island nearest May and knocked unconcious instantly.

Although Ludicolo had been holding up fine until then, Kingdra's Hyper Beam was more than it could handle after being hit by an Ice Beam attack as well. May recalled the unconcious Ludicolo into its pokeball, looking a bit nervous.

_"It needs to rest for a bit after using Hyper Beam."_ May realized, already reaching for her next pokemon. _"This is something I'll need to take advantage of if I'm going to beat it!"_

"Roselia, your turn! Go!" May called out, quickly releasing Roselia from its pokeball. She wasn't letting a second go to waste. "Roselia, use Stun Spore! Now!" The tiny rose pokemon jumped up from the small island it was on and brought its two rose-tipped hands together. Spores began spewing out and floated over to the resting Kingdra, landing on it and inflicting paralysis.

"Now, follow it up with Leech Seed!" May commanded. Keeping its two roses together, Roselia fired a small seed at Kingdra. By now, however, Kingdra was ready to attack again.

"Kingdra, Ice Beam!" Kingdra fired a blue beam at Roselia, catching the incoming seeds as well and freezing them instantly. The Ice Beam continued on to hit Roselia. The small pokemon began to fall backwards as it was hit and became frozen over. The ice soon shattered and Roselia collapsed to the ground. It was very slow to recover, painfully trying to get back to its feet.

_"Roselia's almost down after one attack..."_ May realized, frowning. _"I haven't been training it very well...maybe I should have just stuck with my regular pokemon for this battle?"_

"Roselia, use Giga Drain!"

"Kingdra, move closer and use Dragonbreath!"

Kingdra moves to swim closer, but winces and stops. Its body is overcome by the paralysis. It then winces in pain as its energy is drained from it. A large, green funnel appears between itself and Roselia as Roselia drains its energy from it and restores itself slightly. Roselia has an easier time staying on its feet now, although its still very weak from the Ice Beam attack.

"Hmm...perhaps we should try stronger attacks again." Juan stated quietly. "Kingdra, use Ice Beam!" A blue ball of energy forms in front of Kingdra's snout as it prepares to fire its Ice Beam, but it quickly fades as Kingdra is overcome by paralysis again.

"Roselia, now's our chance! Leech Seed!" Roselia fires another seed at Kingdra from its roses. This time the seed hits its mark, landing square on the top of Kingdra's head. The seed sprouts tiny vines and begins slowly draining Kingdra's energy and feeding it to Roselia.

_"Good!"_ May thought happily. _"Now it doesn't matter how durable Kingdra is, it'll eventually be drained by the Leech Seed if worse comes to worse. Since its slowed down by paralysis maybe I can try evading its attacks."_ May looked around, and found to her dismay that the closest islands to Roselia were actually fairly far. _"Can Roselia jump that far?"_ May wondered.

The islands were large enough for a pokemon like Groudon to stand on, but they were scattered a fair bit. With the exception of its first bridge, it only created the islands when it needed to raise itself out of the water like it did when Alex's Alakazam attacked. There were a few that were longer where Groudon had been walking a bit, and two with holes in them where Groudon tunneled up.

None of them were particularly close, in fact the distance was enough that it was hard for May to determine whether or not Roselia would be able to make it. The shore was closer, but like in an actual gym match the area behind the trainers was outside the battlefield. Although there were no rules against going out of bounds, a pokemon had to be on the designated battlefield to attack.

"Kingdra, let us try Ice Beam again!" Juan called out.

"Roselia, jump over there!" May commanded Roselia, pointing to the nearest landmass. Roselia looked back to see where May was pointing and nodded. It jumped off the island with all its might, sailing through the air as the Ice Beam attack struck where it just was and refroze the island.

Roselia looked like it was going to make it, but just barely fell short and landed in the water next to the island it was jumping to. Roselia sunk down at first and May felt concerned, but Roselia soon floated to the surface due to its light weight. However, it seemed to have great difficulty swimming.

"Kingdra, now would be a good time!" Kingdra nodded in agreement with its trainer and fired another Ice Beam without a hitch. Roselia was trying in vain to climb up onto the island as the Ice Beam hit it, freezing it against the side of the island. Roselia had no strength left, so the ice held strong. May was quick to recall Roselia and grimaced.

_"Seems Juan defeated May's Roselia rather easily."_ Norman thought to himself. _"However, it has managed to leave Kingdra in a bad spot..."_

"Oh no! May's losing again!" Angela cried furiously.

"Geez, would someone shut that kid up so we can...YEOWCH!" Before Sidney could finish his sentence, Glacia grabbed his ear and pulled roughly. "Owowow! Let go!"

"You need to learn more tolerance for children, young man." The older, more mature woman scolded him before finally releasing his ear.

"Well at least Roselia's managed to put it in a tight spot..." May said with a sigh, placing Roselia's pokeball back on her belt. "Maybe Bellossom can finish it?" May took Bellossom's pokeball from her belt. "Bellossom, go!" May called out, releasing Bellossom onto the nearest island. Bellossom did a pirouette when it appeared and gave a bow. It managed to keep its balance on the icy surface below its feet.

Meanwhile, near the gaping hole leading out to sea, a serpentine pokemon was entering the city with Wallace riding on its back. The two had stopped for a moment to observe the situation.

"Looks like we're in time to watch the show!" Wallace declared, patting his Milotic's back. "Lets stop on the shore nearby and watch." Milotic nodded and swam over to the nearby shoreline to drop off Wallace.

"Bellossom, use Sleep Powder!"

"Kingdra, evade under the water!"

Bellossom lowered its head to spray out powder from the flowers on top, but the powder landed on the water. Even suffering from paralysis, Kingdra was swift enough to dive under and evade the attack.

"Kingdra, Ice Beam at your leisure." Juan calmly commanded his pokemon. May kept close watch on the water, looking for any sign of Kingdra's attack.

"It can't stay down there forever..." May said quietly to herself. "Even underwater that Leech Seed is slowly weakening it. Bellossom just needs to outlast Kingdra and dodge its attacks. Kinda like what I did in the Lilycove contests." May thought for a moment. "I wonder..."

"Bellossom, try tracking Kingdra with Magical Leaf!" Bellossom nodded and quickly spun around, sending several sharp leaves into the air seemingly from its skirt. The leaves continued to fly up for a moment before turning back around and falling back down towards Bellossom.

Kingdra chose this moment to finally pop up and attack, surfacing behind Bellossom and launching its Ice Beam attack. The attack caught Bellossom completely off guard. The grass pokemon cried out in pain as the beam struck it and was quickly silenced, becoming encased in ice.

It wasn't frozen for long, however, as its own Magical Leaf attack hit it next and shattered the ice. Bellossom was knocked to the ground in pain and stayed low for a moment, trying to regain its strength.

"To do that much with one attack..." May muttered in surprise. "Bellossom, hang in there!" Bellossom nodded as she heard her trainer call out to her. It slowly got back to its feet, aided by the energy being drained from Kingdra and channeled to Bellossom by Leech Seed. Once it got to its feet, it slipped and fell again.

"It is unfortunate you brought so many grass pokemon." Juan commented, pulling at his mustache. "You see, the terrain puts them at a disadvantage. As do the ice attacks known by all but one of my pokemon."

_"He's right..."_ May realized, thinking to herself. _"Maybe I should have brought Plusle afterall. Its not like I haven't brought any electric pokemon though, and I think my next pokemon will be a big surprise for Juan!"_

"Bellossom, Moonlight!"

"Kingdra, Ice Beam!"

Bellossom quickly drew light energy to itself as Kingdra was preparing to attack. Bellossom made another attempt to get back on its feet again as its strength was restored quite a bit. It didn't last long, Kingdra soon fired its Ice Beam again.

The blue beam of energy struck Bellossom square in the chest and briefly froze it again, then shattering and sending Bellossom to the ground in pain again. It was hanging on, but just barely. Kingdra was starting to look a bit exhausted by now as well due to the constant drain of Leech Seed.

_"Kingdra's starting to look pretty weak now."_ May realized. _"Maybe Bellossom can finish it off with a Magical Leaf attack?"_

"Bellossom, Magical Leaf! I know you can do it!"

"Kingdra, Dragonbreath should end this now."

Bellossom attempted, with great difficulty, to get back on its feet and launch another attack. It was moving too slowly though, and as it finally stood up it was met by the blue flames of Kingdra's Dragonbreath attack and was instantly knocked out. May paused for a moment before recalling Bellossom.

"I thought for sure Bellossom could get in one last attack..." May said with a sigh.

"Oh no! Now May's way behind!" Angela screamed loudly, causing everyone but Juan and Wallace to wince. Sidney glared at her, but said nothing for fear of retribution from Glacia again.

"Hey, I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve!" May called back, smiling to Angela. "Kinda like this one..." May took another pokeball from her belt, releasing the pokemon inside as she called out its name. "Castform, go!"

Castform, the small white cloud-like pokemon, appeared from its pokeball floating over the water. It peered around curiously, not quite used to being out of its pokeball. It smiled at May when it saw her, remembering her from the weather center. Everyone gathered to watch the battle was shocked to find out May had a Castform. Except, of course, for Angela, who didn't know about most pokemon to begin with.

_"Where did May...get that pokemon?"_ Was the first thought to go through Norman's mind, as well as just about everyone else's. Castform was an extremely rare pokemon and was never seen in the wild for capture, usually only found at weather stations as research pokemon. Even gym leaders didn't know much about Castform or its abilities, which gave May an immediate advantage.

"Alright, Castform! Lets start off with...huh?" Before May could even issue a command, Juan's Kingdra began to wobble unsteadily then fell over on its side in the water. The Leech Seed had finally drained the last of its strength.

"A double KO..." Juan commented as he recalled Kingdra. "Or technically speaking, at least. I will be curious to see what your Castform is capable of." Juan placed Kingdra's pokeball on his belt and quickly took another one in hand. "Crawdaunt, it is now your turn! Go!" Juan called out as he released Crawdaunt into the water. May was immediately reminded of her own Crawdaunt when she saw it.

"A Crawdaunt huh?" May commented with a smirk. "Well I know all about Crawdaunt, because I have one of my own! Castform, get things started with Rain Dance!" Everyone watched with anticipation as Castform began to dance over the water, calling up another rainstorm around the battlefield. Even Juan chose not to attack yet out of curiosity and instead watched as Castform shifted to its water form.

"So its true then..." Juan commented quietly. "Castform can shift forms based on the current weather conditions, placing me in battle against another water type. Fortunately, Crawdaunt can handle a fellow water type. Crawdaunt, demonstrate with Sludge Bomb!"

"Castform, counter with Weatherbal!!" A swirling ball of water formed in front of Castform as Crawdaunt fired a purple ball of sludge from its claws. Castform launched the ball of water to meet up with Crawdaunt's attack. The Weatherball sent the sludge flying in all directions then continued on towards Crawdaunt. It was slowed down enough by the impact, however, that it fell short of its target and landed in the water instead.

"Haha! So Castform's attacks change too? Even more interesting!" Juan chuckled to himself. "Crawdaunt, attack with Crabhammer!"

"Castform, use Thunderbolt!" Castform smiled gleefully, its body charging with electricity as Crawdaunt quickly swam towards it with one claw raised. Castform released a blast of electricity, striking Crawdaunt before it even covered half the distance to Castform. Crawdaunt was stopped in its tracks as electricity coursed through it, inflicting pain upon it and wearing it down.

"Even knows electric attacks. Seems this pokemon is full of surprises, I may be at quite the disadvantage here." Juan grinned widely. "I see why you kept this pokemon in reserve for so long!"

"I knew a water-type pokemon with electric attacks wouldn't be easy for your pokemon to deal with!" May replied, excitement in her voice.

"Well then, we shall see where this pokemon will get you. Crawdaunt, let us give Crabhammer another try!"

"Castform, use Thunderbolt again!" Crawdaunt started on its way towards Castform again, while Castform charged up electricity to attack. Crawdaunt obviously wasn't going to get close enough to land the hit, however Juan had other plans anyway.

"Crawdaunt, now! Dive under the water!" Crawdaunt went down on an angle as it continued moving through the water, evading a blast of lightning from Castform as it soared over Crawdaunt's head. Castform looked on in confusion, but suddenly found itself struck from below by Crawdaunt's claw. Castform was sent straight upwards, but stopped itself in midair and began slowly floating back down to land on Crawdaunt's head.

"Castform, now! Thunderbolt!" May called out again. Castform quickly attacked, releasing bolts of electricity into Crawdaunt's body from atop its head. Crawdaunt quickly dove down into the water to get Castform off it, but it still took most of the attack as it was going down due to the water's conductivity. Crawdaunt continued underwater to resurface a fair distance away. Crawdaunt looked pretty mad, but was also looking fairly weak.

_"It does not appear Crawdaunt can take another attack..."_ Juan thought to himself. _"This Castform will indeed cause me quite a bit of trouble, though my next pokemon will be at less of a disadvantage. Let us try one last technique then..."_

"You know, when your friend Alex battled me before he was on the brink of defeat." Juan began, his face expressionless. "His Swellow was on its last legs after taking a Hyper Beam from my Kingdra, but Kingdra was largely unharmed. Yet with a special technique, and his Swellow's raw determination, he made a miraculous comeback."

_"How could he have done that?"_ May wondered. _"Alex is good, and his Swellow is strong, but what attack would have let him make a comeback like that when he was clearly at a disadvantage?" May thought for a moment. "And why would Juan be telling me this now? Is he..."_

"I will show you that very technique! Crawdaunt, make this one count! Endeavour!" A red aura surrounded Crawdaunt. The pokemon got an enraged look as it charged towards Castform.

"Endeavour? But what does...?" May began, but quickly shook her head. She didn't have time to wonder about it. "Castform, Thunderbolt!"

Crawdaunt slammed into Castform with a strong impact before the raindrop pokemon could launch its attack, the force of the impact resulting in exactly enough damage to leave Castform in the same condition as Crawdaunt. Castform shook off the attack, however, and managed to fire off a bolt of electricity into Crawdaunt at point-blank range. The Thunderbolt was more Crawdaunt could handle at this point and it fell backwards into the water, unconcious. Juan was quick to recall it.

"An expected outcome..." Juan stated regretfully. "But Crawdaunt has paved the way for my next pokemon to defeat your Castform." Juan placed Crawdaunt's pokeball on his belt and took another one. "Whiscash, take stage!" Juan called out, releasing a dark blue fish pokemon with long, yellow whiskers into the water before him.

"Whiscash? Whats that?" May wondered, taking out her pokedex to check.

"Whiscash, the whiskers pokemon." The pokedex read out. "Mysteriously, it can foretell earthquakes. In the daytime, it sleeps in mud at the bottom of a pond. When it awakens, it continually feeds throughout the night." May took a moment to think over the pokedex's reading.

"May beat another pokemon! She's going to win now!" Angela cheered happily.

_"Aiii...she's even getting on my nerves now..."_ Phoebe thought, quickly casting a glance around at the rest of the trainers gathered. _"The gym leaders all seem relaxed though, are they more used to this sort of thing than the Elite Four?"_

"Although she's caught up in terms of pokemon, even a water attack will likely finish her Castform at this point." Roxanne corrected Angela. "That will leave her with only one pokemon against two. For her sake, I hope she still has one grass type left."

"She tried grass types already though, why would they work now?" Flannery asked curiously.

"May's grass types didn't hold up because Juan was using his pokemon that were best capable of dealing with them." Roxanne replied knowingly. "The pokemon he's been holding back, as you may notice, are better for dealing with electric pokemon. I have a feeling May's last pokemon is an electric type, but I hope it isn't. Otherwise this battle may be over now..."

_"Judging from its pokedex reading, Whiscash would be a ground type."_ May thought to herself. _"Its obviously a water type as well...so it should really be weak to grass attacks! I can take it down in one hit I bet, and give Juan another surprise!"_

"Whiscash, we shall end this quickly! Surf!" The water under Whiscash began to bulge, rising up to form a wave with Whiscash riding on top. May watched for a moment, until Whiscash was halfway towards Castform.

"Castform, quick! Sunny Day!" May called out quickly. Castform's body began to glow orange. Its body emitted energy, which shot up to end the downpour and intensify the sun's rays. Castform was hit by Whiscash's Surf at this point, before it had the chance to change types, and was sent sprawling to the ground on the platform nearest May.

For a few tense seconds Castform seemed to be down, but as its body changed to its fire-type form and it slowly floated off the ground it was clear Castform was still in the game. Although, just barely. Whiscash was settled back into the water, several feet from where Castform landed.

"Hmm...you timed that perfectly so Castform would survive another attack." Juan commented, smiling slightly. "You seem to have quite the grasp of that pokemon's abilities, but how will you follow it up? Afterall, a fire pokemon cannot do much to a water pokemon."

"Like this!" May called back, pointing a finger at Whiscash. "Castform, lets finish this one quick! Solar Beam!"

Castform began to glow as it quickly gathered sunlight. It then fired a pure, white beam of energy straight out from its body and striking Whiscash head-on. Whiscash was driven back through the water until it hit the land bridge Juan was standing on. Its head rested on the ground with a dazed expression, having been knocked out by a powerful grass attack.

"Solar Beam too! Quite the versatile little pokemon you have there!" Juan stated, clapping his hands together to briefly applaud May and Castform before recalling his Whiscash. Castform smiled weakly at the praise, only barely hanging on to continue the battle.

"Then it comes down to this...my final pokemon against your remaining two pokemon." Juan said to them, placing Whiscash's pokeball on his belt then retrieving the pokeball containing his final pokemon.

_"If my deducation is correct, then Castform may win it all for her yet with its Solar Beam attack."_ Roxanne thought to herself. Angela kept quiet this time around, not sure how the battle would go after Roxanne's previous comments.

"Milotic, it is time for your performance!" Juan called out as he released his pokemon. The familiar serpent-like pokemon Milotic was released from its pokeball, materializing in the water before Juan.

_"Maybe I was wrong..."_ Roxanne thought upon seeing Milotic. _"I was sure he would have another ground-type to take electric attacks!"_

"Milotic, we shall play it safe to start! Remove Castform's advantage with Rain Dance!"

"Castform, use Solar Beam again before the weather changes!" Castform quickly absorbed sunlight as Juan's Milotic danced around in the water, managing to gather enough sunlight to attack just before dark clouds covered over the sun and Castform slowly shifted to its water form again. Castform fired another beam of white light, striking Milotic hard and knocking it back into the land-bridge. Milotic took the attack much better than Whiscash did, however, and immediately got back up and was ready for more.

_"I know its not as weak to grass attacks as Whiscash was..."_ May thought to herself, staring at Milotic in shock. _"But it should have left more of a mark than that! Milotics really are durable pokemon thats for sure..."_

"Now, Milotic, finish this with Twister!" Milotic began concentrating, and soon after a swirling vortex rose up around Castform and concealed it from view. Inside the vortex, the energy of the twister ripped at Castform. Castform was quickly knocked out, and the Twister lifted as Castform fell to the ground unconcious. May was hardly surprised that the attack knocked Castform out and recalled her pokemon.

"So now we're both down to our last pokemon..." May noted as she placed Castform's pokeball back on her belt, taking the pokeball that now contained her last pokemon as well. "Its all up to you now! Electrike, go!" May released Electrike from its pokeball, the electric pokemon appearing on the same platform as the rest of her pokemon had. The previous battles had removed most of the ice from it, fortunately.

"You had an electric pokemon in reserve." Juan commented. "Interesting. Milotic, attack it with Hydro Pump!"

"Electrike, use Quick Attack and jump to that island over there!" May called out, pointing to the same island Roselia tried jumping to earlier. Electrike took a running start then jumped towards it, using Quick Attack in mid-air to shoot towards the island and came to a screeching halt on the land. In doing all this, Electrike had completely evaded Milotic's Hydro Pump attack which struck where Electrike had been standing previously.

"Now, use Thunderbolt!"

"Milotic, Recover! Quickly!" Milotic concentrated again, its body shimmering as its energy was restored and any visible signs of damage from Castform's Solar Beam vanished. It didn't stay in this state long, however, as Electrike let loose with a lightning bolt from its body. Milotic cried out in pain as electricity coursed through its body, the attack causing almost as much damage as Milotic had recovered.

"-Had enough yet, sea-bitch?-" Electrike taunted Milotic.

"-I've defeated stronger electric pokemon than you...-" Milotic replied in a melodic voice.

_"I guess Castform's Solar Beam just isn't as strong as I thought it'd be..."_ May thought, noting the damage inflicted by Electrike's Thunderbolt. _"Still, since Juan's Milotic knows Recover this won't be easy..."_

"Electrike, power up with Charge!" Sparks crackled around Electrike's body as it charged up electricity and stored it to power up its next attack.

"Milotic, use Recover again!" Juan called out, prompting Milotic to use Recover again to restore it to full health.

_"That rain isn't going to hold up much longer."_ May thought to herself. _"So its time to take advantage of it!"_

"Electrike, attack with Thunder!" May called out, pointing to Milotic dramatically. Static electricity began to gather in the clouds above Electrike. The electric pokemon wasn't using its stored power for this attack, however.

"Milotic, Mirror Coat." Juan commanded quietly, feeling now that the battle was over. A reflective barrier formed around Milotic's body as a lightning bolt shot down from the clouds near Electrike, moving through the air in the blink of an eye to strike Milotic. There was a brilliant flash and Milotic cried out in pain as the powerful bolt of electricity flowed through its body.

The attack also triggered Milotic's Mirror Coat, however. The lightning bolt was deflected back towards Electrike with increased power. Electrike howled in pain as the lightning bolt struck it, the power of the attack sending Electrike to its knees. Electrike was still concious, but very badly injured. Overhead, the clouds finally parted and gave way to the night sky above.

"No...Electrike!" May called out to her pokemon, thinking for sure that she was going to lose now. She wasn't expecting a Mirror Coat attack, and Electrike was nearly knocked out in one hit as a result.

"-I'm not...finished...yet...-" Electrike grumbled weakly, slowly standing upright again.

"-You should just stay down.-" Milotic said to him. "-You're out of your league.-"

"-Listen, sea-bitch. I put May through hell...-" Electrike shot back, his body trembling in its weakened state. "-I'll go through whatever torture I have to...I'll do whatever it takes...to win this last badge for her...-" Electrke cast a glare at Milotic and began to shout in determination. "-You hear me?! YOU'RE GOING DOWN!-"

Electrike's body suddenly became surrounded in a white light, evolving as a result of its determination. Its legs grew longer, and its body more lean and toned. Its head was raised as it finally had a neck and a long, pointed mane extended up from the top of it. The light finally began to fade, revealing Electrike's evolved form. Manetric. The newly evolved Manetric gave a triumphant howl, further taunting its opponent and looking completely refreshed. Milotic just rolled its eyes.

"It seems your Electrike is quite determined to win this battle for you..." Juan noted. "Or should I call it Manetric now?"

_"Manetric..."_ May thought, Electrike's determination surprising even her. _"If you're going that far for this battle, then we just have to win!"_

"Perhaps now would be a good time to demonstrate our weapon of choice for dealing with electric pokemon." Juan said with a slght smirk, pointing his finger out towards Manetric. "Milotic, it is time for the final act, do not hold back! Use Hidden Power!"

"Manetric, counter with Thunderbolt!" Brown orbs of energy slowly formed around Milotic as Manetric's body sparked with electricity, preparing to counter Milotic's attack. The orbs fired off from Milotic, each of them homing in towards Manetric. Manetric fired off several bolts of electricity towards the orbs in an attempt to counter them, but to Manetric and May's surprise the Hidden Power technique completely negated Manetric's Thunderbolt.

"It negated Thunderbolt?! But that means..." May's worries were confirmed as the orbs continued on to strike Manetric, each vanishing as they struck it. Manetric howled in pain as the attack knocked it backwards, but Manetric managed to regain its footing just before sliding into the water.

"A ground-type Hidden Power." Juan informed May. "Perfect for dealing with electric pokemon!"

"Manetric, use Thunderbolt again!" May called out desperately. Manetric's body sparked with electricity as it prepared to launch another attack. Juan was already prepared for this though.

"Milotic, use Hidden Power again." Milotic tapped into its hidden power again, forming four brown spheres around it. Manetric fired off a bolt of electricity towards Milotic, but Milotic blocked it with the ground-oriented spheres then fired them at Manetric. Manetric braced itself against the impact, managing to hold its position at the edge of the island despite the pain it was in.

_"Its Hidden Power is effective against Manetric, but it doesn't seem very strong..."_ May thought to herself, noticing that Manetric was still holding up after taking two. _"It makes it difficult to get in an attack though. I think I need to try a more direct approach."_

"Manetric, get ready with Spark!" Manetric's body charged with electricity in preparation to attack, but it did nothing more than that.

"Milotic, another Hidden Power if you please!" Juan called out.

"-Gladly...-" Milotic replied, tapping into its hidden abilities to call out its attack. The brown orbs formed around it, then were fired and quickly honed in on Manetric.

"Manetric, roll under it!" May called out as the orbs approached her pokemon. Manetric ducked down and rolled forward, managing to slide under the attack. The orbs ended up striking the ground behind it harmlessly.

"Now, attack Milotic with Quick Attack!" Manetric ran to the edge of the island and jumped, then shot forward in a blur to strike Milotic with its electrically charged body. Milotic flinched at the impact, a shock running through its body as electricity flowed into it. After landing its attack, Manetric fell into the water next to Milotic.

"Milotic, send it away with a Twister!"

"Manetric, use Thunderbolt now!" Milotic concentrated on its attack, but didn't get to go anywhere with it. As Manetric fired off its Thunderbolt attack the electricity was channeled directly into the water instead, shocking both pokemon. Being an electric type, Manetric was able to endure its own attack long enough for Milotic to be dealt the finishing blow. The serpentine pokemon cried out in pain, then collapsed into the water.

"I did not expect you to be so reckless!" Juan said to May. "Milotic, you did your best, but this battle is over..." Juan said regretfully, recalling his unconcious Milotic. "May Maple from Littleroot is the winner of this match!"

"Alright! Way to go Manetric!" May called out, shouting excitedly.

"-He was...a decent opponent, for a water type.-" Manetric stated indifferently.

* * *

After the battle, everyone gathered in front of the wreckage of Juan's gym, where May would receive her final badge. Juan actually had to dig through the rubble to find his badges, but he had help from the other trainers gathered.

"In recognition of your victory, I confer upon you the Rain Badge. With this final badge you are now eligible to challenge the Hoenn League!" Juan presented May with the Rain Badge. "Unfortunately, we couldn't retrieve any in-tact TM discs..."

"Well that doesn't matter, as long as I've got the badge!" May received the badge from Juan and placed it on her trainer card, filling in the last empty slot.

"Unfortunately, the Elite Four and myself will be quite busy it seems!" Wallace informed May. "The task of restoring Sootopolis falls upon us now, and Groudon and Kyogre are still out there somewhere..."

"Since you won't be challenging the Elite Four for a while, why don't you come home May?" Norman asked her. "You've hardly spent more than a few days in your own room since arriving in Hoenn!"

"I'll come home...eventually." May replied, smiling sheepishly. "I need to work on training my pokemon though. I want them to be at their best when I challenge the Elite Four and Wallace."

"And we have to make a trip to Lilycove!" Flannery added, tapping Angela on the head. "I'm sure her parents are worried about her."

"Aww do I have to go?" Angela pouted. "I want to watch May battle again!"

"I don't think I'll be battling for a while, but if you're a good girl I'm sure your parents will let you watch when I challenge the league." May said, smiling to her. Just then, one of the helicopters from the evacuation appeared over the edge of the crater.

"Looks like our ride's here." Norman commented.

The helicopter landed as near to the group as it could and all the gym leaders except for Winona and Flannery boarded it. Flannery would be going to Lilycove with May and Winona had her own mode of transportation. While the rest of the gym leaders were boarding the helicopter, May released Tropius from its pokeball.

"Feel up to flying with three passengers?" May asked Tropius. Tropius took a look at the three passengers in question, May, Flannery, and Angela, and nodded in response. The three climbed onto Tropius back, with May sitting in the middle.

"Are you sure its ok for you to just take the day off like this?" May asked Flannery. Flannery and May had planned to spend the night at a hotel in Lilycove, then spend the next day relaxing.

"Of course!" Flannery replied. "I just need to call in a quick favor and the gym will be taken care of for tomorrow. I made sure he won't be messing with my gym this time either..."

"Alright then. Ready Angela?" Angela nodded quickly in response to May. "Tropius, lets go!"

Tropius flapped its wings rapidly, taking several moments to build up enough lift to take off with the extra weight, then slowly flew off out of Sootopolis.

"Well, for disaster relief, this is actually pretty tame." Wallace commented, looking around the city. "Still, its nice to get back to my roots."

"Haha! You've been away from Sootopolis for too long, my friend!" Juan exclaimed, placing a hand on Wallace's shoulder. "Perhaps this is a sign you should stay a while?"

"Maybe it is, Juan, maybe it is..."

* * *

Author's Notes: Latest chapter I've had in a while. Next chapter will probably be relatively short though, so with any luck I'll manage to get caught up. Have a small start on it too from working on it a bit in class.

Did this gym battle a bit differently because I wanted to give some of May's lesser-used pokemon a chance to battle in a gym match as well as make it stand out as far as gym matches go. Wynaut, Heracross, Trapinch, Lileep, and Phanphy are May's only pokemon not to get a gym match now I believe.


	54. Chapter 43: Journey Home

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Forty Three**

**Journey Home**

"Guess I was right about Alakazam's Teleport having a longer range after all that..." Alex said to himself as he placed a pokeball back on his belt. It was nearing nightfall, and Alex had Alakazam teleport him into a dark alleyway.

_"So thats it?"_ A familiar voice chided him. _"You just ditch everyone when its over with?"_

"If I stuck around, people would have started asking questions..." Alex replied with a shrug. "Besides, with any luck May will hate me for it and never want to see me again."

_"You're going to have to explain to me why you would want that."_ Odari said in Alex's mind.

"Isn't it obvious?" Alex replied. "May seems to be falling for 'Alex'. Only problem with that is I'm not really 'Alex' and explaining that to her, at this point, would be a recognized form of suicide. If she decides she hates me, though, Alex can disappear and she won't care."

"Running away from your problems won't get you anywhere." Odari chided him again.

"You know, I really missed not having a voice in my head..." Alex grumbled. He waited a moment before moving towards the end of the alleyway. It was a familiar alley where he first encountered a green-haired trainer by the name of Wally, as well as where he encountered a certain bully and his lackeys.

"Still have a bit of a walk home through Petalburg Woods..." Alex said to himself. "But I'm used to walking a lot by now."

_"Why couldn't you just teleport all the way home then?"_ Odari asked him.

"Does the term 'nostalgia' mean anything to you? No? Didn't think so..." Alex muttered. Finally stepping out of the alley, Alex took a quick look around the city. There weren't many people around because it was getting late, and most people still out would have been on their way home.

"Last time I was here I was getting a badge from, of all people, May..." Alex said to himself laughing quietly.

Alex started off on his way through the city of Petalburg, heading towards the western exit. Even though it was almost night, Alex had no intention of stopping anywhere to rest. He took in the sights of the city as he passed through, thinking back on his previous visits to the city.

While walking through the city, his mind elsewhere, Alex was suddenly struck from behind and knocked to the ground. "Ow! What the?!" Alex tried to look back to see who his attacker was, but was roughly grabbed by the collar of his shirt and slammed into the side of a nearby building. Alex grunted as his back hit the building, and looking up he could finally see who attacked him.

"You..." Alex gasped out when he finally saw who had attacked him.

"Aren't so tough when your guard's down, are ya?!" The older boy taunted Alex, pressing him harder against the wall. It was Danny, the bully he had beat up the first time he entered Petalburg. Alex beat him and his lackeys by countering their attempts to attack Alex, but this time the bully got the drop on him.

"Most people aren't..." Alex grumbled, finding himself in no position to fight back.

"You're going to pay for humiliating me and my boys!" Danny declared, making a fist with his free hand and bringing it hard into Alex's stomach. Alex gasped and held his stomach in pain. Danny dropped him to the ground then kicked him in the side, sending Alex sprawling onto his back.

_"Damn it..."_ Alex thought, pain coursing through his body. _"I came here to avoid getting beaten by May and run into him instead...this must be karma's way of getting me back..."_

_"For once, I believe we are in complete agreement."_ Odari said to him, her laughter echoing in his mind. _"You most certainly deserve this..."_

Alex struggled to get back to his feet, but Danny kicked him down and pushed his foot against Alex's neck to keep him down.

"I'm going to break every bone in your body, kid..." Danny declared, grinning down at Alex. "Then, I'm going to take that stupid Treecko of your's!"

_"Wow, he certainly doesn't like you."_ Odari noted.

_"Well it looks like he's in for a bit of a surprise..."_ Alex thought, smirking to himself as he noticed someone behind Danny. Danny noticed Alex's expression and looked back just in time for a boy's fist to connect with his face, sending Danny sprawling to the ground behind Alex.

"What the?!" Danny cried out in surprise, looking up to see who had hit him.

"I've been wanting to do that for a VERY long time." A green-haired boy said to him. It was Wally.

"You're going to pay for that, Wood!" Danny declared as he got back to his feet. Alex quickly moved out of the way, getting back to his feet as the two boys stared each other down.

Danny charged towards Wally, but Wally was ready for him. He stepped to the side of Danny's charge and stuck out his foot to trip the older boy.

_"Wow, Wally sure has changed..."_ Alex thought, remembering how timid Wally seemed when Alex first met him. Wally changed a lot ever since getting his first pokemon and moving to Verdanturf. _"Ugh, my side hurts now...at least he didn't hit me in the face though..."_

"Why you...uck!" Danny's eyes bulged. Wally had kicked him between the legs, and Danny found himself unable to speak.

"That had to hurt..." Alex said with a grimmace.

"You haven't changed one bit, Danny. You're still a bully, and you're alone." Wally left Danny lying on the ground in pain and turned to Alex, smiling. "Kinda funny meeting up like this huh? You ok Alex?"

"Heh...yeah...I guess it is...and I'm fine, really." Alex replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "What brings you back to Petalburg though? Challenging Norman?"

"I was going to but he wasn't there today..." Wally replied, giving a disappointed sigh. "I really wanted to show him how strong I've gotten too..."

"He'll probably be back tomorrow. You sure have gotten stronger though, you even turned the tables on Danny."

"What brings you to Petalburg anyway, Alex?" Wally asked curiously. "And where's May? Isn't she usually with you?"

"I'm just passing through on my way home to Rustboro. May's in Sootopolis, probably going to get her eigth badge soon too. I've already got mine..." Alex took out his trainer id to show Wally his badges.

"Wow! I guess I have a lot of catching up to do..."

"I'm...not alone..." Danny grunted, slowly getting back to his feet. Wally turned and saw that Danny had a pokeball in his hand and quickly reached for one of his own. He had six pokeballs on his belt now.

"Even if those jerks abandoned me, I've still got my Swellow..." Danny held up the pokeball and released a Swellow from it. His mean Tailow had evolved into a Swellow since Wally and Alex last saw him, and the Swellow had a black eyepatch over its face.

"Oh yeah? Well I have pokemon of my own! Gardevoir, go!" Wally released a pokemon as well, sending out his fully evolved Gardevoir. The psychic pokemon hugged Wally tightly as soon as it appeared and nuzzled its face against him. "G-Gardevoir! Not now!"

"Haha! What a pathetic pokemon!" Danny sneered. "It suits you perfectly." Wally's Gardevoir suddenly stood up and stared daggers at Danny and his Swellow.

_"Wow, his Gardevoir REALLY likes him..."_ Alex noted mentally.

"None of my pokemon are pathetic! Especially not Gardevoir!" Wally snapped back. "Gardevoir, show him! Use Psychic on his Swellow."

Gardevoir concentrated and a blue aura surrounded Danny's Swellow. The bird squawked furiously and tried to break free of Gardevoir's psychic grasp, but it was no use. The bird was slammed into the ground and instantly knocked out.

"Wow...speaking of pathetic pokemon..." Wally began, rubbing the back of his head. "I feel kinda sorry for Swellow, if its trainer wasn't so pathetic it'd probably be much stronger..."

_"I wonder..."_ Alex took out his pokenav to check out Danny's Swellow. He nodded to himself when he saw the output. _"Just as I thought...its only barely strong enough to evolve into a Swellow..."_

"Damn it! This isn't over, Wood!" Danny quickly recalled his Swellow and ran off into the city. With the battle over, Gardevoir quickly resumed hugging its trainer.

"Your Gardevoir really seems attached to you." Alex commented.

"All my pokemon are like this..." Wally sighed. "Its kinda embarassing. I mean, I'm glad they like me! Really! But do they need to be so affectionate?"

"Well look at it this way, you have a nice girl latched onto you!" Alex replied with a grin. Wally blushed and flailed his arms wildly in protest.

"H-hey! She's a pokemon!" Wally replied frantically.

"A humanoid-looking pokemon at that." Alex replied, continuing to taunt him. "Well anyway, I need to get going. I'm hoping to make it home tonight..."

"Huh? So why don't you just use your pokemon to get home?" Wally asked him.

"Kinda taking a trip down memory lane...or something like that..." Alex replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Anyway, it was great running into you again. Later!"

"Oh, alright then...see ya." Alex started off towards the western end of town again. Wally thought for a moment, feeling as if he was forgetting something, then it suddenly dawned on him and he quickly called back to Alex. "Alex, wait!"

"Huh?" Alex stopped and looked back.

"That guy...uh...Dirk! He's out of jail!" Wally said frantically. "I didn't even know he was in jail until I got to Petalburg but he just got out yesterday!"

"He's out already?!" Alex replied in shock. "He must be out on bail term or something like that, there's no way they'd let him off easy after all that..."

"Well whatever it is, he's probably going to come after you." Wally warned him. "I've only met him once but he seemed determined...and crazy."

"Thats one way of putting it..." Alex muttered bitterly. "I'll need to watch out for him then, but I've got some ideas to deal with him I think..."

* * *

Alex continued through the city after making a brief detour in an alley. He had reached the very edge of the city before finally, and inevitably, ran into his old friend Detective Dirk. The detective almost looked as if he was expecting Alex and was blocking his path out of the city.

"I could probably get past him easily..." Alex thought, staring down the detective. "But first, I want to see if I can't knock some sense into old Detective Dork..."

"We finally meet again..." Detective Dirk greeted Alex, a hint of malice in the man's voice. "I bet you thought you had seen the last of me when I was thrown in prison, but I know the justice system like the back of my hand! No prison could hold me for long! And in my brief time in jail, I've had time to think, and I've finally figured you out for sure now..."

"Hoo boy...here it comes..." Alex muttered to himself.

"You are...MAY'S SON!" Dirk called out dramatically. Alex blinked, having no idea how he should respond to that.

"But...how...that defies...where would you...what kind of..." Was all Alex could manage to say in response, unable to form any sort of coherent thought.

"It all came to me in a dream..." Dirk explained, grinning from ear to ear. "You are May's son, come from the future! A future where I have defeated the Hoenn League and put a stop to their criminal activities! But you came back in time to prevent me from doing so!"

_"The stupidity...it hurts..."_ Alex thought, crying in his mind. _"So...so...painful...his theories have lost any sort of sense now..."_

_"Wow, I think I've found someone of lower intelligence than you." _Odari commented dryly.

"But now...that all ends..." Dirk drew a pokeball from within his trenchcoat. "I will end it with this, Dustox!" Dirk called out, releasing a Dustox. Alex quickly readied a pokeball as well.

"Azumarill!" Alex called out, releasing Azumarill to defend against Dustox. Azumarill quickly took up a fighting stance.

_"No Mightyena...well, that hardly surprises me."_ Alex thought to himself with a smirk. _"Just as I thought, Dirk's trying the same trick he pulled last time. Distracting me with a battle. He was probably watching me for a while..."_

"Azumarill, Ice Beam!" Azumarill fired a blue beam of energy at Dirk's Dustox, freezing the bug pokemon in a block of ice and sending it crashing to the ground. The ice shattered, leaving Dustox completely unconcious.

"You've gotten stronger." Dirk commented, snickering as he recalled his Dustox. "I don't think I stand a chance against you..."

_"Well, when you snicker like that its obvious you're hiding something."_ Alex thought to himself. _"I'd have to be a complete idiot or suddenly go deaf not to notice. However..."_

"Well, what did you expect? You can't really train pokemon while stuck in a prison cell..." Alex shot back. "You should just give up now."

"Now why would I do that?" Dirk replied, his snickering growing into maniacal laughter. Listening closely, Alex could hear footsteps behind him approaching quickly.

"Yep, as expected." Alex thought. Dirk's Mightyena continued to close in from behind, lunging towards Alex with its fangs bared. It looked like Mightyena was going to snap its powerful jaws on Alex's head, but suddenly a green blur shot out and struck it from the side.

Mightyena was sent flying off in the opposite direction as Alex's Sceptile came out of nowhere to strike it with its Leaf Blade. Mightyena rolled across the ground, eventually landing on its stomach in a daze. It was clear it was knocked out by that single attack. Dirk looked on in shock, realizing Alex had saw through his plan.

"But...but how?! How could you have possibly been prepared for that?!" Dirk stuttered out in shock.

"I had a bit of a warning that you were on the loose, so I made some preparations incase I ran into you." Alex replied smugly. Sceptile moved to take up a stance in front of Alex. "Now why don't you save your pokemon some pain and give up?"

"Never!" Dirk growled in response. "I'll beat you and your girlfriend and bring down the criminal organization controlling Hoenn!"

_"What? Look, first of all she's..."_ Alex paused and thought for a moment. _"Wait a minute...if he really thought May was my girlfriend, then that kinda contradicts what he said earlier about me being her son from the future. As silly as that sounds. He doesn't really have a clue though, so maybe if I confuse him even more..."_

"You know...its not easy for us..." Alex said to Dirk, changing his tone to sound depressed. "I mean...with her really being my mother...and us being in love...I had no idea my mother was so cute when she was my age..." Alex gave a dramatic sigh.

"What really makes this difficult though...is that I'm really..." Alex slowly reached up, removing his hat and revealing the slightly longer hair that had been starting to grow back. "A girl..."

_"Alex is...A GIRL?!"_ Dirk thought, looking on in shock. _"Then...then she's really May's daughter...but they're in love?! Then that means..." _Dirk began to sweat, the thoughts running through his mind disturbing him deeply. He continued to stare at Alex, eventually realizing there was something familiar about her.

_"Wait a minute...where have I seen her before?"_ Dirk thought for a moment, then it dawned on him. "Of Course! You're not from the future at all! You're Melany! Which means you're lying!"

"Thats about the first thing you've accused me of that was actually true..." Melany replied. "Yeah, I'm Melany. Melany Stone. Disguised myself as a boy and became a trainer. If you were as smart as you like to think you are, that probably would have been obvious when we first met..."

"What are you trying to say?" Dirk asked her, gritting his teeth.

"Think about it." Melany replied. "Melany Stone disappears, then a boy that just happens to have the same eye and hair colour, same physique, and even the same age appears out of the blue. It wouldn't have taken much research to realize that the guy I said I was didn't exist if you were really interested in finding out anything about me. Add up the facts and you'd quickly realize who I was."

_"She...she's right..."_ Dirk thought, now realizing the similarities. _"I should have noticed that sooner!"_

"Your theories don't even make sense, either." Melany continued. "Why would May and I be leading some criminal organization involving Team Aqua, Team Magma, and the Hoenn League? Why would these people listen to two girls, one of which only recently moved to Hoenn? And if all of Hoenn is controlled by a criminal organization, then is it really a criminal organization? Is any actual crime, by Hoenn laws which would be governed by said criminal organization, actually being committed? In fact, wouldn't you really be the biggest criminal in Hoenn at the moment?"

Dirk seemed to be at a loss for words as he tried to run through all the information in his head. It was too much for him to handle all at once. All of a sudden it seemed as though every theory he had was falling apart.

"This...no...I need to rethink this..." Dirk looked up at Melany and growled. "You...don't think this is over, not for a second!" Dirk shouted at her before running off into the city, clutching his head.

"Already? I wanted to talk about the time-space continuem with him too..." Melany said to herself mockingly. "Well, I'm sure that'll keep him busy for a while. Maybe by the time he comes up with a new crackpot theory he'll be institutionalized..."

Melany looked to her two pokemon, then looked at the green hat she was holding in her hands. "You know, I've gotten kinda attached to this hat. But still, I kinda miss my old hat."

Azumarill and Sceptile looked at each other in confusion, not really sure what hat she was talking about. They had only ever seen her wearing the one she had with her, and before that she didn't wear a hat at all. She only bought the hat for something to wear on her head, but in the end as her hair was slowly growing back she used the hat to keep it out of sight.

"Well I guess with Dork out of the way we're in the home stretch. Thanks for the help, guys." Azumarill and Sceptile nodded to Melany before being recalled into their pokeballs. Melany placed their pokeballs on her belt and continued out of town.

Once outside Petalburg, Melany ran to the edge of the slope leading down to the beach. Melany smiled, looking out over the water. The sun was setting over the horizon, casting its reflection in the ocean's surface.

"I bet May's watching this same sunset back in Sootopolis..." Melany said quietly to herself, moving to sit down in the grass.

"Sometimes I can't help but wonder how things might have been different if I didn't try to disguise myself, and just became a regular trainer..." Melany sighed and thought for a moment.

_"What would my relationship with May be like? I mean, obviously she wouldn't have taken any interest in me like she did Alex...but would we be friends? Would we have even met in the same way we did?"_

_"Well for one..." _Odari began, but was quickly cut off by Melany.

_"Would you be quiet? I'm trying to be alone with my thoughts!"_ Melany snapped back. She waited for a moment, continuing her train of thought only when she heard no response from Odari.

_"You know, although in retrospect it was probably kinda pointless to disguise myself as a guy, maybe thats why everything worked out so well?"_ Melany nodded to herself in quiet contemplation.

_"The way things played out...it was kinda time sensitive. Just one day earlier or later overall might have meant Kyogre and Groudon were never stopped...that May and I might not have been in the right place at the right time. I think the big one would be the trip to the Safari Zone, because if we didn't see those helicopters we wouldn't have been so set on trying to find them and stop them from that point on."_

Melany shook her head and stood up. "No, I'm sure you could even justify murder if you thought about it that deeply." Melany started to head off on her way to Rustboro, but looked back at the sunset one last time.

_"May...I'm sorry..."_

* * *

Author's Notes: I knew this was going to be a short chapter, but it REALLY turned out short. Well mostly it was just to show where Alex went off to, and give him an encounter with Danny, Wally, and Detective Dirk. Which it did, so I guess it served its purpose in any case.

Next five chapters so far are more thoroughly planned than the past few have been, suffice to say May's got the spotlight pretty much to herself now. Everything will be pretty much leading up to a certain tournament now, with Melany probably getting 4 more chapters to herself (technically 3, possibly less if they end up too short to dedicate an entire chapter to) and the rest being May's. The tournament itself will probably be...9-10 chapters long.


	55. Chapter 44: The Beach Episode

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Forty Four**

**The Beach Episode**

"Its great to finally have a day off..." May said with a contented sigh. She was lying out on a towel and wearing the same bikini she had on when she went to stop Team Aqua. Flannery was stretched out on a towel next to her, also wearing a bikini. The two girls were taking some time to relax on the beach in Lilycove.

The two girls spent the night in Lilycove in separate hotel rooms after reuiniting Angela with her parents. Angela was sad to be leaving May but had no end of stories to tell her parents. The two girls were able to get a discount rate because of Flannery's status as a gym leader, and Flannery spent the night in a special suite. May stayed in a regular hotel room.

Tired from their ordeal they slept in late into the morning, only finally heading out to the beach early in the afternoon. They changed into their bikinis in a nearby beachhouse and left most of their belongings in rented lockers. May took her fannypack with her, storing her pokeballs and pokenav in it. Flannery also took her pokeballs with her.

"You're a trainer, there's nothing stopping you from doing this whenever you want..." Flannery replied, her eyes closed as she took in the sun's rays. "Being a gym leader is tough though, its a full time job..."

"I guess you're right..." May sat up and looked around the beach. There weren't many people around, so it was easy enough for them to find a spot to relax. A few people were walking up and down the beach and every now and then May would catch some of the guys on the beach looking at her and Flannery.

_"Its been a while since I've been to a beach..."_ May thought to herself. _"I don't remember guys looking at me this much though...or are they more interested in Flannery?"_ May looked at the older girl lying next to her. _"I wonder..."_

"Flannery, do you have a boy friend?" May asked her curiously. Flannery laughed quietly.

"Nope, not at the moment anyway. I've had a few though." Flannery sat up and opened her eyes. "Why? Have the boys been taking an interest in me?" Flannery asked May, stifling a giggle.

"Well they've certainly been looking this way a lot..." May turned her head, looking out over the water. "Its kind of embarassing though..."

"Embarassing?!" Flannery asked in surprise. "You mean you don't like it when guys pay attention to you?"

"Well I do, its just that..." May cast her eyes around the beach again, noticing at least two boys closer to Flannery's age looking at them. "...I don't know, I guess I'm just not used to getting this much attention."

"Well you are still young I guess..." Flannery replied with a slight shrug. "You have a great body for your age though, so its no surprise you'd be drawing a few looks. Unless they know who you are they probably don't even realize you're only ten!"

Flannery was talking loudly enough for the two boys May had caught looking at them to hear her. They looked shocked to hear that and immediately turned away. May blinked in surprise.

"I guess you're right..." May looked back at Flannery. "Why do you like guys looking at you anyway?"

"Well you never know when a hot guy might notice me and decide to ask me out!" Flannery replied, smiling brightly. "Besides that, its nice to be shown appreciation for your body isn't it?"

"I guess so...I usually just think they're being perverts though..." May muttered quietly.

"The perverts are the ones hiding in the bushes and trying to snap pictures...or other things." Flannery replied, waving her finger. May quickly looked around, as if trying to spot anyone that might be doing just that.

"What do you mean by 'other things'?" May asked, looking at Flannery again. Flannery glanced around, then leaned in and whispered to May. May's face went red in embarassment.

"Wh-what?! Thats just wrong!" May replied indignantly, still blushing.

"Thats why they're perverts." Flannery replied matter-of-factly. "Of course, not all guys are like that, and its not like there's no such thing as a perverted girl either."

"I don't feel relaxed at all now..." May commented bitterly, huddling up on her towel.

"You shouldn't worry about it." Flannery said to her, smiling. "You probably don't have to worry about it here in Lilycove, its a nice city where trainers get a lot of respect."

"I guess you're right..." May replied quietly, then went silent for a moment until she remembered what she originally wanted to talk to Flannery about.

"Umm...Flannery? What did you..." May stopped for a second, a bit nervous to ask. "What did you think of Alex?"

"I don't really know him that well, thought it was kinda rude for him to run off like that though." Flannery looked over at May and smiled knowingly, having noticed her nervousness. "You like him, don't you?"

"Well...umm..." May twiddled her fingers nervously. "I do...but I don't know if he thinks the same about me. I thought maybe he did but..."

"Well what made you think that, then?" Flannery asked, interrupting her.

"Well at times I guess it seemed like he was hitting on me, but he'd just pass it off as a joke. He treated me to dinner twice too, but he didn't seem to think anything of it!" May gave a frustrated sigh. "I asked him what he thought of me once, and he said he considered me a good friend..."

"Well I think its obvious what he's doing!" Flannery announced, giggling. "He definitely likes you!"

"Really?!" May asked in surprise, barely able to contain her excitement. "How do you know that?"

"Its simple, he's trying to impress you by being 'too cool'." Flannery replied, then began to explain. "In other words, he's interested in you, but he'd never admit it because he's trying to act like an older and more mature guy. Its not unusual for boys his age to act like that. I bet thats why he vanished after the battle with Kyogre and Groudon, he thought it'd be cool. Like a tv hero disappearing after the final fight or something."

"So...if he won't admit it, what do I do?" May asked her, tilting her head curiously.

"You need to make the first move instead." Flannery replied. "Call him and arrange to meet up somewhere. Not a place that'd be too typical, but somewhere he wouldn't give a second thought to going to. Like..." Flannery thought for a moment. "Like an arcade, maybe try the Game Corner in Mauville."

"Alex did seem to like the Game Corner..." May said quietly, thinking out loud. "Ok, I'll call him on his pokenav then and get him to meet me in Mauville tomorrow. When he shows up, I'll tell him how I feel!"

"Thats the spirit!" Flannery said to her, giving her words of encouragement as May took her pokenav from her fanny pack. She smiled as she dialed his number and called him. The smile turned into a frown, however, when after a minute of beeping Alex still hadn't picked up.

"I guess he doesn't have his pokenav with him..." May sighed and put her pokenav away. "Flannery, how do guys ask you out?"

"They usually come to me with flowers, or send me a romantic letter...silly little things like that." Flannery lied back on the towel and closed her eyes again, going back to her suntanning. "Just try calling him again later..."

"I will..." May replied with a sigh. She stared out at the ocean as she thought over it. _"Its not like Alex to be without his pokenav though..."_

"After this, maybe we could go shopping?" Flannery suggested lazily. "Pick up some nice clothes for you to wear..."

"Yeah, thanks Flannery." May smiled and reached over to put her pokenav away and took notice of her pokeballs. "Oh! We should probably let our pokemon out for a while huh?"

"Hmm?" Flannery thought for a moment, then sighed and sat up. "Yeah, I guess you're right..." Flannery and May each took their pokeballs and released their pokemon one by one.

May had, again, switched around her pokemon team with the intention of training them later in the day. She had with her Beautifly, Lileep, Heracross, Wynaut, Slugma, and Trapinch. Lileep and Wynaut both went straight for the water's edge when they were released and Trapinch burrowed into the sand. Heracross, Beautifly, and Slugma were content to rest on the beach.

Flannery likewise released all four of her pokemon, which now consisted of Magcargo, Camerupt, Torkoal, and a fourth pokemon May didn't remember Flannery having before. It looked like a small horse with yellowish fur, and flames forming its mane and tail. She recognized it, though, as being a Ponyta. Flannery's pokemon were all more interested in just resting on the beach and keeping their distance from the water.

"I'm going to go for a swim with my pokemon." May informed Flannery before getting up and heading off into the water. Along the way she picked up Lileep, who was moving rather slowly. Wynaut was already splashing around in the shallow water and Lileep anchored itself to the ground in slightly deeper water, leaving its neck swaying in the waves while May swam around a bit further out.

"-Race?-" May's Slugma asked Flannery's Magcargo. Magcargo nodded in agreement. The two lined up side by side, then took off down the beach. Their bodies looked as though they were swimming over the sand, though people casually walking down the beach were still passing them.

"-Nothin' to do here...-" Heracross grumbled.

"My Hariyama is unbeatable!" Heracross heard a trainer down the beach declare. Looking off in the distance she saw the Hariyama in question as well as a group of trainers. "If anyone can manage to beat my Hariyama I'll even give them this belt as proof!" The trainer held up a black belt.

"-Well this looks like it'll be interesting.-" Heracross grinned and dashed off down the beach. Beautifly looked between Heracross and the two racing magma-slugs.

"-Watch Heracross fight, or a Magcargo and a Slugma racing? Tough decision indeed!-" Beautifly flapped its wings and took off, following Heracross down the beach.

"Finally, quiet time..." Flannery lied out on her stomach, once again trying for a tan. Her remaining three pokemon lied out next to her.

Trapinch suddenly burrowed out of the sand next to Flannery, sending a spray of sand onto her back. Flannery turned and glared at it, but Trapinch didn't notice and once again dug into the sand.

* * *

Flannery and May spent most of the afternoon at the beach, Flannery spending the time suntanning and May spending most of her time in the water after releasing her pokemon. Heracross managed to beat the trainer's Hariyama and received its Blackbelt, which it continues to wear proudly, and the race between May's Slugma and Flannery's Magcargo never actually finished.

When the two trainers finally recalled their pokemon and left the beach it was around 4 pm in the afternoon, and they decided to head straight to the Lilycove Department Store. The first department the two girls hit, of course, was the clothing department.

"Lets see...we need to find you something cute to wear." Flannery went through a couple of clothing racks while May looked on curiously. Eventually she pulled out a normal looking pink tank top and a matching skirt.

"Pink's not really my colour..." May replied, wrinkling her nose. Flannery put the clothes back and searched around for a bit before pulling out a similar set, only green instead of pink.

"How about green then?" Flannery held up the clothes for May to see.

"Green's fine." May took the tank top from her and held it against her torso to see if it'd fit. It looked as though it would fit fine, but May still had one problem with it. "Umm...don't you think its a bit short?" The tank top was quite short, it would leave her midriff bare if she wore it.

"Its fine! Guys like it when you show a bit of skin!" Flannery replied, waving it off.

"I prefer wearing clothes that cover me..." May handed the top back to Flannery, then took the skirt to check it out as well. She quickly handed it back to Flannery. "WAY too short! A light breeze and anyone nearby would see my panties!"

"Hmph. You're no fun." Flannery replied, a bit miffed. She placed the clothes back on the rack and went to check out another one. May followed behind, a bit leery as to what she might pick out for her next.

"Is this better then?" Flannery pulled out a blue tank top, longer than the first one she picked out, as well as a pair of blue cargo shorts to go with it.

"Much!" May replied, taking each article of clothing and holding them against her to quickly check if they'd fit. They seemed like they'd fit fine, so May decided to hold on to them.

"Good! Now we just need to find you a nice dress to wear out on a date!" Flannery replied, clapping her hands together.

"Umm...I don't know if I really need a dress for a date..." May replied, twiddling her fingers together. "Maybe just a nice pair of pants and a top to go with them..."

"Nonsense! A girl needs to look her best on a date!" Flannery replied, waving her off.

_"Well I guess she'd know..."_ May thought, reluctantly following Flannery to look at some dresses. It didn't take long for Flannery to pick one out, choosing a knee-length black dress.

"What do you think of this?" Flannery held up the dress for May to see. May looked it over and thought for a moment, but before she could answer Flannery grabbed her by the hand and dragged her to a dressing room. "Go on! Try it on!" Flannery ushered May into the change room and closed the door behind her.

The shuffling of clothing could be heard inside the change room, and after several minutes May emerged still wearing her regular clothes and blushing. "Flannery, there's no way I can wear that!"

"Oh? Why not?" Flannery asked, tilting her head to the side.

"It has these...cuts in the side!" May held up the dress sideways, showing a slit running up the side of the dress on each side up to about the waist. "If I wear that everyone will see what I'm wearing under it too!"

"Well thats kinda the point..." Flannery replied, shaking her head. "Well, maybe when you're older then..." Flannery took the dress from her and placed it back on the rack. She fished around some more and produced a similar dress, only longer and without slits in the side. "Why don't you try this one on then?"

May checked over the dress carefully before going back in the room to get changed. She came out moments later, wearing the dress. Flannery nodded to herself, looking her over.

"Well, it doesn't show off much, but it still looks pretty nice...you need shoes to go with it though, how do you feel about heels?" May shot Flannery a look, giving her an answer. "Ok then, we'll try dress shoes..."

Flannery left May to get changed again while she went off to look at shoes. By the time May caught up with her, Flannery already had a pair of black dress shoes picked out for her.

"Thats it?" May asked when she saw the shoes Flannery picked out for her. "I half expected a pair of fancy sandals. You know, so they'd show off some skin..."

"Oh shush, you." Flannery shot back, handing May the shoes. "Try those on..."

May took the dress shoes and sat down on a nearby stool. She took off one of her running shoes to switch with one of the dress shoes. "It fits..." May said in surprise, looking up at Flannery. "How did you know what size shoe I wore?"

"I made an educated guess of course." Flannery replied with a wink. "Well I guess we're pretty much finished here now..."

"Are you sure?" May asked, putting her own shoe back on. "You didn't want to look at some other clothes or buy something?"

"I looked while I was picking out outfits for you." Flannery replied. "Beside that, I already have an outfit in mind..." May looked at Flannery curiously and followed her to the part of the store the dresses were in. Flannery went through a rack of black dresses, pulling out one that looked like the the first dress she pulled out for May only large enough to fit herself instead.

"I'll take this, and I already have a pair of matching high heels anyway..." Flannery said, smiling as she took the dress from the rack.

"Flannery...you have no shame..." May thought sadly.

The two girls made their way to the checkout and Flannery paid for both their outfits, which turned out to be a good thing for May as she didn't realize how expensive the dress and shoes were. After paying for their clothing the two of them left the store with bags in hand and went to the food court on the open roof of the department store. May took a seat at one of the tables while Flannery went to place their orders.

_"I wonder if I'll ever actually wear that dress..."_ May thought while waiting for Flannery, looking at her bags. _"I can't actually imagine wearing that on a date, especially if its with Alex. Maybe if I went to some kind of formal gathering or something..."_

"Back in Lilycove? Or did you never leave?" May looked up to see Suzy standing in front of her.

"Oh, hey Suzy!" May raised her hand to wave to her. "Flannery and I came here to relax for a day, she's leaving tonight to go back to the gym."

"Flannery? Well at least you're with someone in your league now!" Suzy replied, smiling widely. She pulled up a chair next to the table and sat down, placing her bags on the floor. May looked over and saw the bags were filled with various items for pokemon such as potions and vitamins.

"What do you mean by that?" May asked her.

"Well duh, you're the daughter of a gym leader!" Suzy replied quickly, crossing her arms. "Someone of your calibre shouldn't be hanging around with some common trainer."

_"She must mean Alex..."_ May thought. _"Now that I think of it though..."_ May quickly took out her pokenav and selected Alex's number. She waited several moments while her pokenav tried to connect to Alex's. With a frustrated sigh May closed her pokenav and put it away.

"Who were you trying to call?" Suzy asked curiously.

"Well...umm..." May blushed slightly, knowing full well Suzy wasn't going to be too thrilled. "Alex..."

"Alex!?" Suzy gave a 'hmph'. "Don't tell me you actually like him! You could do way better! You need to find a guy who's mature! Suave! Charming! Bonus points if he's rich!"

May sighed, knowing Suzy would say something about it. She didn't realize Suzy would catch on that she liked him, which just made things worse. Fortunately, May spotted her rescue arriving with food.

"Hey, who's your friend, May?" Flannery asked as she approached the two. She was carrying with her a tray with two sub sandwiches and sodas.

"You don't know who I am?!" Suzy asked in shock. Flannery stared at her blankly. "I'm Suzy! The top co-ordinator in Lilycove!" Flannery blinked and shook her head.

"Sorry, I don't keep up with contests much..." Flannery replied. Suzy gave a dejected sigh.

"Oh well...I just wanted to say hi to May anyway since I saw her here." Suzy stood up and grabbed her bags. "I need to get back to training anyway, I want to make sure my pokemon are ready for the Devon Grand Prix."

"Devon Grand Prix?" May thought for a moment, then she remembered. "Oh right! That tournament hosted by Devon..."

"Yep, and I'm going to enter this year!" Suzy replied, grinning widely. "Anyway, see you around!" Suzy took off towards the nearest elevator, and Flannery sat down in the chair Suzy was sitting in before.

"Top co-ordinator in Lilycove huh? She could be tough competition..." Flannery placed the tray on the table and took her sub from it.

"Alex is going to be in that tournament too..." May commented. "So maybe instead of calling him, I can just meet him there..."

"Huh? But you could call him like a hundred times by then, why wait?" Flannery asked her.

"I'll keep training until then." May replied, smiling brightly. "Then, I'll enter the tournament and beat him once and for all!"

"I think you've got your priorities mixed up..." Flannery looked at May's sub, still on the tray. "Not eating today?"

"I was distracted!" May replied quickly, reaching for her sub and soda. "I can't wait to enter the Grand Prix though! I'll train my pokemon for the Grand Prix and then from there its straight on to the Elite Four!"

_"She's already gotten this far as a trainer..."_ Flannery thought as she took a bite of her sub. _"Maybe she'll get fair in the tournament too? She can only get stronger from here..."_

* * *

After their meal, Flannery and May left the department store and went to the outskirts of the city. The two trainers then fed their pokemon and Flannery called for a ride back to Lavaridge. After the better part of an hour, Winona showed up on her Skarmory.

"Flannery, don't you think you should be taking your responsibilities as a gym leader more seriously?" Winona chided Flannery.

"I take it plenty serious!" Flannery shot back. "I just needed a day off, thats all..."

"If you say so...get on already." Winona replied, agitated.

"Hold on!" Flannery turned to May. "You're staying in Lilycove for a while, right?"

"Yeah, I'm going to train here for a day or so." May replied, nodding.

"Here, take this then." Flannery held out a card to May. "Its my resort card. You can stay at that hotel and charge the room to my card. Just don't ask for room service or use the hotel's restaurant or else you'll be paying."

"Thanks Flannery, but why are you giving me this?" May replied, taking the card from her.

"I know I can trust you with it. Besides, I don't have much use for it for a while." Flannery waved to May, then hopped up on Winona's Skarmory.

"May, you've probably made a lot of plans, but don't you think you should head home sometime?" Winona said to her. "I'm sure your mother would like it if you spent some time at home for a change."

Winona's Skarmory flapped its wings, taking a running start across the ground, then took off into the sky heading westward.

"I'll head home...eventually..." May pocketed the card and turned to face her pokemon standing behind her. "But first, we've got some training to get caught up on so we can make our debut at the Devon Grand Prix!"

All six of her pokemon nodded in agreement, and stood awaiting further instructions.

"Alright, so lets get to training!" May looked around at the group. "Lileep will be paired up with Slugma again, Trapinch with Wynaut, and Beautifly with Heracross." The pokemon all nodded then paired off and distanced themselves for their training.

Slugma and Lileep resumed the same training they had used last time they trained together, Slugma attacking Lileep with Ember while Lileep would use Recover. From the constant enduring of Slugma's attacks Lileep was getting better at taking non-physical attacks, while Slugma was getting better at using its attacks.

Trapinch, meanwhile, was continually attacking Wynaut with the various attacks in its arsenal such as Bite and Faint Attack. Wynaut would counter these attacks with its various countering techniques. Trapinch was 'pulling its punches', however, so the two of them could keep going.

Beautifly and Heracross engaged in what looked more like an actual battle, with Heracross attacking Beautifly with everything it had and Beautifly trying to hold it off with Gust and strike back with its draining attacks. Heracross was quite confident in its abilities now, wearing her blackbelt proudly.

_"We'll be more than ready for the tournament..."_ May thought, smiling to herself as she watched her pokemon train. _"First, the Devon Grand Prix! Then, the Hoenn League Elite Four!"_

* * *

Author's Notes: The title name for this chapter comes from an anime trope by the same name, 'Beach Episode', it was the first name that came to mind. 


	56. Chapter 45: Raikou Rival!

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Forty Five**

**Raikou Rival!**

"Heracross is getting pretty strong now, so I think I'll give Castform a bit of training today instead." May said to herself, tapping away at the Lilycove Pokecenter's computer. It was only early in thr morning, but May was already planning out her training regimen for the day.

"And...I guess if I'm going to check out Team Aqua's hideout, I'll need a way to get there as well. So I'll switch Beautifly with Tropius." May placed Heracross's pokeball on the transfer pad to switch it with Castform. She then did the same with Beautifly's pokeball, switching it for Tropius.

_"I want all my pokemon to be ready for Devon's tournament."_ May thought. She did some research on the tournament to look at the rules and discovered that she could change pokemon in between matches, even in the top eight. She intended to take full advantage of that. The only banned pokemon was Wailord, due to size restrictions. Even pokemon from other regions were allowed in the battles.

May's agenda for the day was to spend most of the day training with her pokemon. While her pokemon were busy training she planned to research attack combos and abilities her pokemon were capable of so they'd be able to perform their best.

She had more than just training planned, though. In fact, the first thing she planned to do was check out Team Aqua's hideout again. She was curious as to what happened to Team Aqua after the incident with Kyogre only a few days earlier and in particular wondered if they were disbanded now.

"And all set!" May placed her two new pokeballs on her belt and left the pokecenter. Once outside, she released Tropius from its pokeball and hopped on the grass pokemon's back. Tropius took off and May directed it towards the ocean, where they eventually came in for a landing in the cave entrance of the Team Aqua hideout.

"Team Aqua might still be around here..." May said as she jumped off Tropius's back. "If they're still here they might be holding a grudge against me. I'll need to be quiet for sure." May looked up at Tropius. "Tropius, I want you to wait here for me. Just in case I need to make a quick escape."

Tropius nodded and remained stationary as May crept further into the hideout, slowly going up the stairs leading up from the dock. She stopped near the top to look around, but didn't see anyone. Before venturing in further she took another pokeball from her belt and released Wynaut. Wynaut looked around and growled, immediately recognizing the place.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen you upset like that before, Wynaut..." May said to him.

"-This is where those bad people were!-" Wynaut replied, looking about the area for any sign of them.

"It doesn't look like there's anyone around...not in here anyway..." May took a quick look back at Tropius. The grass pokemon had its eyes closed, but looked more like it was in deep thought than asleep. May continued on towards the end of the room and peeked through the door. She saw nothing but an empty hallway on the other side.

"Its really quiet here..." May commented. "Its kinda like when the first time I was here, but that time most of them were getting on the sub to leave with Archie. Team Aqua must be gone..."

Like the last time May was there, she decided to go down the right corridor first. She already had her destination in mind, the office at the very end of the corridor. She stopped by the door and put her ear up against it. Hearing no one inside, she opened the door and walked in.

"Wh-what?!" May looked around the office in surprise. It was empty, except for the desk and chairs. All the pictures, papers, and even the tv were gone. It looked like someone had cleaned shop.

"If Archie's office is empty then...then Team Aqua must have definitely moved out." May reasoned, folding her arms and thinking deeply. "But they moved out pretty quickly...were they afraid someone would be looking for them for releasing Kyogre?"

"-They did what?-" Wynaut raised one of its arms. "-Whats so special about that?-"

"Maybe they left something besides the furniture behind?" May took a quick look around the office, checking the drawers of the table and looking for any secret compartments in the wall. She couldn't find anything though.

"They really cleaned this place out, when did they have time for this?" May crossed her arms and thought about it. "They either moved really quickly or they were planning to leave beforehand. I wonder if Team Magma did this too? I could check it out tomorrow..."

May shook her head quickly when she remembered where the Team Magma base was. It was built inside Mount Chimney, deep underground. When she was younger she watched a lot of tv, and stories about volcanoes or what would happen if Cinnabar erupted always scared her.

"Well, lets just check out the rest of the hideout...maybe there's something interesting here somewhere..."

"-But...isn't stealing bad?-" May left Archie's with Wynaut following behind her. She checked out two other offices, which turned out to belong to Matt and Shelly. Both those offices were empty as well.

After checking out the offices, May continued through the hideout following the same path she took during her first visit. She eventually came across a mess hall and decided to take a look inside.

Inside the mess hall there were still chairs and tables set up, more furniture left behind by Team Aqua. From the mess hall, May went into the kitchen which again had the basic furniture left behind such as the ovens. Looking through the drawers in the kitchen May found a few utensils left behind, suggesting Team Aqua wasn't entirely thorough in their haste to leave. What really caught May's interest, however, were the cupboards and refrigerators still stocked with food.

"You know, we've pretty much confirmed Team Aqua is gone..." May began, grinning widely. "It'd be a shame for all this food to go to waste!" May opened one of the two refrigerators and began looking through it to see what was there.

"-But...but...isn't this still stealing?-" Wynaut protested quietly.

"Wow, they even have berries in here!" May commented, tossing a sitrus berry out of the fridge.

"-But then again...it is just going to waste here!-" Wynaut grinned widely and immediately picked up the sitrus berry and began munching on it.

"Hmm..." May closed the refrigerator and looked around the kitchen area. "I wonder if they left any bags behind?" May started looking through the cupboards to find some bags, grabbing a chocolate bar from a cupboard full of snacks she stumbled across. She didn't find any bags, but she did get an idea.

"Wait! Team Aqua's almost definitely gone, and they look like they left in a hurry. So unless they decide to come back for the furniture..." May grinned widely and clapped her hands together. "I'll have the whole place to myself!"

"-Huh?-" Wynaut looked up from its berry. "-I don't get it...-"

"There's probably still beds here, so I can spend the night here. Free food and free bed! And I'm sure Flannery won't mind that I only paid for one night at the hotel with her card." May giggled. "It'll be like our own secret base!"

"-Well I guess if we're staying here now it isn't stealing...-" Wynaut gulped down the rest of its sitrus berry.

"I should probably go check on those beds first though before I decide on anything..." May left the mess hall with Wynaut following close behind her. She ventured further into the hideout until she eventually found a room with a pair of bunkbeds lining the wall. The sheets and pillows were gone, however. There was nothing in the room except for the bare bunk beds.

"Well...I have a sleeping bag anyway..." May said with a sigh. "Maybe they left some pillows somewhere at least..."

"-Why don't humans just sleep on the ground?-" Wynaut wondered aloud.

"Well, I'll look for pillows later. I want to check out the dock now." May said, nodding to herself. "There should be some sign as to whether or not it was used recently..."

"-How would that help?-" Wynaut wondered, following May as she left the room. "-Hey! Wait up!-"

May left the sleeping quarters and continued through the base, trying to remember the directions to the dock. She eventually made it to the dock, without making any wrong turns.

Coming into the dock, May discovered it was completely empty. No submarine in the water, no crates or supplies strewn about, and only a single barrel of fuel left behind. May decided to check out the barrel, tapping her hand against the side. It made a hollow sound and May realized it was empty.

"Wow...they REALLY cleaned out the dock..." May noted, looking out at the calm waters. "Definitely still using the sub though."

"-Isn't this where you fought that guy?-" Wynaut asked, remembering its battle with Matt's Crobat. Wynaut growled when he remembered being knocked out by a single Sludge Bomb attack before he could counter it.

"I guess you remember that battle huh?" May said, giggling quietly. "Alright, I guess we can go then. Nothing interesting here. Maybe Team Aqua has a healing machine or a pc for transfering pokemon here?"

May started to leave the dock, not noticing that the water had begun moving a bit. She did notice, however, when she heard the sound of rain just outside. It suddenly started pouring, and May could see the rain coming down just outside the dock.

"Rain? It wasn't supposed to rain today, was it?" May thought out loud, then gave a shrug. "Well, its not like the forecast is always right anyway..."

May turned to leave again, when suddenly one of her pokeballs started shaking. May looked down at it curiously for a moment, not sure what to make of it, until the pokeball opened up on its own and released Castform. Castform almost immediately turned into its water form and began circling May with a frightened expression.

"Wh-what? Castform, what's wrong?!" May asked it. Castform stopped in front of her and began rambling.

"-Rain! This rain isn't normal! It isn't! A pokemon's making it rain! A pokemon! A strong pokemon! STRONG! Big weather disturbance! BIG! Big, big, BIG!-" Castform's message wasn't quite getting through to May, though May did realize that something about the rain was driving Castform crazy.

"-BIG WATER!-" Wynaut cried out, pointing frantically towards the dock's entrance. May and Castform looked as well and saw a bulge of water moving towards them.

"Wh-what is that?! It couldn't be..." May could vaguely make out a large blue creature with read markings under the water. As the bulge got closer to them, the pokemon's head emerged from the water. It was Kyogre.

"Kyogre! We need to get out of here!" May quickly grabbed Wynaut and took off out of the dock. Castform kept pace floating behind her.

_"Why is Kyogre here?!"_ May wondered frantically. _"Does it know this is Team Aqua's hideout somehow? Is this why Team Aqua left?!" _May heard a crash of water far behind her and a roar from Kyogre. Kyogre was likely there for Team Aqua, but it had recognized May when it saw her in the dock.

"Wait a second..." May stopped running, confusing Castform and Wynaut. "Kyogre is just like a regular pokemon without the sapphire, right? Alex should still have the sapphire, so we should be able to battle Kyogre! Maybe even catch it!"

"-Catch Kyogre?-" Wynaut asked in surprise. "-Is...is that ok?-"

"We can't battle Kyogre in here though, so lets meet up with Tropius at the other dock." May said to her two pokemon. "The water is more shallow there, so it should be easier to battle it. Just as long as Kyogre finds us of course..." Castform nodded, and the three of them continued on their way to the main dock where Tropius was still waiting for them.

"Tropius!" May called out to it, snapping Tropius out of its deep thoughts. Tropius nodded, looking ready to make a quick getaway with May, but was surprised when May stopped next to him instead.

"Kyogre's nearby, so I want you and Castform to be ready to fight it!" Tropius paused for a moment, taken back by May's request, but nodded its agreement.

"Kyogre might still be around the other side of the hideout, so we need to get its attention somehow..." May thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers.

"I've got it! Castform, use Sunny Day!" Castform looked at May, confused. "If Kyogre's rain is cancelled by your Sunny Day then it'll definitely notice!" Castform smiled and nodded in understanding.

"-I'll make the rain gone! Gone will be the rain!-" Castform glowed a bright orange, the glow fading as it sent an orange energy ball up into the sky. The clouds began to part, the rain ending and an intense sunlight shining down through the clouds. The sunlight was brief, however, as the clouds soon moved in again and it started pouring.

"That oughta get Kyogre's attention..." The group waited several moments for Kyogre to arrive. Kyogre was quick to announce its prescence when it finally showed up, further out in the water. The top of its head broke the surface and sent a pillar of water into the air, its Water Spout technique. Kyogre raised its head from the water to glare at May.

"Alright! This is our chance, guys!" May called out, pointing at Kyogre. "Tropius, Magical Leaf! Castform, Thunderbolt!" The two pokemon took off, Tropius flapping its broad wings to fly out and meet its opponent and Castform hovering out over the water to get a better shot at Kyogre.

Kyogre didn't wait for either pokemon to attack to make its counter-attack, immediately taking aim at Tropius and firing an Ice Beam. Tropius was too slow to dodge the sudden attack and was struck by the beam. Tropius cried out in pain, its body becoming encased in ice, and was sent plummeting towards the water below. May quickly recalled Tropius before it could hit the water.

Kyogre wasn't able to stop Castform from attacking, however, and Castform fired off a bolt of electricity. Kygore roared in pain as the Thunderbolt attack struck it and electricity coursed through the pokemon's body. It glared at Castform when the pain finally subsided.

"Tropius was taken down in one hit, I hope there's still a healing machine here somewhere or I'm stuck..." May placed Tropius's pokeball on her belt and looked out at Kyogre. "Still...Kyogre definitely doesn't seem invulnerable now. I just need to keep up the attack with Castform."

"Castform, use Thunderbolt again!" Castform's body sparked with electricity, but before it could attack Kyogre struck it with a powerful stream of water in the form of Hydro Pump. Castform was knocked back, but spun around and shook off the attack.

Castform made a second attempt at using Thunderbolt, this time firing off the bolt of electricity successfully and striking Kyogre with it. Kyogre growled in pain again and continued to glare at Castform.

"-Insolent whelp! Do you have any idea who you're attacking?!-" Kyogre growled at Castform.

"-I'm attacking you! You, of course! Kyogre!-" Castform replied quickly. "-You're messing up the weather! You're too strong, just look at the weather! All this rain! This rain is your fault! Its not natural, the rain is not normal!-"

"-In the name of all that is blue and pure what ARE you going on about?-" Kyogre shot back. Castform thought for a moment, but couldn't come up with a response.

_"It looks like Kyogre and Castform are talking..."_ May thought to herself. _"I can't understand them, but maybe Castform can find some way to explain to me later what Kyogre is doing here?"_

"Castform! Ask Kyogre why its here!" May called out to Castform. Castform nodded.

"-The human wants to know why I'm here?-" Kyogre replied before Castform could even ask it, having heard May. "-These foolish humans tried to attack me with their sharp-skinned fish pokemon, then fled here. I needed time to rest before launching my counter attack, but when I come here I find only you!-"

"-Team Aqua not here! No they aren't!-" Castform replied. "-They left! Now only May here! May!-"

"-It is all the same to me.-" Kyogre replied sharply. "-That girl has hindered my claiming of the Cave of Origins, for that I will have my revenge!-"

Kyogre opened its mouth and fired off another strong blast of water. This time, however, Castform spun off to the side to avoid the attack. The Hydro Pump struck a nearby rock jutting out of the water instead, hitting with enough force to crack the rock.

"I guess there's no negotiating then, I hope Castform found something out." May said to herself. "Castform, use Thunderbolt again!"

Castform's body sparked with electricity and it fired off yet another Thunderbolt attack. The attack struck Kyogre head on and the water titan growled in pain again. Kyogre was just now starting to show signs of being worn down by Castform's attacks.

Instead of attacking again, however, Kyogre closed its eyes and went to sleep. May was confused by this, even more so by the fact that it was still floating on the surface of the water while asleep.

"-Wow! You know you're strong when you can afford to sleep in the middle of battle!-" Wynaut commented excitedly.

"Why would Kyogre go to sleep?" May wondered aloud. "Wait...is it using REST?!" May shouted in surprise when she realized this. "Oh no! This really complicates things! Castform is the only one who can battle Kyogre now but if Kyogre can use Rest it can easily outlast Castform!"

Castform fired off another two Thunderbolt attacks while Kyogre was resting, but when Kyogre finally woke up again it still looked to be in a bit better condition than when it went to sleep.

As soon as Kyogre woke up it fired off a Hydro Pump attack, catching Castform by surprise and striking it with a wide blast of water. Castform was knocked back, nearly landing in the water but managed to stabilize. Castform was starting to look pretty exhausted by this point. Castform was able to resist water attacks in its water form, but the rain empowered Kyogre's water attacks as well.

_"Not looking good..."_ May thought. "Castform, try Thunderbolt again!"

Castform charged up and fired off another bolt of electricity, striking Kyogre with its Thunderbolt attack. Kyogre withstood the attack and closed its eyes, using Rest again to recover.

_"I'm not getting anywhere with these attacks!"_ May thought desperately. _"If Castform loses, Kyogre might attack me next...why couldn't Kyogre attack me when I had more electric or grass pokemon on hand?"_

Castform continued trying to attack Kyogre with the only attack it had in its arsenal that'd work, Thunderbolt. Castform had Solar Beam as well, but because of the weather Solar Beam would have been useless. Eventually, Kyogre woke up again and launched another Hydro Pump attack. Castform was able to drift off to the side to dodge it though.

"Ok, time to try a new strategy!" May quickly drew an Ultra Ball from her fanny pack and threw it as hard as she could towards Kyogre. Kyogre didn't give the Ultra Ball a chance to reach it, blasting it with an Ice Beam and sending it plummeting into the water.

"Well so much for that idea..." May grumbled. "Alright, Castform! Lets use another..."

Before May could issue the attack, Kyogre was caught off guard by a different electric attack striking it. A bolt of lightning raced out from over the water to strike Kyogre. Kyogre roared in pain and was obviously left quite a bit weaker than if it had been struck by Castform's Thunderbolt.

Kyogre immediately looked around for its attacker and spotted a yellow four-legged pokemon with a pair of large fangs and a cloud-like mane standing on a nearby rock jutting out of the water. It was Raikou, the legendary thunder pokemon from Johto.

_"Raikou too, now!?"_ May thought in surprise. _"Why is Raikou here?"_

"-So I was right, it was you behind this rain.-" Raikou shouted to Kyogre. "-I suggest you flee unless you want another taste of the true power behind your weather disturbance...-"

Kyogre seemed stunned for a moment by Raikou's interference, thinking over its situation. Kyogre soon made up its mind however. It dove under the water and fled from the area, the rain giving way to sunlight as Kyogre's weather disappeared with it. With the rain stopped, Castform reverted to its normal form.

_"There's that girl again too..."_ Raikou thought, noticing May standing in Team Aqua's hideout. _"She was battling Kyogre...hmm..."_ Raikou stared at May for a moment longer before fleeing back towards the shore, jumping from rock to rock.

_"Regardless..."_ Raikou thought as it fled the area. _"With Kyogre swimming the oceans again, it does not appear I can flee the witch this way. No matter, she is not the one I am to test. I will not allow her to catch me..."_

"It looks like I was just saved by Raikou..." May mumbled quietly, staring in awe as Raikou disappeared into the distance. She quickly shook her head to shake it off.

"What am I doing?! I need to heal my pokemon and go after it!" Castform floated over to May, looking at her apologetically for failing to stop Kyogre.

"Oh! Castform, did you find out why Kyogre was here?" May asked it. Castform nodded quickly, then tried its best to perform a skit for her of Sharpedo attacking Kyogre. Castform talked Wynaut into acting out the part of Kyogre, lying on the floor with its arms spread out at its side like flippers while Castform tried to act menacingly towards Wynaut.

"Hmm...so someone attacked Kyogre?" May asked Castform. Castform nodded quickly. "Was it Team Aqua then?" Castform nodded again, and may thought for a moment.

"I wonder if this means Team Aqua's not giving up on catching Kyogre..." May said to herself. "Well whatever! I need to get you guys healed up so we can go after Raikou!"

May recalled Castform and Wynaut and ran back into the hideout. She looked through room after room until eventually she found a room equipped with a healing machine and a pc for switching pokemon, just like in a pokecenter. She only had need for the healing machine though.

May placed her pokeballs in the machine and turned it on. After waiting a few minutes, her pokemon were fully healed. She ran to the dock closest to Lilycove and released Tropius from its pokeball again.

"Alright, Tropius, lets go! Raikou's around, so we need to try to catch up with it!" Tropius nodded and lowered itself so May could get on its back. May climbed on, and Tropius quickly took off.

Tropius soared high into the air, flying as fast as it could. May kept her eyes trained on the ground as they passed over Lilycove, looking for any sign of Raikou. She eventually caught up with it, stopped in a forest outside Lilycove as if looking around for something.

"There it is! Tropius, dive down so I can jump off then I want you to attack it with Body Slam!" Tropius nodded and flew past Raikou, moving low to the ground and stopping for a moment to let May off. Once May was safely on the ground, Tropius took off after Raikou again.

It didn't take long for Tropius to spot Raikou again, the legendary beast hardly moved. Tropius quickly went into a dive to attack from the air. Raikou looked up, but it was too late for it to stop the attack. Tropius crashed hard on top of it, pinning Raikou to the ground. Raikou yelped in surprise as it was attacked, growling and glaring up at its attacker.

"-You have five seconds to get off me or I fry you.-" Raikou warned Tropius, growling menacingly.

"-No can do.-" Tropius replied.

"-Fine, have it your way.-" Raikou's body sparked with electricity and released a Thunderbolt attack straight into Tropius, knocking the grass pokemon off Raikou's back. Tropius shook its head, dazed from the attack. Raikou leapt away quickly, then turned to face Tropius.

"-You're obviously a plant pokemon, so lets see how you like this!-" Raikou concentrated for a moment and blue orbs formed around it. While Tropius was still getting up from Raikou's initial attack, Raikou hit it with an ice-type Hidden Power. Tropius cried out as the attack struck it then collapsed to the ground, knocked out by the attack.

"Tropius!" May called out to her pokemon desperately as she finally caught up.

_"Her again..."_ Raikou thought. _"This one's almost as persistant as the witch. Time for me to get moving..." _Raikou dashed off into the trees, putting out every ounce of speed it could to leave May and Tropius in the dust.

"Tropius...today just isn't your day..." May said with a sigh, kneeling next to her pokemon. Tropius raised its head weakly to look up at her. "Its ok, Tropius...just take a rest for now..." May held up Tropius's pokeball and recalled it. She then stood up, clipping the pokeball to her belt.

"You again?" May looked up and spotted an older, female trainer standing nearby. It was Jessica, whom May had encountered the last time she tried to catch Raikou.

"Don't tell me, I messed up your shot at catching Raikou again?" May said sarcastically.

"On the contrary, nothing you do can hinder me now." Jessica replied, a smirk forming on her lips. "Nothing short of catching it that is. Of course, you have about as much of a chance of catching Raikou as my Shedinja has at finding a girlfriend."

"Huh?" May stared blankly for a moment, then quickly shook her head. "Just what's that supposed to mean?!"

"Quite simple..." Jessica began, adjusting her glasses slightly and resting her other hand on her hip. "Raikou won't be leaving Lilycove anytime soon. Though it has proven itself to be quite resourceful, moreso than I had anticipated, there is nowhere for it to run now." Jessica grinned widely, focusing her gaze on May.

"And since you probably don't know this...Shedinja are sexless..." Jessica added smugly.

"Grr...well I'll show you!" May growled back, reaching for a pokeball. "Not only can I catch Raikou, but I WILL catch it!"

"Don't tell me you're looking for another battle." Jessica taunted her. "Didn't learn a thing last time I guess. Fine then, we'll use three pokemon each."

"Fine! Slugma, I choose you!" May called out her pokemon's name as she held up the pokeball and released Slugma for a battle.

"I'll start off with Shedinja." Jessica stated calmly, taking a pokeball from her belt and releasing Shedinja.

_"Shedinja? Jessica can't be as smart as she thinks she is..."_ May thought with a smirk. _"Slugma just needs one fire attack to take this thing down."_

"Slugma, attack Shedinja with Flamethrower!"

"Shedinja, use Dig!" Slugma opened its mouth and released a cone of flames towards Shedinja. From where May was standing, it looked as though the attack had hit at first. When the flames cleared, however, a hole could be seen in the ground where Shedinja had used Dig.

"No! It dodged it!" May growled in frustration.

"As you're probably aware now, Shedinja can be defeated in one attack." Jessica said to her. "However, I have no intention of letting you land that attack."

"We'll see about that!" May shot back. She focused her attention on the ground, waiting for Shedinja to pop up. Shedinja eventually surfaced from underneath Slugma, striking the pokemon as it broke from the ground and quickly floating over towards Jessica. It collapsed to the ground before reaching her, however.

"You should have known better than to follow through with that attack..." Jessica berated her pokemon as she recalled it.

"What...? I don't get it, how Shedinja faint?" May asked, confused.

"Hmph...you don't even realize your own pokemon's abilities?" Jessica chided May, taking out a bit of frustration on her as well. "Your Slugma's Flame Body ability burned Shedinja, and the burn knocked Shedinja out."

"Well I guess that pokemon wasn't a very good choice, was it?" May taunted her. Jessica provided no response, placing Shedinja's pokeball on her belt and retrieving another.

"Ninjask, your turn. Go." Jessica said bitterly, releasing another bug pokemon. May noticed the pokemon that appeared had a shape very similar to Shedinja, only it was an actual bug instead of a strange hollow ghost shell.

_"Wait! Shedinja is just an empty shell!"_ May realized while looking at Ninjask. _"Did that pokemon hatch from it then? Would it have the same Wonder Guard ability or is it even stronger somehow?"_

Before the second bout could get underway, May's Slugma began to glow. Its body grew larger by a few inches, and a bulge formed on its back. The bulge hardened into a rocky snail-like shell. The glow finally faded and revealed Slugma's evolved form, Magcargo.

"Some people consider it rude to evolve your pokemon in the middle of a match." Jessica grumbled.

"Hey! Its not like I told my Slugma to evolve!" May shot back.

_"Am I in trouble for evolving?"_ Magcargo wondered, looking between the two girls.

"Well it won't help you anyway." Jessica replied. "Ninjask, Double Team!" Ninjask shuddered, then split into multiple false images of itself which surrounded Magcargo.

"That technique won't work on Magcargo!" May said smugly. "Magcargo, use Overheat!" Magcargo began to glow a bright orange then released a blast of flames all around it, catching all the Ninjasks in a fiery explosion. When the flames faded, Ninjask was still hovering in the air though its body was completely singed.

_"Ninjask definitely isn't as fragile as Shedinja..."_ May thought when she saw Ninjask still concious. _"Is her Ninjask really that durable though? Its obviously a bug type but it survived one of the strongest fire techniques there is!"_

"Ninjask, Toxic." Jessica stated, though visibly irritated. She made the mistake of underestimating May's Slugma and Ninjask took an Overheat attack because of it. Ninjask showed it was still capable of fighting, however, spitting out a strange purple substance and hitting Magcargo in the face with it.

_"Thats it for her Magcargo..."_ Jessica thought, smirking to herself.

"Magcargo, finish it with Flamethrower!" May commanded. Magcargo complied, spewing out a cone of flames towards Ninjask. Almost faster than May could blink, Ninjask moved to the side to evade the attack. "No way! How is it so fast?!"

"Ninjask is one of the fastest pokemon alive." Jessica replied, grinning widely. She reached up to adjust her glasses, the light shining through them to hide her eyes briefly. "Not only that...but as the battle goes on, Ninjask gets even faster because of its Speed Boost ability. One hit will finish it off, sure, but can you actually hit it?"

"We'll beat it!" May quickly shot back. "Magcargo, use Flamethrower again!"

"Ninjask, Protect." Magcargo spewed out another cone of flames, but Ninjask blocked the attack this time by forming a protective barrier around it.

_"Protect too? This isn't good!"_ May thought, quickly going over Magcargo's options in her head. "Magcargo, try using Yawn!"

"Ninjask, use Dig." Magcargo gave a yawn, releasing a white gas towards Ninjask. Ninjask was far too quick for Magcargo, however, and had quickly dug a hole in the ground and was gone long before Magcargo's attack could hit it. Ninjask quickly followed this up by digging up from under Magcargo and striking it from underground.

This time, Jessica didn't seem the least bit upset as Ninjask returned to its spot in front of her. May's Magcargo was starting to look quite exhausted, however. It was being worn down by the poison, and standing up to the Dig attack took a lot out of it too. Magcargo was breathing heavily now from exhaustion.

"Grr...Magcargo, try Flamethrower again!" May called out desperately.

"You never learn, do you?" Jessica taunted her. "Ninjask, dodge and use Metal Claw!"

Once again, Ninjask swiftly dodged a Flamethrower attack from May's Magcargo. It then shot forward, with its right claw quickly taking on a metallic appearance, and struck Magcargo as it flew beside it. Magcargo instantly fell, but not without taking its toll on Ninjask. The bug pokemon had a noticeable burn mark on it after attacking Magcargo.

"Magcargo, you did your best..." May sighed regretfully, recalling her pokemon.

"If that was your pokemon's best, its pathetic." Jessica taunted her. "With pokemon like that, you'll never be even remotely as good as your father."

"We'll see about that!" May shot back, reaching for another pokeball. "Wynaut, lets show her!" May called out, releasing Wynaut from its pokeball. Wynaut waved its arms excitedly when it appeared on the field.

"A Wynaut huh? I bet you still don't know how to use it. Ninjask, return." Jessica recalled her pokemon, placing its pokeball on her belt.

"Zangoose, lets go and finish this!" Jessica called out, releasing her white and blue furred Zangoose. Zangoose grinned menacingly, causing Wyneut to wrap its arms around itself in fear.

_"I know exactly how to use Wynaut..."_ May thought to herself, smiling. _"I just have to wait for Zangoose to attack, then have Wynaut counter it!"_

"Zangoose, use Swords Dance." Zangoose closed its eyes and focused its energy, causing a blue sword-shaped aura to form around it. May gasped in shock, remembering Jessica using this strategy before.

"Wynaut, return!" May quickly recalled Wynaut, much to the pokemon's dismay. She knew Wynaut couldn't stop Zangoose from powering up, and at full power it'd be KO'd before it could counter. "Go, Trapinch!" May released Trapinch from its pokeball, and almost immediately Jessica took out her laptop to scan it.

_"That strong and it hasn't evolved yet?"_ Jessica thought in disbelief. _"Does this girl shove everstones down their throat or is she just stupid and not making it evolve?"_ Jessica thought for a moment, recalling Slugma's recent evolution. _"Or maybe she's one of those trainers that let their pokemon evolve on their own terms..."_

"Zangoose, one more time. Swords Dance!" Zangoose nodded and focused again, maintaining the aura and increasing its physical attack power further.

"Trapinch, use Sand Tomb!" May called out. Trapinch opened its large mouth and breathed out, stirring up a vortex of sand around Zangoose that almost completely hid the pokemon from view.

_"That should be good enough to finish this."_ Jessica thought to herself. "Zangoose, use Return." Zangoose dashed out from the veil of sand surrounding it and stopped in front of Trapinch. It then proceeded to deliver a series of rapid punches and scratches, knocking Trapinch out in one attack. May quickly recalled Trapinch and paused to consider whether or not she should send out Wynaut.

"Your hesitation seems to suggest that you've realized you can't beat my Zangoose with your Wynaut." Jessica said to her. "You should just forfeit the match and spare your Wynaut some pain..."

"Ugh..." May continued to hesitate. It shouldn't have been a hard decision, Wynaut couldn't win at this point anyway. She hated the idea of forfeiting to someone as arrogant as Jessica though.

"I...forfeit..." May replied bitterly, deciding she cared more about her pokemon.

"Thats what I thought." Jessica said, recalling her Zangoose. "You definitely don't stand a chance against the likes of Raikou."

"Oh yeah?! Well what makes you so sure you can catch it?" May demanded.

"Simple..." Jessica began. "I already have Raikou trapped. I'll slowly continue to box it in until it has nowhere to run, then move in to catch it. Now, if you're done wasting my time, I have work to do..." May clenched her fist angrily, watching as Jessica disappeared from sight into the trees and bushes.

"Just who does she think she is?!" May growled. "I don't know how she's keeping Raikou trapped, but its not right! Wild pokemon should be caught with pokemon and pokeballs only!" May looked down at her own pokeballs, smiling to herself as an idea came to mind.

"And I think I know just how to do that..." May looked up again, staring off in the direction Jessica left in. "We'll see who gets Raikou first, Jessica!"

May quickly returned to Lilycove and healed her pokemon at the pokecenter. Afterwards, she spent a bit of time training her pokemon but also preparing them to go up against Raikou the next day. When she was finished her training, she turned in for the day at the abandoned Team Aqua hideout. Her pokemon all slept outside their pokeballs, but May herself had trouble sleeping that night. She was too excited to sleep.

_"I may have missed catching two legendary pokemon today..."_ May thought, smiling to herself and staring at the ceiling of her room. _"But how many people even get that kind of chance?" May giggled quietly to herself._

_"I'm definitely going to catch Raikou though...first thing tomorrow!"_

* * *

Author's Notes: Originally this was going to be two chapters. I must have really stretched the point-based rough draft for the second chapter to think that'd constitute a full chapter. Might end up doing the same with the next two chapters, since I can see them turning out shorter than I currently have them written out as. Anyway, not much else to say here now. 


	57. Chapter 46: Trapping Techniques

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Forty Six**

**Trapping Techniques**

"This is just like yesterday." May said to Tropius, riding on its back as they flew over the route near Lilycove. "This will be the last time though, because today we're going to find Raikou and catch it!" Tropius nodded in agreement, its head swiveling to also try to spot Raikou.

"Jessica didn't seem to be in any rush to catch Raikou, so its definitely around here...huh?" May stopped short of finishing her statement when Tropius suddenly turned and started to slowly descend. May looked ahead to where Tropius was going and could see something yellow running through the trees below them, heading for an open plain.

"Aha! Good eye, Tropius!" May said to it, giving it a pat on the back. May reached for a pokeball as Tropius quietly moved in, flying behind Raikou and just above the trees. Tropius was keeping up with it because Raikou couldn't run as fast through the forest, but May planned to trap it as soon as it was out of the trees.

"Wait for it...wait for it..." May watched Raikou closely, holding the pokeball at the ready. The moment Raikou's head emerged from the forest, May through down the pokeball. "Trapinch, go! Trap Raikou!"

Raikou suddenly came to a stop and looked up when it heard May yelling. It watched curiously as the pokeball landed near the edge of the woods and released Trapinch from its pokeball. Raikou turned to run again, but it found itself being pulled back as it tried to run. It stopped, and so did the pulling motion. Once Raikou started to run again, however, it was pulled backwards.

"-What the...-" Raikou looked back. The ground itself seemed as though it was sliding towards Trapinch. "-Well then, looks like I'm stuck attacking that...bug. Fine then. Have it your way.-"

Raikou fired off a blast of electricity at Trapinch as May and Tropius landed behind it. Raikou was thinking Trapinch to be a bug-type pokemon, but Raikou realized it was wrong when the electricity struck Trapinch with no effect at all.

"Tropius, Magical Leaf! Trapinch, hold your position for now!" Raikou turned around, focusing its attention on May and Tropius now. Tropius flapped its wings and fired a barrage of sharp leaves at Raikou. The leaves honed in and slashed across Raikou's body, causing the pokemon to falter slightly in its stance.

"-You would think you'd know better than to attack me by now.-" Raikou said to Tropius, its body sparking with electricity as it prepared to attack. "-Lets see how you like Thunderbolt!-" Raikou fired off a bolt of electricity from its body, striking Tropius head on with a Thunderbolt attack. Tropius growled in pain as the electricity coursed through it, but was able to take the attack.

"-Now to finish you off with...-" Raikou began its threat, preparing to finish Tropius off with one more attack. May cut it off however.

"Ok, Tropius! Thats good enough! Return!" May called out, returning Tropius to its pokeball. "Trapinch, now! Crunch attack!"

Raikou looked back towards Trapinch, just in time to see the bug-like ground pokemon clamp on to its tail with its large jaws. Raikou's eyes went wide and it roared in pain.

"-DAMN IT! GET OFF!-" Raikou roared at Trapinch, shaking its tail furiously. Trapinch was quite intent on holding on though.

"I don't know whats more amusing, May's attempt to catch Raikou or that she's actually managed to knock it down a peg..." Jessica commented, watching the scene from a tree at the edge of the forest. Her Zangoose was with her, standing next to her on the same branch.

"Her Trapinch's Arena Trap ability certainly helped her, but I think we can remedy that little issue." Jessica grinned, adjusting her glasses. "Her Trapinch is more than ready to evolve, all it needs is a little push. Once it evolves into Vibrava, it'll lose its Arena Trap ability..."

"Trapinch, get on top of it now and use Crunch again!" Trapinch tried to swing up on Raikou, using its own tail. Once Trapinch let go of Raikou's tail, however, Raikou knocked Trapinch down with it.

"-I don't know what you are, but I'm finishing this.-" Raikou took a deep breath and let out a loud, menacing roar. Trapinch yelped in fear and ran back to May, its pokeball opening on its own to recall it. With Trapinch returned to its pokeball, Raikou took off running across the plain. It was going far too fast for any of May's pokemon to keep up with it.

"I thought for sure I'd get it this time..." May said with a sigh, glancing off in the direction Raikou ran. "Raikou sure is fast though..."

"If thats the best strategy you've got, you might as well give up." Jessica sneered, emerging from the forest with her Zangoose.

"Grr...mind your own business!" May shot back.

"Catching Raikou is my business." Jessica replied, adjusting her glasses. "And Raikou could have easily defeated your Trapinch."

"My Trapinch is strong enough to handle Raikou!" May shot back, clenching her fists. "Do you have nothing better to do with your time than insult my pokemon?!"

"If you think your Trapinch is so tough, then why not battle my Zangoose with it again?" Jessica smirked slightly. "Its not like my Zangoose has had the chance to power up this time, maybe it'll last more than five seconds?"

"Fine! Trapinch is going to put your Zangoose in its place!" May took Trapinch's pokeball from her belt and quickly released it again. Trapinch lifted its head and immediately spotted Zangoose grinning at it.

"In the many years Zangoose has been with me, its only ever lost once." Jessica said to May. "Zangoose, attack Trapinch with Slash!"

"Trapinch, catch its attack with Crunch!" Zangoose dashed towards Trapinch and raised its claw. As Zangoose brought its claw forward to attack, Trapinch quickly opened its mouth. Zangoose was ready for this though and ran past Trapinch while slashing it across the side, avoiding its powerful jaws.

"Trapinch, quick! Clamp down on its tail!" Trapinch quickly turned to try to bite down on Zangoose's tail, but it again missed its target completely.

"Zangoose, attack with Return!" Zangoose skid to a stop, then turned around and quickly delivered a series of quick punches and slashes to Trapinch's side. Zangoose finished it off with one good punch, sending Trapinch rolling and landing on its back. Trapinch quickly rolled again to stand upright.

"Trapinch, Faint Attack!"

"Zangoose, Detect and block it!"

Trapinch dashed towards Zangoose and became a black blur as it moved to attack. With a flash of insight, Zangoose raised its claw to block the attack. Trapinch reappeared upon impact with Zangoose's claw and fell to the ground again.

"Now, Zangoose! Lets end this! Return!" Zangoose began attacking Trapinch again, delivering a series of punches and slashes then finishing by punching Trapinch in the bottom of its jaw to send it onto its back again. Trapinch slowly rolled back onto its feet, raising its head weakly to glare at Zangoose.

"Well what do you know, its still standing." Jessica snickered. "Your Trapinch just doesn't know when to give up. How can an unevolved pokemon like that even hope to stand up to my Zangoose?"

"A pokemon doesn't have to evolve to be strong!" May shot back, irritated.

"That may be..." Jessica replied with a slight shrug. "But being unevolved clearly isn't helping your Trapinch at all." Jessica looked at Trapinch, smirking to herself when she saw the determined expression on its face. She looked up at Zangoose and nodded to it.

"Alright, Zangoose, lets finish it with Quick Attack!" Zangoose nodded and dashed forward, striking Trapinch with a blur of movement. Trapinch cried out, falling back in pain. For a moment, Trapinch seemed defeated. However it soon weakly got back to its feet again, having only been struck a glancing blow by Zangoose.

"Your Trapinch is as stubborn as you. It just doesn't know when to quit!" Jessica said to her, though on the inside she was grinning. _"Trapinch is definitely on the brink of fainting now. Its being pushed hard, but its still holding on. So in a last ditch effort..."_

A smirk crossed Jessica's lips as, just as she had been planning, a white glow surrounded Trapinch. Trapinch's body changed completely, becoming flatter and more insect-like. Its head shrunk and spread a pair of antenae and a pair of large, insect-like eyes. It sprouted a tail and a pair of diamond-shaped wings. The glow finally faded, revealing the evolved pokemon Vibrava.

"Well Trapinch's evolved now, I hope you're happy." May shot back, still looking irritated despite the evolution. "Well now my evolved Trapinch is going to finish your Zangoose for...huh?" May looked surprised as Jessica recalled her Zangoose.

"You're absolutely right, I am happy your Trapinch evolved." Jessica replied, smiling deviously. "You see, Trapinch's evolved form no longer has the Arena Trap ability. So much for your strategy to catch Raikou."

"Wh-what?!" May looked at Vibrava in disbelief. Vibrava was disappointed to hear this and looked at May sadly, thinking that it had betrayed her by evolving. "You...you..."

"You what?" Jessica interrupted May. "Vocabularly a bit lacking, is it?" Jessica waved dismissively. "Well, I'm finished here. See you around, loser."

Jessica turned and walked back into the forest, a notable strut in her step. Her plan to force May's Trapinch into evolving had succeeded.

"I can't believe how much of a...how much of a BITCH she is!" May growled. May noticed Vibrava still looking at her sadly, so May walked over to it and kneeled down beside it.

"Don't worry about it, Trapinch." May said softly, patting it on the head. "I still have another way of trapping Raikou anyway, so if anything by evolving you'll just be able to fight it better." May smiled reassuringly, which seemed to cheer Vibrava up.

"Oh! I guess I shouldn't be calling you Trapinch anymore, huh?" May quickly took out her pokedex to check.

"Vibrava, the vibration pokemon." The pokedex read out. "It looses ultrasonic waves by rubbing its wings together. Since a Vibrava's wings are still in the process of growing, it can only fly short distances."

"Hmm..." May thought for a moment, looking further into Vibrava's data. "Says here you're a dragon and ground type pokemon now, and you've learned the techniques Dragonbreath and Screech." May stood up and pocketed her pokedex again.

"Alright, lets try to find Raikou again with Tropius. I'll trap it with Wynaut's ability this time, and then we'll try battling it with you and Phanphy." Vibrava nodded as May explained the situation to her. May withdrew Phanphy earlier, planning to use it to help her catch Raikou.

May held up Vibrava's pokeball and recalled it, then took Tropius' pokeball from her belt and released the grass and flying pokemon again. Tropius nodded to May, already knowing what she had planned. May climbed on Tropius back and the two took off in the direction Raikou had fled.

* * *

"I hope we find Raikou soon..." May gave a disheartened sigh. "Tropius, you feel like taking a break?" Tropius gave a slight nod, keeping a steady flight path. May and Tropius had been flying for a while, trying to find Raikou. There was no sign of it anywhere. Looking around, May spotted a small body of water off to the west.

"Alright, I think I see a small pond nearby. Lets land there." Tropius nodded, banking off to the left to head towards the spot May had indicated. As Tropius drew closer to the pond, May noticed a figure taking a drink from the water. It was Raikou, and it didn't seem to see them coming.

"On second thought, looks like we've found Raikou!" May said, barely containing her excitement. She quickly reached for Wynaut's pokeball as they moved in closer. Raikou finally lifted its head and saw them coming, but it was too late. May was already releasing Wynaut from its pokeball.

"-Yeah, like I'm going to stick around.-" Raikou growled as he saw Wynaut appear from the pokeball and started to run. Raikou didn't get very far before suddenly tripping. "-Wh-what the heck?!" Raikou called out in surprise as it hit the ground.

"Ok, Phanphy! Lets go!" May called out, releasing Phanphy from its pokeball. Raikou was confused for a moment, thinking May had intended to use Wynaut to battle it.

"-Well this pipsqueak should be easy enough to take down.-" Raikou said to itself, grinning as it charged up electricity for an attack.

"Phanphy, Defense Curl!" May called out, and Phanphy responded by curling up into a ball. "Now, Rollout!" Phanphy began spinning rapidly and launched itself rolling towards Raikou.

Raikou unleashed its stored up electricity to strike Phanphy, firing a bolt of lightning from its body at the rolling pokemon. To Raikou's surprise, the attack had no effect and Phanphy continued on to plow into Raikou, tossing the legendary pokemon aside.

"-Is every pokemon immune to my attacks now?!-" Raikou growled, scrambling to get back on its feet and turning to face the incoming Phanphy again.

"-Alright then, lets see how you like this!-" Raikou called out to it. Raikou focused on a power deep inside it, causing several light-blue orbs to form around it. Raikou fired the orbs at Phanphy, hitting the ground pokemon. Phanphy cried out as it was knocked out of its Rollout attack, landing on its back.

"Phanphy, get up and use Ancientpower!" Phanphy quickly rolled back onto its feet and focused its power, causing rocks to pop up out of the ground and float around it.

Raikou responded to this by forming the blue orbs around it again. Both pokemon fired their attacks simultaneously, Phanphy sending a barrage of rocks at Raikou and Raikou firing its ice-type Hidden Power at Phanphy.

Raikou winced as the rocks struck it, but still looked ready for more. Phanphy, on the other hand, nearly collapsed when the Hidden Power struck it. It was just barely hanging on.

"Phanphy, hang in there! Try hitting it with Flail!" Phanphy rushed towards Raikou to attack with Flail, but Raikou saw this and rushed towards Phanphy as well. As Phanphy moved to attack, Raikou grabbed its snout in its jaws and crunched down hard on it. Phanphy cried out loudly before collapsing to the ground.

"Good enough! Phanphy, return!" May called the fainted Phanphy back to its pokeball. Raikou attempted to flee at this point, but met the same results as Wynaut froze its shadow in place.

"-Damn it! Just what the heck is going on here?!-" Raikou growled, looking up and glaring at May and Wynaut. "-I bet that...thing is responsible for this somehow. Last time I attacked it though it deflected my own attack, and that really hurt...-"

"Vibrava, your turn! Go!" May held up Vibrava's pokeball, releasing her newly evolved dragon pokemon to battle Raikou. "Vibrava, attack with Dragonbreath!"

Vibrava began flapping its wings rapidly, hovering off the ground then flying towards Raikou. As it approached Raikou it fired a stream of blue flames from its mouth, striking Raikou head on with the attack then flying past it and out over the pond. Raikou looked back, following it with its eyes.

"-That was a dragon attack, looks like this technique is certainly serving me well these days!-" Raikou focused for a moment, forming blue spheres of energy around it. It fired the spheres at Vibrava, striking it as it was turning back towards Raikou and sending it plummeting into the water.

_"That technique Raikou keeps using...is it an ice-type hidden power?"_ May wondered, noticing the effect the attack had on Vibrava. _"Vibrava's a dragon and ground type pokemon now though...that means its just as weak to ice attacks as Altaria!"_

May was worried about Vibrava when she realized this, keeping her pokeball ready to recall it. To her relief, Vibrava soon emerged from the water near the shore. It was definitely weakened greatly by the attack, but it was still holding on.

"-You should just quit while you're ahead, whatever you are.-" Raikou said to Vibrava.

"-Bite...you...-" Vibrava shot back. Raikou thought it was just being stupid, but to its surprise Vibrava suddenly shot towards it and clamped its jaws down on Raikou's snout.

"-Get...OFF!-" Raikou shouted, shaking its head frantically in an attempt to dislodge Vibrava from its nose. Vibrava had a pretty good grip on it though.

"-Fine, have it your way!-" Raikou said to it, forming several blue spheres around its body. It launched the spheres outwards from it, and they quickly honed in to strike Vibrava. Vibrava finally let go of Raikou's snout as it was knocked unconcious, falling to the ground at Raikou's feet.

"Vibrava, good! Return!" May recalled Vibrava, placing its pokeball on her belt. Raikou looked back at May and glared, panting to catch its breath.

"-Damn it...this girl's pokemon are starting to wear me out...-" Raikou growled. It moved to try to run again, but once again found itself getting nowhere. "-Looks like I'm not going anywhere. This girl might end up being the one that finally catches me...-"

"Alright, Tropius! Your turn now! Magical Leaf!" Tropius nodded, leaping out in front of May. It gave a flap of its broad wings, sending out a barrage of sharp leaves that immediately honed in on Raikou and slashed across its body. Raikou growled in pain and began preparing its counter attack.

"-I already know how to take you down..-" Raikou growled, once again calling out its Hidden Power attack. Raikou launched the orbs of energy at Tropius, striking it with an ice attack and causing Tropius to cry out in pain before collapsing to the ground. May quickly recalled it.

"Alright, Raikou must be pretty weak by now." May said to herself, pulling out an ultra ball.

"-Huh? Does this mean I don't get to fight it?-" Wynaut commented sadly.

May threw the ultra ball hard at Raikou and hit its mark, striking Raikou in the head. The ultra ball opened up and a red beam shot out, striking Raikou and pulling it inside.

The ultra ball fell to the ground and began rolling around as Raikou struggled to escape. The ultra ball rolled for several tense moments, and May thought for sure she had it, but Raikou broke out at the last second.

"-Damn it...that was too close...-" Raikou growled once it was free from the pokeball. "-I need to deal with that blue pokemon and get out of here!-"

Raikou raised its head and gave a loud roar, startling Wynaut. Wynaut's pokeball on May's belt opened up and Wynaut fled inside. With Wynaut back in its pokeball, Raikou was ginally able to flee and took off running in a southwest direction.

"I think its time to call it a day..." May said, sighing in defeat. She looked at the pokeballs on her belt and sighed again.

"Looks like I'm walking back to Lilycove too...I really need to start stocking up on potions..." May kicked at the ground. With no other options, she started on her way back to Lilycove on foot.

_"Doesn't look like I'll get much training in with my pokemon today..."_ She thought as she started off. _"But then again, fighting Raikou should be a good experience for my pokemon anyway. Plus, Trapinch even evolved today."_

* * *

By the time May returned to Lilycove it was almost evening, she had gone pretty far out in search of Raikou and was almost closer to Fortree than she was to Lilycove. When she got back, the first thing she did was heal her pokemon at the pokecenter.

After healing her pokemon, May had Tropius fly her out to the old Team Aqua hideout. May went into the mess hall of the Team Aqua hideout, which was pretty much barren now. She had already moved the tables and chairs out of the way so her pokemon could use the room.

"Alright, everyone! Come on out!" May shouted, releasing her remaining five pokemon from their pokeballs. Tropius was still out of its pokeball from before. Vibrava, Wynaut, Castform, Lileep, and Phanphy were all released from their pokeballs. May had put Magcargo in storage in exchange for Phanphy.

"Alright, you guys all wait here and I'll go fix up something to eat." All of the pokemon nodded. May went into the mess hall's kitchen, with Wynaut choosing to follow her rather than stay behind. The rest of her pokemon lounged around in the mess hall while they waited for their food.

"Lets see...what should I make today?" May thought for a moment, looking around the kitchen for ideas.

"I know! All pokemon like berries, so I'll just make meals with the berries!" May declared. Wynaut hopped about excitedly upon hearing this.

"Hmm...but what can I make? I don't really know much about cooking or baking..." May sighed, thinking back on all those times she chose to watch tv instead of helping her mother with baking when she offered. "Stupid tv..."

May looked through the cupboards and fridge, looking for other ideas. At first she couldn't think of anything, but an idea came to mind when she stumbled upon three large, silver serving trays.

"I know! I'll just cut them up and put them on the trays!" May laid out the three trays on a nearby counter. She then gathered up a pile of different berries and placed them on the counter as well.

"I can't just put berries out though, can I?" May wondered aloud.

"-Everyone loves berries...-" Wynaut said quietly while sneakily trying to grab a leppa berry. May caught him though and hit his arms away with a spoon.

"These are for everyone, Wynaut! You'll just have to wait until I finish the trays!" Wynaut looked up at May and gave her his best 'puppy-dog eyes' expression. May wasn't budging though.

"I could put out some meat or something but I think only Vibrava would eat it..." May said to herself, returning to her thoughts on the tray dilemma. "Maybe if I just put out a bit of meat for Vibrava then and put out some cheese? I'm sure they'll at least try it..."

May set to chopping up the various barries and arranged them on the first two trays. On the last tray she set out some more berries on about half the tray and meat and cheese equally on the remaining half. She carried the trays into the mess hall one by one and set them down on the floor.

"Ok guys, dig in!" May said to them. She had barely finished before Wynaut had started grabbing up pieces of berries from the trays. All of the pokemon tried out different berries. Vibrava and, to May's surprise, Lileep ate up all the meat. They all tried a piece of cheese too, though only Vibrava and Phanphy seemed to at all like it.

With her pokemon well fed, May went back into the kitchen to make something for herself. She made herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and snacked on a bit of the leftover meat and cheese. After cleaning up a bit, May noticed a cheri berry leftover.

"Couldn't hurt to try one..." May took the berry by its green stem and placed it in her mouth, eating it in one bite. At first it seemed fine, but then the spicy flavour of the berry kicked in and May's eyes started to water. She quickly ran to the fridge and grabbed a jug of water and desperately drank for it.

"Bleh...felt like my mouth was on fire..." May hung out her tongue, fanning it with her hand. "This what I get for eating strange foods..."

May finished cleaning up the kitchen and left into the mess hall. The trays were all empty now and her pokemon were asleep, all looking well fed from the trays of food.

"I guess I should turn in now as well..." May said with a yawn, heading off to her own room. She placed her fanny pack and bandana on one of the other beds in the room, then kicked off her shoes and lied down in the bed she claimed as her own.

"Well, another day...another missed shot at a legendary pokemon..." May sighed, lying back in bed. "I can't believe that Jessica though...I mean, sure, Raikou's a legendary pokemon. But its not like Kyogre or Groudon, she's not going to be able to do abuse its power or anything. Why would she try so hard to catch it?"

_"Is she just looking for a strong pokemon?"_ May wondered, rolling over on her side with her back to the wall._ "Thats still no excuse for what she did though!"_ May thought bitterly. _"Though wonder if everyone who goes after legendary pokemon is like her?"_

May closed her eyes and began to drift off to sleep. _"It doesn't matter...because I'm going to get Raikou first...using only my pokemon..."_

May finally drifted off to sleep, but was only asleep for a few minutes before being rudely awakened by her pokenav beeping. _"Ugh! Who could that be?!"_ May wondered, slowly crawling out of the bed and crossing the room to pick up her pokenav. "Hello?"

"Hey, May! Its me, Flannery!" May heard Flannery's voice through the pokenav's phone.

"Flannery...?" May thought for a moment. "Wait, where'd you get my number?"

"I asked your father for it." Flannery replied quickly. "Anyway! I kinda need that card back so think you could drop by with it tomorrow?"

"Umm...sure..." May hesitantly replied.

"Great! Thanks! Later May!" Before May could say another word, Flannery hung up on her.

"I wonder what that was all about..." May sighed and put her pokenav away. "Well I hope Tropius won't mind flying to Lavaridge then..."

* * *

Author's Notes: Combined the chapters and it was still short...I must have really tried to make them look longer on paper. Originally May was going to try two different strategies (Trapinch and Wynaut) over the course of two days. I think this turned out better than that would have anyway, in my opinion. 


	58. Chapter 47: Heart of Ice

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Forty Seven**

**Heart of Ice**

A small, deserted island lies to the north of Dewford town. The island would almost be unnoticeable, if it weren't for the very large rock formation in the middle of it. A white helicopter with the word 'Devon' on the side of it in red approaches the island, landing before the structure. Before the helicopter has even shut off, the side door opens and Melany Stone hops out.

With her charade as Alex over with, Melany had gone back to wearing her usual outfit. The clothes were pretty stereotypical for an archaeologist, consisting of a pair of khaki shorts, a matching short-sleeved shirt, and a wide-brimmed hat. The hat also had a white veil around the sides and back, concealing her hair which had yet to grow back fully.

"Hey! Not so fast!" A voice called out from behind her. Melany looked back as an older man, looking like a lost tourist with his Hawaii t-shirt and sunglasses on. Of course, it was just a disguise. He was one of the two security personnel assigned to Melany.

"Of course, heaven forbid I get more than five feet away from dumb and dumber." Melany growled. They were Devon security guards, but they weren't there to protect her. Rather, they were keeping an eye on her as if she was a fugitive.

"Look, there's nothing but water around us!" Melany shouted angrily at him. "You and your partner both know I'm hydrophobic, so the only way I'm getting off this island is by that helicopter!"

"We're also aware you have your Skarmory with you." The man replied calmly, adjusting his glasses to look out over them at Melany. "We will stay out here, however, since you definitely won't be tunneling through that rock."

"Fine then..." Melany grumbled, turning and walking into the rock structure a short distance away.

_"Damn it, I can understand the punishment..."_ Melany thought to herself as she entered the structure. _"But why do I need to have those two with me wherever I go? Its just one hundred hours of community service!"_ Melany stopped to think over that for a moment.

_"What am I getting community service for again? I technically didn't do anything wrong."_ Melany sighed. _"Right, because it was my dad's idea that the police should be involved in my punishment for keeping them preoccupied trying to find me."_

_"At least I was able to convince them that working for Professor Birch would count..."_ Melany thought, a smirk crossing her lips. _"I already owed Professor Birch for giving me the license as Alex and promised him I'd catch legendary pokemon and let him research them. This will definitely shave some time off my community service and mean less time picking up garbage in a park..."_

_"Is there any particular reason you're going over all this?" _A voice asked Melany. _"I already know all this..."_

_"Can't a girl monologue in peace?"_ Melany thought angrily. Her relationship with Odari hardly improved over the past few days, though Odari didn't seem to have nearly as much raw hatred for her now that she wasn't disguising herself as a boy anymore.

_"I won't ask..."_ Odari replied.

_"Fine by me."_ Melany took a quick look around the inside of the rock structure. There was absolutely nothing in there, though there seemed to be some writing in strange symbols on the far wall. Melany recognized the symbols and could easily translate them in a few minutes, however she had a much quicker way of doing so.

"So then, what do I need to do exactly to get to Regice?" Melany asked Odari out loud.

_"You need to run around the edge of the room twice."_ Odari replied telepathically. _"Oh, and start in front of the writing."_

"You're...kidding, right?" Melany asked in disbelief. She shook her head and sighed, walking up to the far wall of the chamber. She glanced back towards the entrance to see if her guards could see her. Fortunately, it seemed they wouldn't be able to.

"This is ridiculous..." Melany grumbled before starting off on her run, quickly doing two laps around the outer edge of the chamber and coming to rest in front of the ancient text again. Nothing seemed to happen, however.

"Ok, now how do you really get in?" Melany asked in a disgruntled tone. As if on cue, the rocky wall began to shake and part of it dropped into the floor to form a door.

_"Thats how."_ Odari replied in an unusually cheerful tone. Melany muttered to herself and walked through.

Through the wall was another, slightly larger chamber. Other than the size difference, there was nothing else different. The chamber still consisted of a rocky floor, ceiling, and walls. There was a cold chill in the air, however, produced by the prescence of the pokemon in the middle of the room.

In the center of the chamber was a solid blue pokemon with a somewhat humanoid appearance. It had a crystalline body formed from ice, with blocks of ice forming two thick arms ending in three more stubby pieces of ice for fingers.

A pair of pointed icicles formed legs and feet for the pokemon, and four more icicles protruded from its back. They definitely weren't for flight though. Where the pokemon's face might be, there were six black spheres. Two forming a vertical line, and two more on either side forming another line.

"So thats Regice huh?" Melany commented, shivering as she felt the chill in the air. "Definitely an ice type. So how do I wake this thing up?"

_"Leave that to me."_ Odari responded. The emerald in Melany's backpack produced a brief flash, and the sphers on Regice's body all lit up to produce a yellow glow. _"I highly suggest sending out a pokemon now, I have no intention of merely handing it over to you. Regice will definitely defend itself."_

"Well I would hate for this to be easy!" Melany replied, grinning widely as she retrieved a pokeball from her belt. "Metang, this one's all your's! Go!"

Melany held up the pokeball and released Metang, a steel pokemon that floated off the ground and had a semi-circle body with two, long, spike-tipped arms protruding from the bottom-front of its body. Metang pounded its two claws together as it prepared for its battle with Regice.

_"You'r seriously using that pokemon?"_ Odari chided her. _"You only received it from your brother recently, and its certainly far from strong..."_

"True enough..." Melany replied. "But I also know Metang has a lot of potential and needs tough training to get there." Melany raised her hand and pointed at Regice. "Alright, Metang! Metal Claw!"

Metang shot forward, raising one of its metal fists as it approached Regice and slashed it with the claws on the end of its arm. Despite Regice being an ice pokemon, however, it was clear the attack didn't do much damage. Of course, Melany wasn't expecting it to.

Finding itself under attack, Regice decided to strike back at Metang. Regice flung out its arms and a cold, icy wind swirled around itself and Metang briefly. It was a fairly strong attack coming from Regice, but fortunately for Metgan it was resistant to the cold.

"Alright then...lets give Confusion a shot then, Metang!" Melany called out. Metang backed up from Regice a few feet and its eyes flashed as it launched its psychic attack, sending out a blast of psychic energy to strike Regice mentally. Regice didn't even seem to flinch as the attack struck it, however.

_"Metang's Metal Claw didn't do much..."_ Melany noted mentally. _"But its Confusion technique didn't seem to do anything at all."_

_"Don't expect any hints from me, you're fighting Regice on your own."_ Odari replied quickly, although Melany wasn't actually talking to her.

Sparks crackled on the end of Regice's hands, and the ice golem brought its arms forward to fire a bolt of lightning at Metang. The attack struck Metang and the pokemon emitted a robotic-sounding groan as electricity coursed through its metallic body. Metang fell to the ground with a heavy thud, knocked out by the attack.

_"Hmm...well thats a new one on me..."_ Odari commented as Melany recalled Metang.

"So you're telling me this thing knows attacks even you don't know about?" Melany asked her, quickly retrieving another pokeball. "Well that will certainly make things more interesting! Numel, this one's your's! Go!"

Melany held up the pokeball she grabbed and released Numel from its pokeball. Numel scratched the ground with its paw, the usually lazy pokemon ready for its battle with Regice.

"Numel, Flamethrower attack! Go!" Numel opened its mouth and released a stream of flames, almost completely engulfing Regice in the flames.

The flames did nothing to hinder Regice from attacking, however. Regice raised one of its arms outside of the Flamethrower's range and launched a Thunderbolt attack from it. The bolt of electricity struck Numel, but fortunately Numel was a ground type as well as a fire type. Numel was unaffected by the attack.

"Wow...that thing is pretty tough..." Melany commented, seeing Regice attack as though unfazed by the Flamethrower. "Well a Thunderbolt attack won't do anything, so don't let up Numel!" Numel gave a slight nod, dropping the Flamethrower attack briefly to catch its breath then firing off another cone of fire to engulf Regice.

_"I wouldn't get too overconfident if I were you."_ Odari advised Melany. _"It may have picked up a new technique it seems rather fond of, but it also has a particularly powerful ice technique that I discovered while it was in my care."_

Regice didn't seem to be taking any opportunity to attack during the second Flamethrower attack. Eventually Numel stopped the attack to catch its breath, and Regice took this opportunity to finally attack. It had one of its hands pointed at Numel and fired a blue beam of energy. The beam struck Numel and encased it in a block of ice, which it found its incapable of breaking out of.

"Ice Beam..." Melany muttered, recognizing the attack immediately. "It froze Numel too..."

With Numel frozen solid, Regice seemed to back down for a moment and took a few steps back from where it was standing. A dark, reddish aura surrounded its body but other than that nothing seemed to happen.

"Its using Curse?" Melany realized. "But...why? If its as simple minded as it seems, why doesn't it just go straight on the attack?"

_"It may be simple minded, but it has a pretty good memory."_ Odari explained. _"It still remembers the tactics I've had it use, and its copying that battle strategy. With your Numel temporarily disabled, its taking this opportunity to build its power."_

"Well thats just great..." Melany grumbled. "Numel, come on! You have to get out of there!"

The ice block shook slightly as Numel tried to break free, but it didn't seem to be working. Failing that, however, Numel began to glow. Almost immediately the ice shattered as Numel grew to over twice its size.

Numel's back formed into two humps, shaped like a volcano. When Numel stopped growing it was six feet high at the hump. The glow faded, revealing that Numel now had orange fur and three blue circles on either side of its body. Numel had broken free of the ice by evolving into Camerupt.

"Alright! Now this battle is definitely turning around!" Melany declared once Camerupt had finished evolving. "But first things first, since Regice powered up we will too. Camerupt, Amnesia!" Camerupt focused for a moment, its memory becoming dimmer in exchange for greater defense against non-physical attacks.

Recognizing the technique Camerupt was using to power up, Regice stopped using Curse and its eyes flashed quickly. It looked as though it was concentrating too, but Melany couldn't figure out why.

_"It was using Amnesia as well."_ Odari explained to her. _"It noticed Camerupt use Amnesia and copied the technique to increase its defense against your fire attacks."_

"Just great..." Melany grumbled. "Looks like this battle will be going into overtime. Alright, Camerupt! Lets try a different approach! Earthquake!"

Camerupt hopped up quickly on its hind legs, bringing its front legs down hard onto the ground. The impact caused the ground to shake and start cracking and raising up around Regice. Regice was knocked off balance by the attack and sent falling onto its back as the ground below it settled.

"Ok, Camerupt! Follow up with Flamethrower!" Camerupt opened its mouth to fire another stream of flames at Regice, engulfing Regice in the fire. It soon rose above the attack, however, as it got back to its feet. Camerupt directed the flames to cover it better while it was standing up, holding the attack as long as it could before stopping to catch its breath.

Free of Camerupt's Flamethrower again, Regice fired another Ice Beam attack at it. The cold, blue beam struck Camerupt head on. Camerupt was more able to take the attack this time with its increased abilities from evolution as well as Amnesia. The fire pokemon was able to shake it off relatively easily and avoided getting frozen again.

"Wow...that Regice is really resilient!" Melany exclaimed, surprised that Regice was still standing after taking so many Flamethrowers and an Earthquake.

_"Well its defenses are its best attributes, defense against non-physical attacks in particular."_ Odari explained. _"Not only that, but its boosted its defenses with Curse and Amnesia. It shouldn't be so surprising that its still standing."_

"Well we'll just have to keep up the attack then! Camerupt, knock it down again with Take Down!" Camerupt charged towards Regice, charging straight into it with a full body tackle. The impact shook both pokemon, causing Regice and Camerupt to both stumbled back a few feet from each other. Camerupt shook its head to shake off the impact.

"It didn't fall over? Well lets try Earthquake again!" Camerupt nodded, quickly raising up on its hind legs again, sending out a shockwave that caused the ground to shake violently when it landed. Regice was taking the opportunity to use Curse again as the ground began to rise and fall around it, still increasing its power until it fell backwards onto the ground.

"It should have attacked instead of using Curse again." Melany commented with a smirk. "Alright, Camerupt! Use Flamethrower again!" Camerupt spewed out yet another blast of flames, engulfing Regice completely as it lie on its back.

"Alright, it should be getting pretty weak by now..." Melany said to herself, reaching into her backpack to pull out a yellow and black ultra ball.

While Camerupt held out with the attack as long as it could, Regice began to climb back to its feet. While still under the flames, Regice brought both its arms forward. The area around it began to shake as Regice called out its inner strength, sending a blast of energy into Camerupt.

The blast of energy burst into an explosion as it struck Camerupt, sending rolling across the ground until it stopped at Melany's feet. Camerupt was knocked unconcious by the attack, so Melany quickly recalled it and placed its pokeball back on her belt.

_"What kind of an attack was that?"_ Melany wondered, quickly lobbing the ultra ball at Regice. _"I've never seen an attack like that before."_ The ultra ball struck Regice in the chest and drew it inside, then fell to the ground and began to shake as Regice tried to break free.

_"That would be its Superpower technique."_ Odari explained to her. _"It briefly raises the user's strength, then unleashes a blast of pure power. After using Curse twice it had quite a bit of power behind it too, but after using technique its physical power and defense drops a bit from the strain."_

The pokeball continued to shake for several tense moments, but before it could lock shut and seal Regice inside for good it cracked open. The ultra ball shattered and released Regice from the ultra ball.

"Looks like we're still not finished here..." Melany grumbled, reaching for another pokeball. "Alright then, Skarmory! Lets keep it up! Go!" Melany held up the pokeball and released Skarmory from it. Skarmory appeared in front of Melany and quickly looked over its opponent.

"-Its been too long since I had a real battle.-" Skarmory said to itself, a bit of a grin forming on its metal beak when it realized it was up against a strong opponent.

_"If Skarmory powers up, Regice will likely power up as well, so..."_ Melany thought to herself before starting off the battle again. "Skarmory, use Agility!"

Skarmory closed its eyes and concentrated, relaxing its mind and muscles to increase its speed. As Melany had predicted, Regice had noticed this as well and used Amnesia again. It had thought that Skarmory was using that technique and so Regice was copying it.

"Good! Now, into the air Skarmory and circle around it!" Melany commanded. Skarmory began flapping its wings rapidly, taking off and flying past Regice before starting to fly in a circular path around it. Skarmory was moving quite quickly and Regice was turning to try to follow it.

While trying to follow Skarmory, Regice suddenly stopped and turned the other way. It raised one of its hands and fired an Ice Beam attack straight into Skarmory's path, but Skarmory was able to evade the attack with its increased agility. It dove under the beam, maintaining its flight path.

"Now! Use Steel Wing on it from behind!" Skarmory quickly flew in behind Regice, flying past it with its wings outstretched. Skarmory's left wing struck Regice as it flew by, causing Regice to stumble forward but it managed to regain its balance before falling.

After striking Regice with the Steel Wing attack it immediately went back to flying in a circular path around it, Regice following behind it again and firing off its Ice Beam attack. The beam following behind Skarmory created a trail of ice on the wall behind it until Regice finally gave up trying to hit it.

"Wow, suddenly this feels like a boss battle in some kinda spaceship shooter game..." Melany commented dryly. "Alright, Skarmory, keep circling it until we get another chance to attack."

Skarmory continued to fly in a circular path around Regice, and just like last time Regice eventually stopped trying to follow it and instead went on the offensive. This time, Regice charged up with electricity and fired a bolt of lightning into Skarmory's path. Once again, with Skarmory's increased speed, it swiftly flew over the lightning bolt.

"One more Steel Wing oughta do it! Skarmory, go!" Skarmory nodded, banking towards Regice to attack from behind again. Regice, meanwhile, seemed to be charging up a ball of electricity but still had its back to Skarmory. Suddenly, at the last possible second, Regice quickly turned around.

"What the?!" Melany shouted, mirroring Skarmory's surprise as the ball of electricity was fired at Skarmory. Skarmory was too close and moving too fast to evade it, taking the attack straight on. Skarmory dropped to the ground as the ball of electricity struck it, sparks flowing all over its body as it collapsed in front of Regice.

"No! That was a Zap Cannon attack!" Melany realized as Skarmory struggled to get back on its feet, looking as though it was weakened quite a bit by the attack. "Zap Cannon causes instant paralysis when it hits! Skarmory, you have to get up and land one more hit!"

_"You shouldn't be so surprised."_ Odari chided Melany. _"Afterall, even Regice is capable of thinking on its own to counter the same technique being used over and over."_

Skarmory managed to get back on its feet again and turned to Regice, raising one of its wings to strike the ice golem. It didn't get the chance to land the attack, however, as Regice blasted it with an Ice Beam. Skarmory was briefly encased in ice and stumbled backwards as the ice shattered, knocking it to the ground again.

Skarmory was still concious, though just barely, after taking the Ice Beam attack. Skarmory tried once again to get back on its feet, but Regice proved itself to be quite relentless. It charged up electricity and fired a final Thunderbolt attack at the weakened Skarmory. Electricity coursed through Skarmory's body as the bolt struck it, knocking it unconcious. Melany quickly recalled it and reached for an ultra ball.

_"You started out doing so well with that pokemon as well..."_ Odari commented, her quiet laughter echoing through Melany's mind.

"Quiet..." Melany grumbled. She threw the ultra ball at Regice, striking her target with another pokeball. Regice was drawn inside the ultra ball again, and the pokeball began shaking on the ground as Regice tried to break free. This time, Regice broke free even earlier, shattering the ultra ball.

"Wow...this pokemon is a tough one to catch..." Melany commented, quickly grabbing another pokeball from her belt. "Alright, Anorith your turn! Lets go!" Melany released Anorith from its pokeball, sending out the ancient bug pokemon to face off against the equally ancient Regice.

_"Now I'm been right so far about this so..."_ Melany thought for issuing her command. "Anorith, use Swords Dance!" Anorith focused on its inner strength, a blue aura looking like several swords held up surrounding it as it powered up. Regice noted this technique and responded by using Curse to power up, the dark red aura surrounding Regice as it powered up with dark energies.

_"Heh heh heh...just as planned..."_ Melany thought to herself. "Anorith, keep it up!" Anorith nodded, continuing to use its Swords Dance technique while Regice continued powering up with Curse.

"I don't get it..." Odari said to Melany. "If Regice is increasing its defenses, how does increasing Anorith's strength help any?"

_"Simple..."_ Melany replied with a smirk. _"Anortih's strength is increasing faster than Regice's defense. Likewise, Regice's speed is falling. Its a slow pokemon, but now it'll be even slower. Meaning that, in the end, Anorith's strength will be more than a match for Regice's defense and it'll be able to attack before Regice has a chance to react!"_

After several moments, the aura around Anorith began to fade as it reached its maximum strength level. Regice, however, kept going and planned to do so until Anorith attacked it.

"Anortih, now! Attack Regice with Metal Claw!" Anorith quickly scuttled forward, moving quite fast from Regice's perspective as it moved in to attack. As Anorith raised its claw back, gaining a metallic sheen in preparation to strike, Regice finally stopped using Curse and raised its arm as if about to go on the offensive.

Regice was far too slow, however, and Anorith met it with a powerful Metal Claw attack first. The sheer power of Anorith's attack sent Regice stumbling backwards until it crashed against the far wall of the chamber. The spheres on its face flashed briefly before fading to black, indicating that Regice had been knocked out by the attack.

"Alright! Good work, Anorith! Now I'll catch it for sure!" Melany prepped another ultra ball and launched it at the inactive Regice. The ball bounced off Regice's body and opened up, firing a red beam at it and condensing Regice into energy before pulling it back into the ball.

There was no shaking at all this time. Regice was completely unable to fight back, making the capture successful. Shortly after the ball began to glow and was teleported away, Melany's newly captured pokemon whisked off to storage.

"Finally...I can't believe how much of a fight that one put up..." Melany sighed, holding up Anorith's pokeball. "You did great, Anorith. You can rest now." Melany pressed the button on the front of the pokeball, recalling Anorith and placing the pokeball on her belt.

"Well, thats one down, and only...five more to go." Melany said to herself, turning to leave the chamber.

_"Yeah, about that..."_ Odari began. _"Is it really necessary to go after all of them? And why don't you use those other pokeballs? The purple ones you said can catch any pokemon without failing?"_

_"Well I don't plan on keeping them all, I have other plans for two of them..."_ Melany replied. _"As for the master balls, those things aren't exactly cheap. Even though my dad's company makes them, we can't just go using them whenever we want to. I don't even have any myself. Also, the 'without fail' would only be in theory. While its true any regular pokemon would be caught without failure, they've never been used on a legendary pokemon before..."_

_"I'll believe you can even catch them all when I see it..."_ Odari replied dryly. _"Especially if Regice gave you that much trouble..."_

"Guess I'll just have to train my pokemon more." Melany said with a shrug. "Though thats it for today, need to take this one to Birch now..."

Melany paused for a moment at the exit to the chamber, smiling to herself as a thought crossed her mind.

_"You know...it'd probably be a fairly logical progression to go from archaeologist, to trainer, to trainer who studies the origins of legendary pokemon..." _She thought to herself, much to Odari's confusion.

_"I'll pretend to know what you're talking about."_

* * *

Author's Notes: Legendary pokemon are so much easier to catch when they stay in one place. Or you knock them out completely. Melany's Metang was actually a Beldum given to her by Steven and is basically the Beldum you'd get in game, only it evolved fairly quickly into Metang. Had Melany started as a trainer normally the Beldum probably would have been her first pokemon. She also received one other pokemon, which will either be revealed or hinted at in Melany's next chapter. Chapter 48 is back to May though. 


	59. Chapter 48: Double Dragon

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Forty Eight**

**Double Dragon**

"Thanks for bringing it back so quickly." Flannery said to May, placing her resort card in her pocket. May had already flown to Lavaridge and met Flannery in her gym to return the card. "I hope you didn't still need it..."

"Oh, no!" May replied quickly. "I've found somewhere else to stay..."

"Well thats good..." Flannery breathed a sigh of relief. "Sorry for dragging you all the way out here on such short notice."

"Don't worry about it!" May replied, waving her hand dismissively. "It gives me an excuse to stop by the hot springs again."

"Wish I could join you, but..." Flannery sighed.

"I know, being a gym leader is tough huh?" May said to her, offering a smile.

"Yeah, no kidding..." Flannery sighed again. "I guess I'll see you around then."

"Yep! Later Flannery!" May left the gym, immediately heading towards the pokecenter to spend some time relaxing in the hot springs.

* * *

"WHAT? Closed?!"

"We apologize for any inconvenience..." The pokecenter nurse overseeing the springs said as she bowed to May. "The springs are in need of repairs after someone decided to allow their Snorlax to use it..."

May had to think for a moment, but it didn't take her long to remember what a Snorlax was. It was a rare pokemon sometimes seen in the Kanto and Johto regions. It was a large, heavy pokemon that slept a lot. Its weight alone would probably have displaced all the water in the springs and destroy the wooden walkway next to the springs.

"What kind of idiot would...ugh!" May turned and stomped off out of the pokecenter, upset that she wouldn't get to spend some time in the hot springs.

"Why would anyone even think of releasing a pokemon like Snorlax anywhere it could cause damage like that?" May took a pokeball off her belt.

"Well nothing to do here then. I hope Tropius won't mind taking me back to Lilycove so soon..." May held up the pokeball as if about to released Tropius, but then decided against it and returned it to her belt.

"No...I'll find some other way to pass the time and let Tropius rest..." She said to herself with a sigh. "There has to be something to do around here besides relax in the hot springs..."

May wandered through Lavaridge, looking at the various buildings. She didn't take much notice of anything particular in the town during her last visit. When she was in Lavaridge for her badge, she spent time relaxing in the hot springs then went shopping with Flannery. After battling her and getting her badge she left with Alex.

The town didn't seem to have much of anything, or at least anything that would appeal to May. She did come across a bakery that sold a local specialty called 'lava cookies' and tried one. They weren't very good, in fact they were actually a bit spicy. She kept going after leaving the bakery, eventually reaching the eastern edge of the town.

"Its official, this town sucks without the hot springs!" May declared in frustration. "I'll just go get some training done with the rest of my pokemon so I'll have a better chance at catching Raikou..."

As May was leaving town to find a place to train, May noticed a group of male trainers gathered in a group nearby. Curious, she decided to move close enough to eavesdrop on them.

"There's five of us, so if we all attack Salamence at once its done for!" One of the trainers declared. The others all shouted their agreement.

_"Salamence?"_ May wondered. _"Whats a Salamence?"_

"Umm, excuse me!" May called out to them. The boys all turned and looked at her as though upset that she interrupted them. "I was wondering what a Salamence is?" The boys stared at her as if wondering if she was serious, then burst out in laughter.

"You don't know what a Salamence is?" One of the boys asked mockingly. "Where did you come from? Johto?" Their laughter increased, drowning out May's attempt to tell them she was.

"If they didn't outnumber me five to one..." May grumbled, clenching her fists. The boys continued laughing for several minutes before finally calming down long enough to catch their breath and respond.

"Salamence is only THE strongest dragon pokemon in existance!" The oldest of the group finally said to her. "And a wild one's been making its home on Mount Chimney and terrorizing anyone who's gotten close, so we're going to fight it and scare it off. We'll be heroes!" The rest of the boys quickly nodded in agreement.

"Well maybe I can help?" May asked them, quickly getting over being teased by them. "My pokemon are pretty strong and..." Before May could mention her badges, the boys all started laughing again.

"Did you hear that?!" One of them shouted mockingly. "The girl thinks she's a pokemon trainer!" Again, this added fuel to the fire and their laughter grew more intense.

"Stupid boys..." May muttered, her fist noticeably shaking in rage.

"Come on guys..." The older boy said between snickering. "Lets go..." The group slowly started on their way towards Mount Chimney, still clutching their sides and snickering amongst themselves.

"So they don't think a girl can be a pokemon trainer, huh?" May began, grinning to herself. "Well lets just see how they do against that Salamence!"

As the boys went up Mount Chimney, May stealthily followed behind them. The group didn't expect to be followed so no one looked back. Eventually they reached the top of the volcano and went down into the caldera itself, to the same area where May and Alex had previously fought Team Magma alongside Team Aqua. May hesitated for a moment.

"I...maybe this is far enough..." May said to herself. Though no one else ever seemed to make a big deal about Mount Chimney, May still had a healthy respect for the volcano. She moved close enough so she could watch the group below instead, lying on her stomach near the edge of the crater to stay out of sight.

The five trainers each began releasing pokemon, all of which were various flying pokemon or pokemon at least capable of flight. Among them were a Tailow, a Lunatone and a Solrock, a Golbat, and even a floating purple balloon-like pokemon known as Koffing.

_"Salamence must be another flying dragon..."_ May thought to herself. _"So they plan to battle it with pokemon capable of flying as well...so where's the Salamence then?"_

May soon had her answer as a loud, menacing roar echoed around the volcano. May spotted what looked like the opening to a cave on the other side of the volcano, where the sound seemed to come from. All the boys had their attention focused on the cave now as well.

A pokemon looking much like a stereotypical medieval dragon emerged from the cave. It stood only about five feet tall, but it still managed to look pretty menacing as it emerged from the cave. It gave another roar and spread its wings, then took off flying towards the group.

"Now's our chance!" The older boy in the group declared. "Everyone, beta formation! Attack!" The five pokemon moved into a v-shaped formation with Tailow leading the group. Golbat and Koffing followed behind Tailow while the Lunatone and Solrock took up the rear.

"Wow...if nothing else they're well prepared..." May commented on their formation tactic. Salamence wasn't at all impressed. It made the first strike, shooting out a ball of fire at Tailow. As Tailow was hit by what looked like a powerful Ember attack it was sent spiralling back down to the ground where it was recalled by the trainer who owned it.

"They're not very strong though!" May noted, giggling to herself. It seemed the five boys weren't going to put up much of a fight at all against Salamence.

With Tailow down, Koffing and Golbat began their attacks and the formation halted in midair. Both pokemon spat out a ball of sludge, the two attacks combining as they approached Salamence to strike the dragon in one massive Sludge Bomb attack. The ball of sludge exploded, coating Salamence completely and sending it crashing down into the pool of lava below.

"Alright! We brought down Salamence!" Two boys cheered, the trainers to whom the Golbat and Koffing belonged.

"How can they be cheering?!" May growled angrily. "That Salamence probably died because of them! I oughta go down there and..." The boys cheering, as well as May's concern, faded as Salamence suddenly shot straight up out of the lava towards Koffing and Golbat.

Before any of them had a chance to react, Salamence flipped in the air and brought its now metallic tail up to strike both Koffing and Golbat as if it were swinging a giant baseball bat. Both pokemon were shot down towards the ground, where they were knocked out by the impact.

With Solrock and Lunatone the only two pokemon remaining, they quickly moved into position to attack. Solrock took up position in front of Lunatone, as if protecting it. A miniscule blue orb formed on each of the three points on Lunatone's body, then fired out and combined to form an Ice Beam attack.

The beam struck Salamence and incased the dragon pokemon in ice, sending it plummeting to the lava again. Once again, the boys cheered as it seemed like their plan had succeeded.

"Their pokemon are weak but they're definitely making up for that with their tactics..." May said to herself. "I wonder if they've defeated it this time then?"

May soon had her answer as Salamence once again emerged from the lava. The powerful dragon pokemon seemed as though it was invincible, as it still looked as tough as it did when the battle first began. This time, Salamence launched its counter attack from just above the lava. It opened its mouth and fired a powerful stream of water at the two rock pokemon hovering above it.

"Was that a Hydro Pump attack?!" May exclaimed in shock. She was expecting Salamence would be a firebreathing dragon, but this one was seemingly breathing water. Because of Solrock's position in front of Lunatone, both pokemon were struck by the water attack. The attack instantly KO'd them, and when the water pressure was no longer holding them up they plummeted towards the lava. Their trainers quickly recalled them.

"It didn't work! Lets get out of here!" The boys all took off out of the crater, passing May on their way out without even taking notice of her. Salamence flapped its wings and hovered in place, observing the boys as they fled but making no attempt to persue.

"That Salamence is definitely strong..." May said to herself, smiling as she reached for a pokeball. "Well to fight a dragon you need a dragon yourself!" May stood up, taking the pokeball in hand.

"Alright! Vibrava go!" May called out as she released her recently evolved Vibrava from its pokeball. Vibrava appeared hovering over the edge of the crater, a determined look on its face when it saw Salamence and realized who its opponent was.

"Vibrava, attack Salamence with Dragonbreath!" Vibrava nodded and flew off towards Salamence to get within range to attack, breathing out a stream of blue flames as soon as it was within range. Salamence saw this attack coming, however, and countered with its own Dragonbreath attack.

The two attacks collided, but it was clear from the start which of the two was strong as Salamence's Dragonbreath attack quickly pushed back against Vibrava's until the attack finally hit Vibrava. Vibrava let out a cry as it plummeted down and crashed into the ground.

With its foe defeated, Salamence quickly took notice of May and flew towards her. May was worried it was about to attack her, but it was stopped in its tracks when a Dragonbreath attack struck it from below. Salamence looked down just as Vibrava flew up and latched onto its neck with a Crunch attack. Salamence roared in pain and desperately tried to shake Vibrava off.

"Vibrava, be careful!" May called out to it, realizing Salamence was much stronger than Vibrava was.

As Salamence was trying to shake Vibrava off, the claws on one of its forelegs extended and began emitting an red glow. When Salamence finally dislodged Vibrava from its neck it quickly brought its clawed limb forward to strike Vibrava, the impact sending it over the edge of the volcano and into a group of trees growing along the side of the volcano.

"Vibrava! No!" May called out desperately to it, but then remembered she had her own problems to worry about. She turned to face the Salamence again, reaching for another pokeball. When she saw Salamence coming towards her, jaws open, she froze in fear. By the time Salamence's jaws had wrapped around her waist, May had fainted...

* * *

After having been attacked by Salamence, Vibrava found itself lying on its back and staring up at the sky. It had been out cold for a while, only now regaining conciousness. Salamence's last attack had knocked the poor thing out.

_"I'm a failure..."_ Vibrava thought, angry at itself. _"I couldn't stop that Zangoose...I fell right into that girl's trap by evolving...then I lost to Raikou...I've never won a battle in my life. Its no wonder May never lets me fight, I'm useless."_

_"I bet May doesn't even care about me anymore. She's probably fought Salamence with another pokemon by now and caught it. With a dragon that strong, why would she ever come back for useless old me?"_ Vibrava rolled back onto its feet and quickly shook its head.

"-No! What am I thinking!? May would never abandon a pokemon! If she didn't care about me I would have been back in storage long ago!-" Vibrava spread its wings, flapping them rapidly as it prepared for takeoff. "-How long have I been out for? May must be worried about me. I have to get back to her!-"

Vibrava took off up over the trees, then took a quick look around to get its bearings. Everything around it seemed quiet, so Vibrava assumed May must still be at the top of the volcano. Vibrava took off for the top of Mount Chimney, flying as fast as its wings would take it.

When Vibrava reached the top of Mount Chimney, however, it could not find any sign of May anywhere. It looked around frantically from the spot where it had last seen May, but there was no one around at all.

"-May?-" Vibrava called out desperately to her. "-MAY!-"

* * *

May woke with a start, her mind instantly recalling the Salamence about to bite her. She quickly looked herself over, but found no sign of any injuries on herself. Not even a cut or rip in her clothes. Her fanny pack and belt both seemed to be on the missing, however.

"It must have just been a dream...where am I anyway?" May finally took a look at her surroundings. She was in a cave, the rocky walls of the cave reminding her of the Fire Road through Mount Chimney. There were all sorts of items used by trainers scattered about the cave. Unused pokeballs, a picnic basket with blanket, loose change piled up in the corner alongside someone's wallet.

Looking towards the cave entrance, May saw the sleeping form of what she had previously thought was just a beast from her dreams. She sleeping Salamence was clearly anything but a dream. May's belt and pokeballs were resting on the floor next to Salamence.

_"It...it wasn't a dream?!"_ May thought, fear running through her. _"I have to get out of here!" _May slowly got to her feet and quietly tip-toed across the cave to Salamence. As she reached for her pokeballs, Salamence opened its eyes and snarled at her.

"N..n..nice Salamence..." May stuttered, holding her hands out in front of her and backing away slowly. "L-light sleeper, huh?" Salamence watched May closely until she had backed up all the way to the wall she was resting against before, at which point Salamence closed its eyes and seemed to go back to sleep.

"Great...so this is how it ends for me? Dinner for a hungry dragon?" May whimpered, sliding down to sit on the ground. "Why didn't it just kill me when I was unconcious and be done with it?"

_"Dinner?"_ Salamence thought, opening its eyes and blinking in surprise. _"Human? For dinner? How disgusting..."_ Salamence shook its head in disgust and closed its eyes again. Evidently, it was a very light sleeper.

_"Wait a minute...why didn't it kill me?"_ May wondered, looking at Salamence curiously. _"Why go through the trouble of bringing me back here alive? It couldn't have been easy for it to carry me in its mouth without hurting me..."_ May cast another glance around the cave.

_"And why did it gather so much junk here? Its almost as if its trying to fit the image of a stereotypical dragon..."_ May smiled a bit as she thought of this. _"I mean, all it'd be missing is a princess." _May paused for a moment, frowning as that last thought began to sink in.

"...Nevermind, I guess it has that covered too." May muttered to herself, realizing she kinda filled in the 'princess' role herself. "I guess now I'll have to wait for my knight in shining armor to come and rescue me. I wonder what Alex is doing these days?"

May looked over to where her pokeballs were being guarded by Salamence. Finally able to think straight May now realized why Salamence was guarding them. It knew May could potentially try to fight it or escape if she had her pokemon, and was definitely intent on keeping her there. It was then that she remembered one of her pokeballs was empty.

_"Thats right!"_ She thought. _"Vibrava's still out there! I hope its ok, Salamence hit it pretty hard with that attack. It looks like Vibrava might be my only hope for getting out of here anytime soon though."_

_"I wonder how long this Salamence has been here, anyway?"_ May thought while looking at the junk Salamence had gathered. _"It couldn't have been here when Team Magma was trying to make the volcano erupt. Maybe it wasn't even here while Team Magma was around? It doesn't look like it has anything belonging to them..."_

Since Salamence was intent on guarding her pokeballs, and she at least didn't seem to be in any danger, May decided to take a closer look at the junk Salamence had collected in its cave. Included among the junk was, of course, May's own fanny pack. It was open, but it looked like all her stuff was still in it. She took her fanny pack and strapped it around her waist again.

May peeked in the picnic basket next. It was mostly empty except for a sandwich with a single, very large bite out of it. Salamence had obviously eaten whatever might have been in the basket, and it obviously tried the sandwich too but decided it didn't like it. There was also a juice box, which May imagined Salamence couldn't figure out how to use.

There were also a lot of potions and other restorative items, as well as a variety of pokeballs. For the most part there were no more than two of any pokeball Salamence had gathered there, with the exception of the regular style pokeball. May also noticed a masterball gathered in the pile, and after a quick check through her fanny pack she realized it was her own.

_"I forgot all about that..."_ May thought, reaching for the Master Ball. _"They catch any pokemon without fail...so..."_ May looked back at Salamence, still seemingly asleep. A smirk crossed her lips as she picked up the masterball and quietly crept closer to Salamence.

A strange call from outside the cave stopped May in her tracks and woke up Salamence. Looking towards the mouth of the cave they could see a shadowed insect-like figure as it landed in the cave.

_"Is that...Vibrava?!"_ May thought to herself. _"Talk about bad timing..."_

"-You again?-" Salamenced said in a low growl. "-Don't you know when you're outmatched?-"

"-Let May go or else!-" Vibrava demanded, growling back.

"-Or else what? There's nothing you can do to me...-" Salamence stood up and spread its wings. "-If another beating is what you need to realize that, then so be it.-"

Salamence raised its right-front leg and extended its claws, a red glow surrounding them as it prepared to attack. May quickly took out her pokedex to analyze the attack.

_"Dragon Claw...thats the attack that guy's Flygon used in that contest..."_ May thought, reading the attack's entry. _"Its a really powerful attack too...Vibrava is definitely out of its league. I better keep this masterball ready..."_

Salamence flapped its wings and shot forward towards Vibrava, claw held up ready to strike. Vibrava quickly flitted away as Salamence brought its claw down on top of it, narrowly avoiding the attack. Salamence's claw struck the rocky ground Vibrava was standing on, shattering it and sending small rocks flying everywhere. Vibrava flew out of the cave and Salamence quickly followed behind it.

"Now's my chance!" May quickly grabbed her pokeball belt and wrapped it around her waist, then ran outside the cave to watch the battle between Salamence and Vibrava.

Vibrava was going almost entirely on the defensive, using its smaller size and quicker maneuvering to focus solely on dodging Salamence's attacks. Salamence alternated between Dragonbreath and Dragon Claw in an attempt to hit Vibrava. Salamence came close with several attacks, but Vibrava still managed to dodge them.

"-Hold still already!-" Salamence roared in frustration, taking another swipe at Vibrava with Dragon Claw.

"-If you insist...-" Vibrava suddenly stopped, letting Salamence nearly plow into it. Vibrava quickly opened its mouth and fired a stream of blue flames right into Salamence's face, the flames weakening it and temporarily blinding it so Vibrava could once again make its escape.

_"I think Vibrava's actually doing better without my instructions..." _May thought, surprised to see Vibrava holding up as well as it was. _"Salamence is obviously faster, but it can't maneuver as well as Vibrava. Maybe Vibrava actually has a chance at beating it?"_

"-That does it! I'm finished playing around!-" Salamence landed on the ground near May while Vibrava circled around overhead, keeping an eye on it. "-Dodge this!-"

Salamence opened its mouth, its throat bulging slightly as water flowed up its body to spray out its mouth in a powerful stream. Vibrava quickly maneuvered to dodge the attack, but from its position on the ground Salamence was able to follow it with the attack. Vibrava was still able to dodge the attack long enough to force Salamence to back off, its Hydro Pump attack trickling down to nothing.

"-Damn it...what an annoying insect...-" Salamence said in a low grumble. Salamence opened its mouth to attack again, this time spewing out a thin but long stream of blue flames. This time, Vibrava simply moved out of range of the attack. Salamence wasn't going to be able to attack from the ground, but it had another idea still.

Salamence dove off the edge of the crater, falling straight down until it disappeared into the lava below. Vibrava stopped as it saw this, flying down to May's level and keeping an eye on the lava. It knew Salamence was planning to attack from the lava, so it landed on the ground in front of May to prepare for its counter attack.

"Vibrava, be careful!" May called out to it. "That Salamence is a lot stronger than you!"

"-No kidding...one wrong move and I'm done for.-" Vibrava noted, nodding to itself. "-Which is why I'm staying on the defensive until I get an opening to attack...-" Vibrava brought its two wings vertical, getting ready to counter when Salamence went on the attack again.

Salamence burst through the surface of the lava, the molten rock sticking to it for a moment as it emerged near the same spot it dove down to begin with. It flew up and came to a sudden stop in front of Vibrava, blue flames billowing from the corners of its mouth and ready to attack.

Before Salamence had the chance to attack, however, Vibrava began quickly scraping its wings together and emitting a terrible screeching noise from them. Salamence and May both recoiled from the noise. Vibrava's Screech attack distracted Salamence and forced May to cover her ears.

Salamence still tried to attack Vibrava, firing off a Dragonbreath attack without any chance to aim it and missing Vibrava completely. Seizing the opportunity to attack, Vibrava stopped rubbing its wings together and took off towards Salamence. Vibrava opened its mouth and clamped its jaws down hard on Salamence's neck, the dragon growling in pain as Vibrava hit it with Crunch.

"-You tried this already...-" Salamence growled, its right foreleg getting ready with a Dragon Claw attack. "-Allow me to remind you how that ended!-" Salamence gave one strong thrust of its neck, dislodging Vibrava. Salamence then quickly brought its claw down on Vibrava's back, spiking Vibrava into the lava pool below.

"Vibrava! NO!" May called out desperately to it, running to the edge of the crater and looking down into the lava. There was no sign of Vibrava.

"-There's no way that pest withstood my Dragon Claw attack...-" Salamence said to itself, a smug grin on its face as it landed behind May. "-You would think it'd have realized how sorely outmatched it was.-" Salamence snickered, slowly approaching May from behind. "-Now back into the cave with you.-"

May looked back at Salamence in fear. There was nowhere for her to go, and she definitely wouldn't be able to get a pokeball out before Salamence grabbed her. She didn't know what Salamence might do to her after her attempt to escape.

Fortunately, May wouldn't have to find out either. The ground under Salamence cracked open and blue flames shot up out of a hole, burning against Salamence's underbelly. Salamence's eyes went wide, seemingly held in place by the unexpected attack.

"Now's my chance!" May quickly threw her masterball at Salamence. The purple pokeball emitted a strange energy field around it as it opened up and fired a red beam at Salamence. Salamence was pulled into the pokeball and the energy field closed around it. There was no shaking or struggling, the pokeball simply locked shut with Salamence stuck inside.

"Alright! The masterball worked!" May cheered loudly. The hole where Salamence was standing opened further as Vibrava pulled itself out of the ground, grinning happily. Vibrava had tunneled all the way up from the lava to launch a surprise attack on Salamence, which gave May an opening to use the masterball.

"Vibrava, you were awesome out there!" May shouted, wrapping her arms around it and hugging it tightly. She was startled and quickly let go when Vibrava suddenly began to glow.

Vibrava's body became more elongated, doubling in length and becoming more streamlined. It appeared less insect-like and more humanoid as well, having small but more human-like arms and legs on its body. Its tail made up a good amount of its body now, about as long as the rest of it. May immediately realized the form Vibrava seemed to be taking on, Vibrava had evolved into a Flygon.

"Wow...I had no idea..." May said quietly, almost at a loss for words upon seeing the fully evolved Flygon hovering before her. "To think it was only just yesterday you evolved into Vibrava!"

"-Well how long have I been a Trapinch for?-" Flygon replied, grinning to itself. "-Well it doesn't matter! I feel really strong now!-"

"So now I have a fully evolved Flygon and a Salamence I caught in a masterball...hmm..." May thought for a moment. "Though what should I do with all that stuff he took? I should probably leave it at the pokecenter I guess..."

"-Well that would be the right thing to do...-" Flygon said, nodding in agreement.

"Say, Flygon, you're probably big enough to fly me around now..." May noted. "So maybe when we're finished here you can fly me back to Lilycove so we can go back to looking for Raikou?" Flygon thought for a moment then nodded in agreement.

"Alright! Thanks Flygon. Now lets go get that stuff. Then there's just one more thing I want to do before we leave..."

* * *

"This time we need to go with omega formation..."

"No way! My Koffing is a sitting duck then! We should use delta formation!"

"But delta formation would leave us all vulnerable..."

The group of boys May had encountered earlier were gathered near the base of Mount Chimney again, arguing about different strategies to try to drive off the wild Salamence. May was nearby watching them, giggling to herself as she looked at the masterball in her hand. She held the masterball behind her back as she approached the group.

"Hey boys!" May called out, waving with one hand while holding the other behind her back.

"You again? What do you want?" One of them asked her angrily.

"Oh, remember how you boys laughed when I offered to help battle Salamence?" May asked them, smiling sweetly. The boys all looked at each other, offering no response and waiting to see where she was going with her statement.

"Well it was your loss!" May shouted, bringing the masterball forward. "Salamence, go!" May pressed the button on the masterball, releasing Salamence. The fearsome dragon pokemon appeared in front of May and gave a menacing roar. The boys screamed and yelled in fear then took off running.

"And the moral of the story is never underestimate a girl." May stated matter-of-factly, waving her finger. Salamence stood tall and proud, though on the inside it was crying.

_"Caught by a human girl and a weakling dragon..."_ Salamence thought, fighting back tears. _"I've never been more humiliated in my life!"_

* * *

Author's Notes: Salamence was the last non-legendary pokemon I planned for May to capture. Salamence is a fair bit stronger than Vibrava was, obvious since it needs to be a higher level to even evolve. Originally planned for Vibrava to evolve during the fight and beat Salamence after evolving, but that seemed like a bit of a stretch since Salamence would still be a fair bit stronger than the evolved Flygon.

Only 4-5 chapters now before the Devon Grand Prix, depending on whether or not I combine anymore chapters. There's one chapter coming up after the next one that covers something plot-relevant but otherwise doesn't have a whole lot else happen.


	60. Chapter 49: Heart of Iron

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Forty Nine**

**Heart of Steel**

After her misadventure at Mount Chimney that resulted in her catching a Salamence and her Flygon evolving, May was all too eager to get back to trying to catch Raikou. Though it was too late by the time she got back to Lilycove, she headed out early the next day and was already searching for Raikou from the air on Flygon's back.

"I don't see Raikou anywhere, Flygon..." May said, all the while scanning the terrain below for any sign of Raikou. Flygon was scanning further out towards the horizon, its large eyes providing it with better eyesight than May, but it didn't see any sign of Raikou either.

"I hope Jessica hasn't actually managed to catch it..." May continued to search for Raikou from the air. Eventually she managed to spot it, but just barely. "There it is! Down there!" May informed Flygon, pointing to a patch of bushes that Raikou seemed to be trying to conceal itself in. Flygon came to a stop, turning to look in the direction May was pointing.

"-Thats Raikou alright. Either that, or there's some strange new plant growing there...-" Flygon added in agreement, noticing the tail and mane that the bushes failed to conceal.

May was about to instruct Flygon to land nearby, but before she could the sound of a helicopter nearby distracted her. Looking off in the distance, May and Flygon could see a white helicopter coming towards them. May continued to watch it curiously, hoping it'd notice her and Flygon in its path. It didn't get close enough to them for it to matter, however, as it lowered to the ground and landed on a nearby plateau near a large, rocky structure.

"Thats a Devon helicopter..." May said, noticing the red logo on the side. "I wonder what they're doing out here?" May gave a shrug. "Oh well, I have more important things to...huh?!" May looked down at the bushes where Raikou had been hiding, but it was gone now. Looking off in the distance, May and Flygon could see it running away at a breakneck pace.

"No! It must have noticed us while we were distracted!" May sighed in frustration. "Its going too fast too...we'll need to find it again when it stops running..."

May cast a glance towards the helicopter again, which was now settled on the ground and its propellers were slowly coming to a stop. She could see someone get out of the helicopter, then turn towards it again and looked as though they were talking to someone.

"Well in the meantime...why don't we move in for a closer look?" May patted Flygon on the back, signalling for it to move. Flygon nodded and took off towards the helicopter, stopping nearby and hovering above it. May could hear people talking below her, but couldn't make out what was being said. No one on the ground seemed to notice her or Flygon, but May got a good look at the person outside the helicopter.

"Is that...ALEX?!" May shouted in surprise. The people on the ground still didn't notice her. "Flygon, lets land down there!"

"-If you say so, but thats definitely not Alex.-" Flygon replied with a shrug. "-Not unless Alex is a girl now...-" Flygon quickly dove down towards the ground, slowing just as it neared the ground to land on its feet behind Melany.

"Huh?" Melany quickly turned around when she heard Flygon, blinking in surprise when she spotted May on Flygon's back. May hopped off Flygon's back, smiling until she looked up at Melany.

"Umm...s-sorry...I kinda thought you were someone else..." May said apologetically, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. May then blinked and looked her over. "Wait a minute...do I know you from somewhere? You really do look familiar..."

"You...might..." Melany replied hesitantly, she was still taken aback by May's sudden appearance. Melany cleared her throat and extended a hand towards May. "Sorry, you kinda startled me. I'm Melany, nice to meet you."

"Melany?" May thought for a moment. "Wait a minute, you're Melany Stone?! I thought you disappeared off the face of the Earth or something!"

"S-something like that..." Melany grinned sheepishly, withdrawing her hand.

"Aren't you supposed to be like...twelve though?" May asked, looking at her curiously.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Melany asked her in response.

"N-nothing I guess..." May replied, looking off to the side. Melany's eye twitched as she got the message.

"Heh. Miss Stone has a lot of growing up to do." A man standing behind Melany, dressed like a tourist, chuckled to himself as he said what was on everyone's mind. This earned him a sharp jab in the stomach from Melany, though he barely felt it through the protective padding he wore under the shirt.

_"Aww, is someone a bit sensitive about being smaller than May?"_ Odari's voice teased her.

"SHUT UP!" Melany replied sharply, to both her guard and Odari.

_"Sounds like someone needs a timeout."_ Odari cautioned Melany.

_"Try it and I sell the sapphire and ruby to the highest bidding ancient pokemon..."_ Melany shot back. Odari quieted down in a hurry.

"Anyway...I'm here on official business for Professor Birch. Please excuse me..." Melany walked past may, heading into the rocky structure.

_"I really don't want to deal with this right now..."_ Melany thought to herself. _"What were the chances May would be here anyway?"_

"Hey, wait up!" May called after her, following Melany into the structure. Flygon gave a shrug and flew in behind her.

"Huh? What now?" Melany asked with a tone of annoyance.

"I'm working on a pokedex for Professor Birch, maybe I can help with...whatever it is you're doing!" May replied eagerly.

"If you want to tag along, then fine. There isn't really anything you can help with though..." Melany turned her back to May and took a quick look around the chamber. There were some symbols on the far end of the room.

"So then...what are you doing here anyway?" May asked her curiously.

"I'm here to catch the legendary pokemon that lies within." Melany replied. "Once I catch it I'll give Professor Birch the opportunity to study it."

_"She's after a legendary pokemon too?"_ May wondered. _"What pokemon could it be though? There's nothing here..."_

"You may want to cover your eyes." Melany instructed May as she reached for a pokeball, taking it from her belt and holding it above her. "Magneton, Flash!" The pokeball opened up on Melany's command and released Magneton, a pokemon consisting on three Magnemites fused together.

Sparks erupted from the end of the magnets on Magneton's body, emitting a brilliant flash that lit up the room. May, Flygon, and Melany all closed their eyes so they wouldn't be blinded by it. Almost immediately, the sound of heavy stone hitting the ground could be heard as a section of the wall fell out to create a door.

"The legendary pokemon is just up ahead." Melany informed them. "Magneton, you'll attack first, got it?" Magneton tilted its body forward quickly, nodding in agreement.

"Hey, wait a second!" May called out frantically. "If its a legendary pokemon its probably really strong! Maybe I should battle it instead?"

"-May, no offense, but...we haven't had much luck with legendary pokemon ourself...-" Flygon said to her, casting its gaze downward out of embarassment.

"Well I guess it stands to reason the daughter of Norman would be a pretty good trainer in her own right..." Melany replied. "But I've already caught one of these things, so I think I'll be fine."

"Wh-wh-WHAT?!" May shouted in shock. "You caught a legendary pokemon?! Did you catch that while you were gone or something?"

"Actually I just caught it two days ago." Melany replied, smiling slightly at May's reaction. "Spent some time training my pokemon before coming after this one, Regice took more effort than it should have because I wasn't properly prepared."

_"She must know a lot about these pokemon if she knows what pokemon she should use against them..."_ May thought to herself. _"I wonder..."_

"Melany, you seem to know a lot about these legendary pokemon..." May said to her, twiddling her thumbs. "Think maybe you could help me catch one?"

"Maybe..." Melany replied, scratching the back of her head. _"What legendary pokemon could May be after?"_ Melany thought it over for a moment, then gave a slight shrug. "Well in any case, first things first. Registeel." Melany walked through the opening in the wall, while May stayed back for a moment to recall Flygon.

"Registeel, huh? She said the last one she caught was Regice...I see a pattern." May snickered to herself, then turned to Flygon. "Well looks like we're not battling Raikou anytime soon, so you can rest for now." Flygon nodded in agreement as May recalled it. She placed Flygon's pokeball on her belt then went through the opening into another chamber.

Inside this second chamber, the first thing May noticed was a metallic, humanoid pokemon standing roughly six feet tall. Its entire body seemed to be made of metal, including its dark gray arms. Seven spheres on its head, looking like a bunch of eyes, were all lit up red.

_"Thats a pokemon?!"_ May thought in surprise. _"That looks more like a robot or something!"_

"Magneton, Thunder Wave!" Melany called out her attack shortly after May arrived. Magneton pointed its three free magnets at Registeel and fired out a pulse of static electricity. The electric pulse passed into Registeel's body, paralyzing its limbs and slowing it down.

"Good! Now, Thunderbolt!" The magnets on the end of Magneton's body sparked and each fired off a small bolt of electricity. The three smaller bolts each formed into one large bolt as they approached Registeel, striking the metallic pokemon and sending more electricity coursing through it.

Registeel's eyes flashed several times as it registered the attack. Its eyes then flashed again and glowed a bit brighter, as if Registeel was concentrating on something. Melany quickly realized what technique it was using.

_"Amnesia..."_ She thought. _"So its responding to my offensive by powering up its respective defenses..."_

_"Thats right."_ Odari replied affirmatively. _"Registeel was one of my personal favorites, you won't catch this as easily as you did Regice."_

_"Easy?"_ Melany thought in response. _"I wouldn't exactly call that easy..."_

Registeel's formed its three clawed fingers into a fist on one hand. Its fist then began to glow as it focused its power for an attack. Melany and May both recognized the attack immediately.

"Melany, watch out! Thats..." May started before being interrupted by Melany.

"Magneton, quick! Use Swift!" Melany quickly called out. Magneton brought its magnets towards Registeel again, this time firing out several star-shaped bursts of energy. Registeel hardly seemed to flinch as the attack bounced off its body, but it was enough to interrupt its Focus Punch attack.

"Focus Punch." Melany finished May's statement, looking over her shoulder at her. "I'm well aware of what different attacks look like."

_"I don't think Registeel will even be able to land a hit at this point..."_ Melany thought as she analyzed the situation. _"But Registeel is not just a defensively strong pokemon, its a steel type. I won't be able to damage it easily..." _Melany paused for a moment, then reached for another pokeball.

"I hate to battle this with more than one pokemon, but I don't think I'm going to be doing much damage to it otherwise." Melany held up the pokeball. "Alright, Metang go!" Melany called out as she released Metang to battle alongside Magneton.

"Hey! Don't you think thats a little unfair?" May asked her accusingly.

"Well would you like to battle alongside it?" Melany replied. She waited for a moment, May made no response. "Didn't think so...besides, this gives me a chance to train Metang some more."

_"You should consider using a third pokemon."_ Odari suggested. _"Metang isn't going to be able to do any damage to Registeel..."_

"Magneton, latch onto Registeel's back and keep zapping it with Thunderbolt! Metang, Metal Claw!" Magneton quickly floated behind Registeel, latching onto its back with its three magnets. It then proceded to shock Registeel repeatedly by attacking it directly with Thunderbolt. At the same time, Metang flew towards it and struck Registeel with its claws, doing minimal damage.

Registeel didn't make any attempt to strike back at either pokemon this time, however. After assessing its threats, it focused on using Amnesia. It traded off an insignificant piece of its memory for a large increase in its ability to withstand Magneton's repeated Thunderbolt attacks. It didn't consider Metang to be a threat.

"Keep it up, you two!" Melany called out, urging her pokemon to continue using the same attacks. Metang struck Registeel with its claws again to seemingly no effect, while Magneton continued shocking it.

Registeel again took the chance to power up. A dark red aura surrounded its body, increasing its physical strength and endurance in exchange for its speed. As with Regice, Registeel was still using the same strategies as its old master had it using.

"That Registeel can take an awful lot of punishment..." May noted. "I can't believe its still standing at all that!"

"Its been powering up its defenses the whole time." Melany informed May. "Its actually increased its defense against non-physical, or 'special', techniques and now its increasing its physical strength as well. Regice did the same thing when I battled it."

"If thats the case, how are you going to catch it?" May asked her curiously.

"Keep attacking it until it falls, its the only way I can." Melany replied.

_"Keep attacking it until it falls..."_ May repeated in her mind. _"Well I guess it'd be easier to catch that way, but its not very nice. Then again, Registeel doesn't look like a typical pokemon. I wonder if it even has emotions?"_

Melany let her pokemon continue their attacks against Registeel. The steel behemoth was still standing up to their attacks, Metang's attacks especially were becoming even less effective than they were to begin with. Eventually, the red aura faded as Registeel reached its maximum power.

_"Looks like Registeel's completely powered up now."_ Odari informed Melany with a snicker. _"It'll be interesting to see how your pokemon will stand up to it now..."_

Registeel wasted no time going on the offensive now. The area around it began to shake, and all small rocks and debris were blasted away from it in all directions, just narrowly missing May and Melany. It brought its two clawed hands towards Metang, catching Metang's hand as it moved in for another Metal Claw attack.

"Metang, watch out! Its using Superpower!" Melany called out to it. Metang desparately tried to pull itself free, but Registeel had a very good grip on it. An explosion of energy shot out from Registeel's hands. The blast concealed Metang completely from view, as well as a large area of the chamber they were battling in. When the dust settled, Metang was knocked out completely.

Registeel wasn't done there, however. It slowly reached one of its hands back and grabbed onto the closest magnet as Magneton continued shocking it. It easily pulled Magneton off its body, gripping it firmly with its increased strength. It then began to spin around in circles while still holding onto it, eventually releasing it and sending it flying into the far wall.

"Magneton! Are you ok?" Melany called out to it. Magneton peeled itself off the wall and shook off the impact. The attack looked stronger than it was, as Registeel had used its Seismic Toss technique. Registeel brought its hands forward and drastically increased its strength again as it prepared for another Superpower attack.

"Magneton, quick! Move out of the way!" Magneton tried to float to safety as Registeel prepared for its attack. Another explosion fired out from Registeel's hands, and the area of the attack was wide enough to catch the fleeing Magneton in the blast. The force of the explosion rocked the chamber, though weaker than its previous attack. When the dust settled again, Magneton was also knocked out.

"Damn it..." Melany muttered under her breath, holding up two pokeballs to recall both of her pokemon. "Registeel's moving slower than a sleeping Slaking but it still caught Metang and Magneton off guard..."

"What WAS that attack it used?!" May asked Melany. "I've never seen anything like that before!"

"That was Superpower." Melany explained while taking an empty ultra ball from her backpack. "I never heard of it myself until I faced Regice, but its a very rare technique." Melany pressed the button to prime the ultra ball then threw it at Registeel. "Lets see if its still strong enough to fight back!"

Registeel couldn't even move in time to defend itself. The ultra ball hit it and opened up, drawing Registeel inside. It dropped to the ground, but shattered almost immediately as Registeel broke free from it.

"No good...still too strong..." Melany took another two pokeballs from her belt. "Alright! Rhyhorn! Camerupt! Your turn!" Melany called out, releasing her fire-type Camerupt and rock-type Rhyhorn to battle Registeel next.

"You know...I'm noticing a pattern with your pokemon." May idly commented. "They're all 'mineral' types. Steel, ground, and rock..."

"Runs in the family I guess." Melany replied with a shrug. "Camerupt, use Flamethrower! Rhyhorn, Rock Blast!" Camerupt spewed out a stream of flames at Registeel, while Rhyhorn stomped at the ground and sent out four large rocks at Registeel. Registeel became completely engulfed in flames and the rocks bounced off its body almost harmlessly.

Registeel slowly raised its hands towards Rhyhorn and Camerupt, getting ready with yet another Superpower attack. Even as Registeel was moving its hands to focus the attack, the ground around it shook from the power of the attack. Melany had already planned for this, in a way.

"Camerupt, keep up the attack! Rhyhorn, run through the flames and use Horn Attack!" Camerupt took a very brief break then fired up its Flamethrower again. Rhyhorn ran into the flames, its rock body resisting the attack. It charged towards Registeel, ramming it with its horn but not doing much to it. Camerupt had to finally stop its attack to catch its breath.

It was at this point that Registeel finally unleashed its attack and fired off a blast of energy from its hands, striking Rhyhorn at point-blank range with the attack. The blast completely enveloped Rhyhorn, but was weak enough by now that Camerupt was just barely out of range.

The blast of energy sent Rhyhown sprawling across the ground towards Camerupt, resting just in front of it when the energy and dust finally dissipated. Rhyhorn tried to get back onto its feet, but collapsed and fell unconcious as it lied on the ground. Melany recalled Rhyhorn and placed its pokeball on her belt.

"Its physical defense should have weakened quite a bit by now..." Melany noted.

"What makes you say that?" May asked her.

"When a pokemon uses Superpower, the attack leaves them weakened afterwards." Melany explained. "In other words, Registeel's physical strength actually drops after being exhausted by the attack."

_"Registeel's taken out three of your pokemon now."_ Odari taunted Melany. _"Still think you can pull off capturing it?"_

"Actually I'm quite sure I'm going to get it now." Melany replied, a smirk forming on her lips. "Alright, one more attack then. Camerupt, Earthquake!" Camerupt made a quick hop, raising up on its hind legs and bringing them down hard on the ground to send out a tremor. The ground began to rupture and rise up, cracking around Registeel and knocking it off its feet.

"Now lets try this again!" Melany retrieved another ultra ball and quickly threw it at Registeel. The ball opened up, pulling Registeel inside and dropping to the ground. The ultra ball began to shake as Registeel struggled to break free, but after several seconds it stopped and a click could be heard as it locked shut. A white glow surrounded it and the ultra ball disappeared, sending Registeel off to storage.

"Phew...thats two legendary pokemon caught now..." Melany wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. "Well, good job Camerupt. You can rest now." Melany held up Camerupt's pokeball and recalled it, then placed the pokeball back on her belt.

_"I don't understand how that pokeball went from instant failure to success without much change in Registeel's stamina."_ Odari said to Melany. _"You will need to explain these pokeballs to me..."_

"Bleh! You make that sound easy!" May said to her.

"Well as long as you have strong pokemon to fight them with, there's no problems, right?" Melany said as she turned to face her. "What pokemon have you been trying to catch anyway?"

"Raikou..." May replied with a sigh. "I almost had it once but it just keeps running away from me!"

"Well I guess that would make it a bit harder...but why not just keep it from running?" Melany suggested.

"I did! I tried a Trapinch's Arena Trap ability and Wynaut's Shadow Tag!" May replied quickly. "It just keeps getting away though..." May sighed. "At least it can't get too far from Lilycove, but that means Jessica can find it and try to catch it too..."

"Can't leave Lilycove?" Melany said thoughtfully, then asked, "Why's that?"

"I...I don't know...Jessica must have done something but she didn't say what it was..." May replied. Melany thought about it for a moment, then gave a slight nod.

"I think I'd like to take a look into this then..."

* * *

After leaving the rocky structure that had held Registeel, Melany had her guards to contend with before she could look into May's problem. She convinced them to let her go, but only after agreeing to have them both tagging along. May followed Melany as they trekked towards Lilycove, and the two guards followed behind May.

"Alright, we'll stop here..." Melany said to the group, retrieving her pokenav from her backpack. It was about twice the size of a regular pokenav and had a green cover.

"Wow! Is that a pokenav?" May asked her.

"Sure is." Melany replied. "Its the newest prototype too. It was given to me by one of the researchers at Devon to try out. It can do a lot of things, for example..." Melany held the pokenav over her head for a moment, then lowered it to look at the screen. "Right now its telling me there's an energy disturbance nearby..."

"That sounds like an odd feature for a pokenav..." May said to her, folding her arms over her chest and peering at her curiously. "So...how does it work anyway?"

"Can't tell you, company secret." Melany replied, quickly putting her pokenav away. "Alright, this way." The group started on their way again with everyone still following behind Melany.

"Why are taking orders from that brat?" One of the guards asked the other. "We're not being paid for this..."

"Does it make any difference?" The other guard grumbled. "Either way we're following her around for the next four hours..."

The four of them continued on until Melany stopped near a tree. She held out her pokenav towards it as if scanning the tree with the device, eventually pointing it at the ground.

"There's something burried here." Melany said. She turned to the group and pointed at the two guards. "Why don't you two make yourselves useful and dig?"

"Look, lady! We don't..." One of them began, but the other guard place his hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

"Faster we get this over with, the faster we're out of here, so lets just do it." The first guard muttered something to himself as the two approached the tree, then knelt down and started to dig.

"So why do you have guards with you anyway?" May asked out of curiousity.

"They're supposed to be making sure I don't cause any trouble..." Melany replied with a shrug. "Like I would..."

"Trouble?" May repeated quietly to herself._ "Thats right..." _She thought. _"Melany disappeared for a while, around the same time I arrived in Hoenn now that I think about it. Which would also be the same time that..."_ May paused for a moment and looked at Melany, taking note of her pokenav.

_"...that Alex became a trainer."_ She glanced off to the side, deep in thought now. _"Alex liked to tinker with pokenavs, and kept quiet about where he learned about the legendary pokemon Melany obviously knows a lot about them, and has...a pokenav thats more like a really small laptop or something. They have a few pokemon in common too. I wonder...does she know him?"_

"Hey, Melany! Mind if I ask you something?" May glanced at the two men digging before looking back to Melany. "...Privately?"

"Huh?" Melany blinked as she turned to May. "Sure..." Melany and May distanced themselves from the two guards, while still staying within sight, to talk.

"Melany, do you...umm...know a boy named Alex Sky by any chance?" May asked her shyly, scuffing the ground with her foot.

"Do I know..." Melany paused as it clicked in. _"Crap...why would she bring that up now?!"_ She thought in a panic. _"Ok...calm down...I need to think about this carefully..."_

_"Is it time to tell her the truth yet?"_ Odari asked her curiously.

_"I didn't plan to tell her the truth period. I was kinda banking on her just forgetting about Alex completely."_ Melany replied. _"I can't tell her the truth...but I don't want to lie to her either...hmm..."_

"I know him..." Melany finally responded to May's question. "But I can't say anything more than that."

"Hehe...that doesn't surprise me..." May replied sheepishly. "He always was kinda secretive. I don't know if you know this or not but we travelled together for a while."

"Oh, that must have been torture!" Melany said as if trying to sound sympathetic. "Alex can be such a jerk..."

"Oh, sure, he's a jerk at times..." May smiled as she replied. "But he was really nice to me at times too. Besides, he probably just acts like that to try to look cool and impress girls..."

_"Do boys really act like that at her age?"_ Melany wondered.

_"You would know better than I would."_ Odari replied, snickering.

"Hey, wait, if you think he's a jerk and he acts like that to impress girls..." May thought for a moment and then glared at Melany. "I get it now! You just want him for yourself!"

"This is wrong on so many levels..." Melany thought sadly. "I'm not interested in Alex." Melany replied to May, shaking her head. "Honestly, I'm not even interested in boys."

"How can you not be interested in boys?" May asked her with a surprised look on her face.

"Does the term 'lesbian' mean anything to you?" Melany asked her rather bluntly, creating an awkward silence between the two for several moments before May finally responded.

"No...whats it mean?" She asked curiously. Melany slapped the palm of her hand against her forehead.

"Nevermind..."

"Hey, we found something over here!" One of the guards called out. Melany and May rushed over to see what it was. They had dug up a circular device with several cables going deeper into the ground and three electrodes sticking out from it.

"That would be what we're looking for." Melany informed them. She bent down to take a closer look at the device and spotted a covered datalink port on the top of the device. Taking a cable from her backpack, she inserted one end into the device and the other end into her pokenav. After a few seconds, she unplugged the cables.

"Alright, Raikou will be able to leave the area now." Melany declared as she put the cable away.

"Wait, what?!" May asked in surprise. "How does that work exactly!?"

"This device here was creating a sort of energy field around the area, one that would specifically repel electric type pokemon if they approached the edge of the field." Melany explained to her. "It works similarly to trying to put two north ends of a pair of magnets together, they repel each other."

"I don't claim to understand any of that technobabble...but wouldn't that affect electronic devices as well?" May asked her.

"Thats like saying pokeballs should be able to capture humans." Melany replied, rolling her eyes.

"And just by connecting your pokenav to it, you shut it down?" May asked, blinking in surprise. "I mean, you didn't even push any buttons...just what IS that thing?"

"Its a really high-tech pokenav." Melany replied flatly. "And completely top secret."

_"I don't claim to know anything about your technology..."_ Odari said to Melany. _"But didn't that guy say its only be used for a pokedex-thing and to store a pokemon?"_

_"Yes..."_ Melany replied. _"But it also lets me get around the rule of six. You never know when a 7th pokemon might come in handy, particularly when no one expects you to have it. Plus, the pokemon itself is capable of doing interesting things with electronic devices."_

"Well I guess I'm really going to have to track down Raikou now huh?" May said, smiling sheepishly. "At least now I know Jessica won't beat me to it..."

"Well, good luck with that then."

"Thanks, Melany. By the way, if you see Alex tell him I've been trying to call him!"

"I'll keep that in mind..."

May released Flygon from its pokeball again and jumped on its back. The two then took off heading north in search of Raikou.

"Melany, we should be returning as well. You still need to bring that Registeel to Professor Birch..." One of the two guards informed Melany.

"In a bit..." Melany replied, waving her hand. "The person who made this device is bound to find out its not working anymore. I want to meet her myself, so I'm staying until she shows up..."

"Fine...but if she's not here within 30 minutes we're leaving..." The guard replied.

_"I'll be happy when this punishment is finally over and done with..."_ Melany thought.

The group didn't have to wait long before a Zangoose leapt out of the nearby treetops, landing in front of Melany with its claws brandished menacingly. The two guards immediately reached for their pokeballs, but a Ninjask showed up and began flying in circles around them.

"Damn it! They've got us trapped!" One of the guards growled.

"Shouldn't you two be trained to deal with this kind of situation?" Melany said to them, still calm in spite of the situation. "You two make lousy guards." Melany glanced down at her pokenav. "Thunder Wave."

A pulse of electricity shot out from Melany's pokenav, catching Zangoose off guard. The pulse moved through Zangoose's body, sending electricity through its muscles to slow it down and paralyze it. Zangoose fell to its knees, growling as it tried to get up.

The Ninjask circling the two guards suddenly stopped, facing Melany. It then started circling around her, trying to find a target to attack as it had no idea where the Thunder Wave attack came from.

"Lock-On and Thunder Wave." Melany stated calmly. A red bullseye appeared on Ninjask as it continued to fly around in a blur of motion. A pulse of electricity soon followed, striking its mark dead on and paralyzing Ninjask. The timing of the paralysis sent Ninjask off course and straight into the tree the device was burried under.

"Well excuse us for not carrying pokenavs like your's..." One of the guards grumbled in response to Melany's statement once the two pokemon were paralyzed.

"Thats no excuse, shouldn't you be prepared for a surprise pokemon attack like that?" Melany shot back while reaching for a yellow and black pokeball. "Alright, Regice, go!" Melany held up the pokeball and released her recently caught legendary pokemon, Regice. The pokemon stood in front of Melany as it appeared, ready to fight should either of the paralyzed pokemon appear.

"Well now, seems unlike May you actually live up to your family name..." A woman's voice called out, followed by Jessica emerging from the bushes. "Melany Stone...why doesn't it surprise me that you would shut down my barrier?"

"No offense...but I don't even know who you are." Melany replied with a shrug.

"That doesn't matter!" One of the guards called out, pointing a finger at Jessica angrily. "You! You're under arrest for attacking civilians with pokemon!" Both guards began to reach for their pokeballs.

"Technically she hasn't done anything wrong..." Melany said casually. "Her pokemon didn't actually attack, and though its highly unethical that barrier of her's wasn't illegal either..." The guards stopped and grumbled to themselves, realizing Melany was right.

"Looks like you're no idiot either." Jessica said, a smirk forming on her lips as she adjusted her glasses. "I'm surprised you haven't heard of me though, afterall I was a semi-finalist in last year's DGP. Everyone thought for sure I was going to win the tournament as well, but a certain someone's Metagross ended my winning streak as well as my Zangoose's perfect record."

"I honestly don't care about any of that." Melany shot back. "And by the way, May happens to be a good friend of mine. So don't think for a second that I'm going to just stand here and let you insult her."

_"Friend huh?"_ Odari said to Melany. _"Yeah, you two are such good friends that you won't tell her the truth..."_

_"Just for once, couldn't you save the insults for later?" _Melany thought in response.

"Its certainly not my fault she can't live up to her father's reputation..." Jessica replied with a shrug. "In any case...I'm sure Raikou's gone by now, so there's hardly any point in me being here. However, I'm curious to see how you compare to your brother. What do you say to a little one on one? I'd like to see how that legendary pokemon of your's holds up in battle..."

"You want to battle Regice? Fine! Choose your pokemon!" Melany shot back quickly, gritting her teeth. "I don't know who she thinks she is but there's no way she can be that much better than May, assuming she's better at all. I'm taking her down a notch..."

"Alright then." Jessica said, grinning widely. She recalled her paralyzed Ninjask, then took out a small potion bottle half-filled with a green substance and sprayed Zangoose with it. Zangoose quickly stood up as its muscles were able to move freely again. "I'll be battling with my Zangoose who, by the way, has only ever lost to your brother..."

"We'll have to see about that then..."

* * *

Author's Notes: Though I didn't want to show the battle itself, the next chapter will show the final blow in their battle (and, of course, the end result). Basically didn't want to put too much focus on it since Jessica's main conflict is meant to be with May. Did use the opportunity to hint at the abilities of Melany's other pokemon, which is the last non-legendary pokemon for Melany. It'll probably be pretty easy to figure out what pokemon it is, though. 


	61. Chapter 50: Heart of Stone

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Fifty**

**Heart of Stone**

"I don't know if we'll ever find Raikou again at this rate..." May said with a sigh, flying over the route near Fortree on Flygon's back. Clouds were gathered overhead, but the rain was holding off at least for the moment. "At least before I always knew where to look, but now Raikou could be just about anywhere!"

"-When we do find it, we'll catch it for sure.-" Flygon said to her, scanning the area below them for any sign of Raikou. It had been a full day since Melany shut down the barrier Jessica was using the keep Raikou near Lilycove and it had become quite apparent to the two that Raikou had already fled the area.

"If Raikou's hiding in the trees we might not be able to see it from up here..." May pointed out. "We should fly closer to the ground, we'll have a better chance of spotting it then." Flygon nodded its agreement and made a sharp dive towards the ground, forcing May to hang on tight. As Flygon was approaching the ground it suddenly pulled up, giving May a jolt as it quickly maneuvered to skim across the ground.

"Flygon!" May cried out. "Its bad enough Alex's Skarmory did that, don't you start too!" Flygon snickered to itself, much to May's annoyance. It continued on across the plains, heading for the tree line. It slowed down a bit as it approached the trees, carefully maneuvering to avoid hitting any of them. Flygon still seemed to be going pretty fast to May though.

"Flygon slow down already!" May cried out desperately. Her plea went unanswered. As Flygon darted through the trees, May happened to catch a glimpse of Raikou off to the side as they passed by it. "Flygon, turn back! We just passed Raikou!"

_"Her again..."_ Raikou thought to itself, shaking its head sadly. _"She's a persistant one for sure. Well, I suppose I'll give her a sporting chance..."_

Flygon quickly made a u-turn to come back around towards Raikou, slowing down and giving May a chance to jump off. As May landed on the ground she was already reaching for another pokeball, pulling it out without a word and releasing Wynaut. Wynaut already knew what it had to do and used its Shadow Tag ability to keep Raikou from fleeing, giving Flygon the chance to battle it.

"This time we'll get it for sure!" May called out excitedly. "Alright, Flygon! Hit it with Dragonbreath!"

Flygon fired out a stream of blue flames as it shot towards Raikou, landing a direct hit with the attack and flying past it. Raikou shrugged off the attack relatively easily, however, and quickly turned to face the retreating Flygon.

"-You seem familiar. Have we met before?-" Raikou asked tauntingly, it already knew the answer. Blue orbs of energy formed around Raikou as it focused on its hidden powers. It fired the blue orbs at Flygon, but this time Flygon was ready for the attack and quickly ducked behind a tree. The power hit the tree instead, instantly freezing and shattering the middle of its trunk and causing the top half to topple over.

"Keep it up, Flygon! Hit it from the side with a Crunch attack!" Flygon flew through the trees, maneuvering around to come at Raikou from the right side.

"-Oh, please...-" Raikou turned to face the oncoming Flygon, blue orbs already surrounding it in preparation to attack. "-If you announce what direction you're attacking from, it just makes it easier for me to counter!-" As Flygon was nearly on top of it, Raikou fired off the attack.

Flygon was once again ready for it, however, and angled up to fly over Raikou and dodge the attack. Flygon then flipped in the air to come at Raikou from the other side, biting into Raikou's flank. Raikou growled in pain as Flygon's teeth bit into it with tremendous force.

"-Grr...you're not bad...I'll give you that much. Lets see how you handle this!-" Raikou thrashed its body, whipping Flygon around as it held on tightly. As Flygon's tail moved from side to side, Raikou quickly turned to latch onto it with a quick Bite attack. Flygon cried out in surprise, letting go of Raikou in the process and putting itself completely at the legendary pokemon's mercy as it held on to Flygon's tail.

"Flygon, quick! Dragonbreath!" Flygon turned around and fired off another Dragonbreath attack at Raikou from nearly point blank range. Though the attack certainly hurt, Raikou remained undeterred. Blue orbs once again encircled Raikou's body and then fired into Flygon, hitting the dragon with full force as it couldn't move to dodge the attack. Flygon cried out in pain and dropped to the ground, weakened greatly by the attack.

"-Heh. Still aren't any better at taking my Hidden Power technique.-" Raikou commented, releasing Flygon's tail from its mouth. Flygon slowly started getting up, but Raikou was already preparing another Hidden Power for it. Seeing this, May realized Flygon was helpless and another Hidden Power from Raikou would probably knock it out.

"Flygon, thats enough for now! Return!" May held up Flygon's pokeball and recalled it, sparing Flygon the imminent defeat. She knew she could send it out again later when it wouldn't be at Raikou's mercy. She started to reach for another pokeball, but Raikou wasn't going to give her the chance.

"-You've had your shot, so now I'm out of here.-" Raikou declared before giving a menacing roar, sending Wynaut scurrying back towards May where it disappeared into its pokeball. With Shadow Tag no longer holding it in place, Raikou took off again.

"Still can't catch it..." May sighed and held up Flygon's pokeball again. "Well I'm not giving up! We're going after it again!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in the desert north of Mauville, Melany was making her way through the desert with a brown cloak wrapped around her to protect her from the sand. She was approaching a rocky structure to the south of her, where she was planning to catch the legendary pokemon Regirock. For once, she was also alone.

_"I never thought I'd hate not having those two with me..."_ Melany thought. _"But really all I miss is the helicopter, damn sandstorms..."_

_"In my day, this was mostly water..." _Odari commented. _"Regirock's chamber is just up ahead."_

_"This one should be easy enough to catch, I'll be able to use Sceptile and Azumarill against it."_ Melany thought, chuckling to herself.

_"You thought you'd have an easy win against that other girl because of Regice as I recall..."_ Odari commented, snickering. Melany cringed as she recalled how Regice lost to Jessica's Zangoose.

* * *

_"Regice, use Zap Cannon!" Regice brought its hands together on Melany's command and began forming a ball of electricity to attack with, then fired it at Zangoose. The nimble pokemon easy jumped over the attack, causing it to hit the ground and disperse harmlessly._

_"Its time to finish this..." Jessica declared with a smirk. "Zangoose, one more Swords Dance! Then finish it off with Brick Break!" A large aura surrounded Zangoose as it increased its power even further, reaching the peak of its abilities. It then dashed forward towards Regice and delivered a powerful punch, sending it flying backwards and crashing through two trees. Regice's eyes dimmed as it was no longer able to fight._

_"Thats too bad..." Jessica giggled to herself. "I thought for sure a legendary pokemon would be more of a challenge...your Regice is simply too slow..."_

* * *

"Her Zangoose was fast..." Melany said quietly. "Between its speed, Quick Attack, and Detect, Regice just couldn't land a good hit on it. I was hoping to slow it down with Zap Cannon, I should have realized I wouldn't be able to hit it with that attack..."

Melany looked up, seeing the rock structure before her that held the last of the three Regi pokemon. Stepping through the opening and out of the Sandstorm, Melany was finally able to remove her Go-Goggles and took a look around the chamber. It was the same as every other one she had been in, save for a single rock near the far wall.

"Gee, I wonder how I get in?" Melany said to herself, rolling her eyes. "And don't tell me either, its too obvious as it is." Melany tossed back her cloak, draping it behind her like a cape. She then reached for a pokeball.

"Metang, go!" Melany called out, releasing the floating steel pokemon Metang from its pokeball. "Metang, smash that rock." Metang nodded and quickly floated over to the rock. With one well-aimed punch, the rock was shattered. A loud crash followed as part of the wall dropped out, revealing the entrance to the next chamber.

_"I'll admit, the rock might have been obvious..."_ Odari commented. _"But you didn't actually have to smash it..."_

"Well either way it worked..." Melany said to herself quietly. She started walking towards the opening, motioning for Metang to follow as she entered the next chamber. Upon entering the chamber, Melany immediately spotted Regirock in the middle of the area.

Its entire body was made up of rocks. It had a large torso and a series of connected rocks forming long arms that reached almost to the ground while standing. It had a pair of short, stubby legs and seven spheres shaped like a capital 'H' on the top of its body. The spheres gave off a red glow as Melany entered the chamber.

"Alright, Metang, you can start off against this one! Attack with Metal Claw!" Metang wasted no time as it was ordered to attack, quickly floating across the chamber to strike Regirock with its claw-tipped hands. It was a strong blow, at least for Metang, but Regirock hardly seemed phased.

Regirock countered this attack by slamming its massive arms into the ground, loosing several small rocks that were flung up into Metang. The rocks bounced off Metang's body with little effect, though. Metang was becoming a more durable pokemon and was easily able to shrug off the rock attack.

"Regirock's physical defense is really strong, even stronger than Registeel's..." Melany noted to herself. "Well, time to send out reinforcements then." Melany quickly grabbed another pokeball and released Azumarill from inside it.

"Azumarill, you get in there too! Focus Punch!" Melany called out once Azumarill was out of its pokeball. Melany had taught Azumarill Focus Punch using a TM recently, having realized she wasn't making use of Azumarill's impressive physical power. Azumarill was able to use physical attacks much better than non-physical attacks.

Metang kept up its attacks on Regirock, striking it with another Metal Claw attack to keep Regirock focused on itself. Meanwhile, Azumarill bounced towards its target with one of its small hands glowing as it focused its power. It closed the gap with one final bounce to deliver a powerful punch into Regirock's torso.

The impact of Azumarill's punch echo'd throughout the chamber and Regirock was sent staggering back from the attack. Regirock's eyes flashed as it took a quick analysis of the situation. Its body then briefly gained a metallic appearance as it hardened to drastically increase its defense.

_"That was an Iron Defense technique..."_ Melany noted mentally. _"As if Regirock's defense wasn't high enough..."_

"Metang! Azumarill! Stay on the attack!" Melany commanded. The two pokemon nodded and moved forward, but were briefly stopped in their tracks as Regirock released a blast of electricity from its body in all directions, stunning both pokemon briefly and preventing Azumarill from focusing.

Metang, however, kept going and smashed Regirock with another Metal Claw attack, but Regirock didn't even take notice of the attack this time. Even though Metang was hitting Regirock with effective attacks, it wasn't able to do much because of Regirock's impressive defenses.

"Shockwave...is it just me, or can all three of these guys use electric attacks?" Melany muttered to herself. "Metang, thats good enough! Return!" She then called out, recalling Metang into its pokeball.

_"Its not just you, they are all capable of electric attacks."_ Odari informed Melany. _"In particular, they can all learn the Zap Cannon technique, so I suggest you be careful with that water...thing of your's."_

"Right..." Melany grumbled. She quickly reached for another pokeball, not wanting Azumarill to face Regirock alone at this point. "Camerupt, lets go!" Melany called out, releasing the fire-type camel pokemon to join Azumarill in battle. Camerupt snorted, hot steam billowing from its nose.

"Camerupt, Earthquake! Azumarill, get behind Camerupt and use Water Gun!" Camerupt waited for Azumarill to get behind it before rearing up and slamming its front legs on the ground, causing the ground in front of it to ripple and rupture around Regirock. Regirock stood its ground, however, and a crimson aura surrounded it as it began to power up with Curse.

Once Camerupt was finished with its Earthquake attack, Azumarill opened its mouth and fired a small stream of water at Regirock. The water hit Regirock directly, but didn't seem to have much of an effect on it. Regirock's physical defense was far better than its defense against non-physical attacks, but it was still strong in that area as well.

"Keep it up! Camerupt, another Earthquake! Azumarill, Focus Punch after the quake!" Camerupt rose up on its hind legs for another Earthquake attack, but Regirock simultaneously raised its arms as well. Both pokemon smashed the ground at the same time, sending their powerful Earthquake attacks at each other.

The power of the attacks caused the ground to burst open between the two pokemon. The chamber began shaking violently and rocks began dropping from the ceiling. The whole chamber seemed to be cracking up.

"Damn it! That attack is bringing the whole place down!" Melany quickly held up two pokeballs. "Azumarill! Camerupt! Return!" Both pokemon were turned into a red energy and called back into their pokeballs. Melany clipped the pokeballs to her belt and took off out of the chamber, leaving Regirock behind as the chamber collapsed behind her.

_"Regirock might be a strong pokemon..."_ Melany thought as she exited the chamber. _"But after all those attacks it took there's no way its surviving the chamber collapsing on it too. I'll catch it after..."_

Melany placed her goggles over her eyes and pulled the cloak around her again as she rushed out into the sandstorm. She got out of the structure just in time to watch it fall. Looking back as she distanced herself from it, she could see the back end collapse in on itself and then bring the front part of the structure down with it.

Melany stopped near the top of a dune to look back at the collapsed chamber. As the dust finally settled, the entire chamber was completely in ruins and appeared to be nothing more than a really large pile of rocks. Melany smirked to herself as she reached back into her cloak to take an empty ultra ball from her backpack.

"Well, I guess now all thats left is to catch Regirock..." She said to herself, starting off towards the collapsed structure.

_"You know, I made sure those tombs were impervious to attack from the outside from even the strongest pokemon."_ Odari commented. _"It never occurred to me to do so from the inside."_

_"Why would you try to contain a pokemon like that in a tomb it could easily break out of?"_ Melany asked her.

_"I wasn't particularly worried about an inactive pokemon trying to break out."_ Odari shot back. _"And by the way, I'd call out a pokemon if I were you. Regirock's not done yet..."_

"What?!" Melany didn't wait to find out if Odari was right, quickly reaching for Sceptile's pokeball. "Sceptile, come on out! We might not be finished here yet..." Melany pressed the button on the pokeball, causing it to open and release Sceptile. Sceptile crossed its arms, its leaves forming into glowing green blades as it prepared for battle.

Near the collapsed structure, the sand began to rise upward in a small area and Regirock burst up from the ground. The pokemon appeared almost completely unscathed, as it had clearly dug its way out before the chamber collapsed around it.

"Figures..." Melany muttered. "The moment I said there was no way it'd survive I should have realized it would. Alright, hit it with a Leech Seed attack Sceptile!"

Sceptile nodded and dashed across the sand, through the sandstorm and towards its target. When it was about 25 feet away from Regirock it stopped and spun around quickly, releasing a seed from its tail. The seed travelled through the air and latched onto Regirock's body. Vines sprouted and latched on, beginning to drain Regirock's strength.

"Alright, we're off to a good start." Melany said to herself. "That should help deal with the sandstorm hurting Sceptile as well..."

Regirock slowly trudged through the sand towards Sceptile and swung a fist towards the grass lizard, flames erupting from its rocky hand in a Fire Punch attack. Sceptile deftly ducked under the attack, having no trouble evading the slow-moving Regirock. Sceptile then launched a counter attack without any instruction from Melany, striking Regirock in the torso with both of its Leaf Blades. Regirock staggered back, then fell back in the sand.

"Sceptile, wait for its attack then use Leaf Blade again!" Sceptile nodded in understanding and watched its opponent closely. Regirock lifted its heavy arms up, bringing them together in front of it and pointing at Sceptile. The sand around Regirock began to shift and even move away from it in response to the power flowing through its rocky body.

_"You know, your regi's all seem to love using Superpower for some reason..."_ Melany noted dryly.

_"Well it IS their strongest technique."_ Odari snapped back.

Sceptile wasn't about to stick around to find out just how strong Regirock's Superpower attack was. As Regirock fired out a blast of energy, Sceptile jumped straight up into the air to avoid the attack. Regirock's Superpower blasted only the sand where Sceptile had been standing previously.

As Sceptile came down from its jump, it landed in Regirock's lap and brought both its Leaf Blades straight down on Regirock's head. There was a crushing sound at the impact, and the seven red spheres on Regirock's head began flashing rapidly until finally Regirock slumped backwards in the sand. Sceptile stood victoriously over its fallen legendary foe.

"Wow, you made that one look easy Sceptile. I should have just had you battle it from the start!" Sceptile grinned widely at the praise and flexed its muscles. Melany threw her ultra ball at Regirock and Sceptile jumped off the pokemon as it was pulled into the ball. The ultra ball landed in the sand and locked shut without a struggle. The last of the three regi pokemon had been caught.

"Great! Thats the last of those three." Melany said as the ultra ball disappeared, sending Regirock to storage. "Now we can move on to bigger targets. Good job, Sceptile. You can rest now." Melany held up Sceptile's pokeball as she said this and recalled it, then placed the pokeball back on her belt.

"Well, now that thats over with, lets get out of this sandstorm..." Melany pulled her cloak around her again and started on her way out of the desert. As she was walking, though, the sandstorm began to die down and instead gave way to a blistering heat as the sun's rays seemed to intensify. Melany stopped for a moment to contemplate this.

"Sandstorm suddenly stops and the sun intensifies...someone must have used Sunny Day..." Melany looked around, but couldn't see anything from where she was. She ran to the top of the nearest dune, and from there she could see someone standing with a pokemon further up ahead. From a distance, Melany could tell the pokemon was a grass type known as Shiftry.

"Not often you see people out here..." Melany thought to herself. She tossed her cloak back and pulled up her goggles, neither of them seemed to be necessary at this point, and continued on her way. As she drew closer to the figure in the distance she finally saw who it was. Vito Winstrate.

"Oh great...him..." Melany muttered. Vito seemed to notice her at this point as well and was walking towards her.

_"Another 'friend' of your's?"_ Odari jokingly asked her.

"Well if it isn't Melany Stone!" Vito announced as he approached her, sounding as if he was happy to see her. Shiftry was following behind him.

_"...Or is he an admirer?"_

_"He's a guy I met while I was pretending to be a guy." _Melany explained. _"Challenged him to a battle and he beat me in an all out battle with five pokemon still remaining. He was awfully arrogant about it too I might add and at this point he probably doesn't recognize me as the guy who battled him."_

"Your handywork?" Vito asked, gesturing to what could be seen of the collapsed structure in the distance.

"So what if it is?" Melany replied, trying to contain her temper.

"It would be a shame you are so young then..." Vito replied with a grin. "Otherwise I would have to ask you out on a date. So instead, how about a battle? Three on three."

_"Apparenly he also thinks he's quite the charmer..."_ Melany thought angrily. _"Even if I was interested in guys, or even dating for that matter, I wouldn't date him if he was the last human on Earth..."_

_"Your generation has very unusual habits when it comes to love and mating."_ Odari noted in response. _"In my day, my people either got together purely out of love or for the sake of breeding only. The sex of the individuals was never a question as long as there was a mutual interest. Of course, the only time I had a relationship I was actually using her..."_

_"Thats just cruel..." _Melany sighed. "Alright, fine, three pokemon each." Melany distanced herself from Vito and Shiftry, giving them room to battle. Vito wasn't recalling Shiftry, so it was pretty obvious to Melany what pokemon he was using first. Melany reached for a pokeball and hesitated for a moment before releasing her pokemon.

_"I guess this will be the first time I use this one in a real battle...well here goes nothing." _Melany held up the black and yellow pokeball as she released the pokemon. "Absol, go!" The pokeball opened up, releasing the goat-like pokemon Absol. As soon as the pokemon appeared it rushed to Melany's side and started rubbing its head affectionately against her leg. Melany sighed in embarassment.

"Absol...do you mind?" Melany pointed behind Absol at Vito. Absol looked back and growled menacingly when it spotted him, crouching down as if ready to pounce. Shiftry immediately moved in front of Vito defensively.

"Seems as though you're having trouble keeping your pokemon under control." Vito taunted Melany. "Perhaps you would like some lessons from moi?" He added, gesturing towards himself.

_"You know, maybe I should just let Absol have at this guy..."_ Melany thought, her right eye twitching slightly. _"How hard can it be to hide a body in the desert?"_

"Well, shall we get started? Shiftry, attack with Brick Break!" Shiftry took off across the sand, quickly moving to attack Absol. One of its leaf-tipped hands were raised and the three leaves on the end were curled as if in a fist.

"Absol! Double Team!" Absol's form began to shift, but before it could execute the attack Vito's Shiftry was on it and brought its fist down on Absol's head. Absol cried out as it was knocked into the sand.

_"Shoot! Sunny Day's still in effect!"_ Melany suddenly realized. _"Shiftry's getting a speed boost from its Chlorophyll ability!"_

Absol slowly raised its head, down but not out. Its form began to shimmer again and it split into three more copies of itself. A copy appeared on either side of Absol as well as behind it. All the images of Absol looked up at Shiftry with hatred in their eyes.

_"Well Absol is following my instructions at least."_ Melany thought to herself. _"It almost seems as if Absol once had a trainer, which wouldn't surprise me given its behaviour. If I were to guess, I'd say it had a female trainer who got a boyfriend and abandoned it. It'd explain why Absol seems to hate guys anyway..."_

_"Doesn't like guys, does he?" _Odari chuckled. _"That must have made for an interesting meeting if you were pretending to be Alex at the time..."_

"Well what do you know! Its actually still able to fight after that!" Vito chuckled to himself. "We'll have to fix that then...Shiftry, jump and use Shadow Ball!"

"Absol, use Swords Dance now!"

A blue aura formed around the four Absol images as Absol powered up with Swords Dance. Shiftry, meanwhile, hopped back then jumped straight up into the air while bringing its two hands together and forming a black shadowy ball between them. It then fired the ball into the middle Absol, causing it to vanish and kick up a wall of sand that hit the remaining Absol's and revealed the real Absol as the one that had been in the back.

"Shiftry, finish it off with Solar Beam!"

"Absol, Quick Attack!" Absol quickly got to its feet and became a white blur as it leapt into the air, streaking towards Shiftry and striking it before it could launch its attack. Shiftry was sent plummeting straight down towards the ground, landing on its back while Absol landed behind it. Shiftry pointed its hands towards Absol as it prepared to attack again, but by now the sunlight had weakened and Shiftry still needed time to charge its attack.

"Absol, quick! Hit it with Slash while its still charging!" Absol crouched low to the ground as it quickly turned around, slashing Shiftry with the curved blade on its head and knocking the pokemon across the sand with a hard hit. The attack was enough to prevent Shiftry from continuing to charge up its Solar Beam attack. The grass pokemon got back onto its feet and stared Absol down.

"I have to admit, I'm somewhat surprised by your capability. Seems someone went and became a trainer while they were gone." Vito said to Melany. "Lets see how skilled you really are then. Shiftry, Shadow Ball!"

"Absol, counter with your own Shadow Ball!"

Both pokemon formed a black, shadowy ball in front of them and fired them at each other. The two Shadow Ball attacks colided inbetween them with Absol's attack proving to be the stronger of the two, sending Shiftry's Shadow Ball way off course. Absol's attack, however, was also affected and only struck a grazing blow to Shiftry's side. Shiftry grunted, but stood its ground against the attack.

"Shiftry, lets take it up a notch." A slight grin formed on Vito's lips. "Use Swagger!" Vito's Shiftry responded by shaking from side to side. A white mist began to encircle Absol, and Absol began growling as the mist instilled anger in it and even increased Absol's power as a result. The attack was simply causing Absol to go berserk, and Melany recognized this.

_"Between Swords Dance and Swagger, Absol has a lot of power right now..."_ Melany thought to herself. _"But one wrong move and Absol could be knocking itself out instead."_ Melany reached for Absol's pokeball. _"Better safe than sorry..."_

"Absol, return!" Melany held up the pokeball and recalled Absol, then placed Absol's pokeball back on her belt and grabbed another. "Anorith, your turn! Go!" Melany held up the pokeball she grabbed and released Anorith from within.

"Thats your next pokemon?" Vito asked, pointing at Anorith and laughing quietly. "Pathetic. Its not even a fully evolve Armaldo."

"Just because it isn't fully evolved doesn't mean it isn't strong." Melany shot back. "Anorith, show him! Ancientpower!" Anorith began focusing its power, causing rocks to be pulled up from the ground around it. Anorith's body began glowing and flashing as ancient energies flowed into it, increasing its strength. Shiftry turned to Vito, expecting a command, but Vito just waved it off.

Anorith fired the rocks at Shiftry, hitting it dead on in its moment of distraction. As the rocks hit Shiftry, the pokemon staggered backwards until it fell back into the sand and was knocked unconcious. Vito blinked in surprise at this, but gave a shrug and recalled his Shiftry.

"Well, stronger than I expected it would be I suppose..." Vito commented offhandedly as he placed Shiftry's pokeball. As he reached for another, he noticed Anorith was still glowing. Anorith's body began to shift, growing upwards until it was standing on two legs. Its two claws grew larger and it gained a more prominent tail as well. The glow finally faded and Melany's Anorith had evolved into an Armaldo.

"Tch...doesn't make any difference now..." Vito smirked as he held up a pokeball. "I'm down playing around, now you'll face my best. Heracross, go!" Vito pressed the button on his pokeball, releasing a bug pokemon that Melany remembered all too well. Heracross appeared standing before its trainer and slammed its fists together, ready for a fight.

_"Heracross...well I won't lose to that pokemon again..."_ Melany thought to herself. She took out her pokenav and checked over Armaldo's attacks, looking for any new techniques. She smirked to herself, noticing a new attack that it did learn a few new tricks. "Alright, Armaldo! Use Iron Tail!"

Armaldo quickly charged towards Heracross, moving with speed still enhanced from its Ancientpower attack. Heracross stood its ground, however, ready for the incoming attack.

"Heracross, Counter it." Vito commanded with a smirk. Armaldo's increased power didn't go unnoticed to him and he realized he could do more damage countering the attack.

Armaldo spun around as it approached Heracross, its tail gaining a metallic appearance. Heracross caught the tail in its hands and grunted with the effort to counter it as it spun around and used the energy from Armaldo's attack to throw it high into the air. When Armaldo finally landed far behind Vito, it hit the ground hard and was immediately knocked out.

"Damn it..." Melany grumbled, holding up Armaldo's pokeball again and recalling it after its quick loss. "Didn't even take Counter into consideration...but for Armaldo to be instantly KO'd like that? Even with the power boost, Armaldo would have to have a lot of power. That'll be something to keep in mind for sure." Melany placed Armaldo's pokeball on her belt and carefully considered what pokemon to use next.

_"Sceptile might be able to use its speed to its advantage, but that Heracross is definitely strong."_ Melany thought to herself. _"One Megahorn is all it'll take. Camerupt can probably take an attack since the terrain makes Earthquake hard to use, but its not necessarily at its best right now. Only pokemon I have left that hasn't fought yet is Rhyhorn, but Heracross definitely won't have any trouble taking that down."_

_"If I may say something..." _Odari interrupted Melany's thoughts. _"Your Rhyhorn almost withstood a powered-up Superpower from Registeel, its endurance is certainly worth noting. I wouldn't count it out entirely."_

_"Thats a good point. Coming from you no less. Alright then..."_ Melany took Rhyhorn's pokeball from her belt. "Rhyhorn, go! This one's your's!" Melany held up the pokeball and pressed the button, releasing Rhyhorn to battle against Heracross. Rhyhorn growled as it was released from its pokeball, breathing out heavily through its nose.

"You would use a rock type against MY Heracross?" Vito began snickering, then broke out into laughter. "Thats almost too funny! What next? A Camerupt against a Starmie?!" Vito continued laughing while Melany tapped her foot impatiently.

"That does it..." Melany growled. "I'm not putting up with this. Rhyhorn, take that Heracross down! HORN DRILL!" Rhyhorn lowed its snout to the ground, pointing its horn at Heracross. Its horn began spinning rapidly, making a whirring noise like a drill as it charged towards Heracross. Vito almost didn't notice the attack because he was still laughing, but when he did it finally clicked in that his Heracross was in serious danger.

"Heracross, quick! Grab it!" Heracross brought its hands down on Rhyhorn's snout, holding the whirling horn just barely over an inch away from its body. The two pokemon struggled against each other, Rhyhorn trying to hit Heracross with Horn Drill while Heracross put all its might into holding Rhyhorn off. One hit from Horn Drill is all it would take to knock Heracross out.

"Heracross, toss it away! Seismic Toss!" Heracross struggled to summon up its strength, but managed to pick up Rhyhorn by the snout and turn around to give it a light toss. The attack didn't do much to Rhyhorn at all, but it gave Heracross a brief reprieve from holding off Horn Drill. The bug pokemon was sweating bullets at this point from its close call.

"Now hit it with a Brick Break before it can attack again!" Vito called out desperately. Rhyhorn began to turn to face Heracross, but was struck on the forehead by a Brick Break attack from Heracross that knocked it down off its legs and caused its horn to stop spinning. As Rhyhorn lay in the sand, seemingly unconcious, Heracross flopped back to take a breather.

_"Now seems like a good time to finish off Heracross."_ Melany thought, a smirk forming on her lips as it seemed she'd take down Vito's Heracross a lot easier than she did last time. "Rhyhorn, use Reversal!" Rhyhorn opened its eyes and quickly stood up, a burst of energy flowing through its body as it powered up to use Reversal.

"What?! That thing withstood my Heracross Brick Break!?" Vito growled, gritting his teeth. "Heracross! Reversal!" Heracross quickly got up as well, a surge of energy flowing through its body. Both pokemon charged towards each other, and Heracross' fist met with Rhyhorn's horn in a tremendous impact that knocked both pokemon back and sent them sprawling into the sand. Neither pokemon got up from the attack and both were quickly recalled.

"I can't believe that actually worked out so well..." Melany said to herself as she placed Rhyhorn's pokeball on her belt, reaching for Absol's again to finish off the battle. Before she released Absol, she happened to look up and noticed Vito was shaking. _"Whoa! Is he really that upset?"_ She wondered.

"I...won't...lose..." Vito said between deep, ragged breaths, slowly drawing another pokeball. "I descend from some of the greatest pokemon trainers ever...I...won't...LOSE!" Vito quickly held up the pokeball and pressed the button on it, releasing a three-headed bird pokemon that didn't appear to have wings.

"I think Vito's lost it..." Melany said quietly. "Absol, you're up again! Go!" Melany called out, releasing Absol to battle again. Absol looked as though it were calm again, but also lacked its power boost from before.

"Dodrio, Double-edge!" Absol was barely out of its pokeball when Vito declared his attack. Dodrio charged towards it, running quickly across the sand and plowing into Absol with tremendous force. Dodrio staggered back from the collision, obvioulsy hurt itself, but Absol was sent sprawling back into the sand and was knocked out with just one attack. Melany recalled Absol, and Vito seemed to calm down as he rand his hand through his hair.

"Hmm...you're good I suppose..." Vito said casually. "But not as good as me...and not even remotely as good as your brother." Vito gave a shrug, turning and starting to walk away with his Dodrio soon following him. "See you around!" He called back in a taunting tone.

_"What a nice guy."_ Odari said sarcastically. _"I honestly can't see why you'd hate him..."_

"He's right...I'll never be able to compare to Steven..." Melany said solemnly, ignoring Odari's comments. "Thats one of the reasons I didn't want to become a trainer...because no matter what I did, I would always be compared to Steven. I wonder how May deals with it? She must get compared to her father a lot..."

_"What are you talking about?"_ Odari asked her.

"Nevermind..." Melany shook her head and started on her way out of the desert again.

* * *

South of Fortree, near the weather station, May was once again back on Raikou's trail. She had already spotted the legendary pokemon running, and was now moving into position with Flygon to cut it off. This time her plan was to trap it with Wynaut again, but then use Phanphy to battle Raikou first instead of Flygon.

Flygon dove down to hide out on the other side of a hill, out of sight from the approaching Raikou. May then hopped off Flygon's back and took out two more pokeballs, releasing Wynaut and Phanphy.

"Ok, you guys all ready?" She asked them. They all nodded affirmatively and ducked down behind the hill. The sound of quick footsteps could soon be heard and it wasn't long before Raikou leapt clear over everyone's head. As soon as Raikou had landed it found itself stuck, held in place by Wynaut's Shadow Tag ability. Raikou looked back at May, Wynaut, Phanphy, and Flygon.

"-You again...-" Raikou growled in annoyance. "-This is getting old fast...-"

"-Then why don't you just stand and fight?-" Flygon shot back.

"Phanphy, now! Rollout!" Phanphy curled up into a ball and started spinning rapidly, then shot itself rolling towards Raikou. Raikou was already prepared to counter the technique, however. As Phanphy approached it, Raikou turned around and quickly moved in with a well-timed Bite attack to grab Phanphy and stop its Rollout attack.

"-Time for you to take a hike!-" Raikou turned around quickly and released Phanphy, sending it flying into a nearby tree. The tree shook and cracked slightly as Phanphy bounced off it and landed in the bushes surrounding the base of the tree.

"Phanphy!" May called out to it. _"No wonder Jessica couldn't catch it, Raikou remembers the battle strategies that were used against it and is better ready for them everytime I battle..."_

"-Time to finish this one off.-" Raikou focused briefly, bringing out its hidden power. Blue orbs began to circle around it then all of them fired off towards the bushes. A pained trumpeting could be heard as the attack struck Phanphy. "-That ends that one then, that pipsqueak is definitely out cold. Now to deal with the dragon...-"

Raikou turned to face Flygon, not noticing the figure rolling out of the bushes. The wheel-shaped pokemon that came out of the bushes was more than twice the size Phanphy was and was darker in color. Raikou was caught completely off guard as the pokemon struck it from behind, sending Raikou sprawling forward and letting it get another shot in to send Raikou rolling to the side. Raikou growled in anger and got up to face its attacker.

"-You just don't know when to quit, do ya?-" Raikou growled at the rolling pokemon. The pokemon stopped rolling and came to a standing position facing Raikou. The pokemon standing before Raikou wasn't a Phanphy, however, but a fully evolved Donphan.

"-Evolution? Damn normals...-" Raikou grumbled. "-The only thing you can even claim to have over legends such as myself. Well I ain't sticking around now, I don't like my odds.-" Raikou took a deep breath and raised its head. It then let loose with a loud, menacing roar. Donphan, Flygon, and Wynaut all appeared to be startled and ran towards May. Their pokeballs opened up on their own and the three pokemon fled inside.

"-Adios!-" Raikou called out, taking off across the plains at full speed away from May.

"UGH! Not again!" May cried out in frustration. "Phanphy even evolved to fight it too but it still got away from me!"

Further up ahead, Brendan was sitting on a particular thick branch on a tree looking through a pair of binoculars. In the distance was a herd of Tropius he was casually observing, taking notes of their behaviour in the herd.

"Huh? Whats that?" Brendan wondered aloud as Raikou raced past him. Brendan took off his binoculars and blinked in disbelief. "That pokemon...so its true then? The legendary pokemon Raikou IS in Hoenn!?" Brendan held up his binoculars again, looking to the direction he saw Raikou come from. "Is it running away from something though?"

Brendan gasped in shock when he saw May standing way off in the distance, where it seemed Raikou had been running from. Putting two and two together he came to the conclusion that May had tried to catch Raikou. Brendan looked back at the Tropius, thinking for a moment before hopping down out of the tree.

"I doubt those Tropius are going anywhere soon anyway..." Brendan said to himself, then ran off to meet up with May.

"Hey, May!" Brendan called out as he approached her. May looked up and was a bit surprised at first when she saw Brendan, but then she remembered he tends to travel all around Hoenn running errands for his father and studying pokemon. Despite this, she felt the need to ask.

"Brendan? What are you doing out here?" She asked him.

"I've been studying the Tropius around here. Dad wants to know more about how they behave in a herd." Brendan replied.

_"Tropius..."_ May thought. _"Thats right, he's going to want to return to his herd eventually. Well after I challenge the Elite Four it should be more than ready to take back its leadership over the herd!"_

"I just saw Raikou run by..." Brendan stated, interrupting May's thoughts. "I heard the rumors, that Raikou was in Hoenn, but I didn't believe it. May, were you just battling it?"

"Yeah..." May replied with a sigh. "I've been trying to catch it but it keeps running away. I've even been using Wynaut but it knows my strategy now and just uses Roar. I know if I can just get it to stay still I can catch it..."

"Can I see your pokenav?" May hesitated for a moment before nodding slowly, taking it out and handing it to him. Brendan took the pokenav in his hand and started going through May's pokemon, nodding to himself as he looked over her options.

"You have a fairly strong Lileep here..." He noted, handing the pokenav back to her. Lileep's information was still on the screen. "You can use its Wrap technique combined with Ingrain to keep Raikou from going anywhere. Lileep's immune to Roar and with Ingrain it'll also be able to take more punishment. Lileep just needs to hang on long enough for you to weaken Raikou and catch it."

"Huh...I never even thought about using Lileep like that...thanks Brendan!" May smiled, taking a quickly look over Lileep's info before putting her pokenav away.

"So are you and Alex not travelling together anymore?" Brendan asked her curiously.

"No, he kinda...vanished." May replied. "Right after a battle with Kyogre and Groudon too."

"Oh, I see..." Brendan cleared his throat. "Anyway! You should stop by Littleroot sometime, May. You haven't been home in ages."

"I will, as soon as I catch Raikou. I'll need the time to train for the Devon Grand Prix anyway."

"Well, good luck with that May! I guess I'll see you around then, I've got to get back to that herd."

"Right!" May nodded quickly. "Thanks a lot Brendan! See ya!"

Brendan ran off back to the Tropius herd while May took Flygon's pokeball from her belt.

"Alright! This time I'll get Raikou for sure!"

* * *

Author's Notes: Combined the next two chapters again, though looking at how much space this one took up I probably could have expanded on the Raikou part enough for it to be its own chapter. I'll probably end up combining the next two chapters as well, as they tie in together a bit towards the end. Which means only two more chapters before the Grand Prix starts up. As is I believe the last chapter for this fic will be chapter 64. Still a fair bit away... 


	62. Chapter 51: Legendary Encounters

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Fifty One**

**Legendary Confrontations**

"Looks like this is the place..." Melany commented, looking into a dark rocky cave. The cave had mysteriously appeared there only a day earlier, but no one had dared to venture inside because of a warning issued by Wattson. The cave was located east of Mauville, near the beach. Melany was once again accompanied by her two guards.

"Did you really have to come here so early in the morning?" One of them asked her, giving a tired yawn. "The sun isn't even up yet..."

"The sooner I get this over with, the better." Melany replied flatly. "Besides..." Melany raised a hand, gesturing to the sky above her. "It looks plenty bright out to me..."

Sure enough, despite the sun not yet being up, it certainly looked like day above them. A large radius of sunlight seemed to extend out in the sky all around them, bathing Mauville to the west and even the route across the water in an intense sunlight that made the area feel several degrees warmer than it actually was.

"I'm sure you two are just going to wait outside anyway. You could sleep in the helicopter since you'd be just about as useful..." Melany started on her way into the cave, leaving her two guards behind as usual. She could hear them shouting angrily behind her but paid no attention to what they were saying, she was too focused on the task at hand.

"Its nice to finally have some peace and quiet, even if it'll be short lived." Melany said quietly to herself with a sigh. "I definitely couldn't take the emerald with me though, if I did then I'd never hear the end of it from Odari. Asuming she'd even let me get this far."

The immediate area inside the cave was nothing but rock everywhere. The cave was also very large on the inside and seemed to get bigger the further Melany went in. Eventually, deep within the cave, the light from outside was gone but instead replaced by the glow of lavapools scattered about and the temperature inside the cave increased drastically.

_"I must be getting close..."_ Melany thought, noting the lavapools and keeping her distance. She eventually came to a dead end at a particularly large lavapool but with no sign of her target. _"Or maybe not. I thought for sure Groudon would be here..." _As a precaution, Melany reached for a pokeball. 

"Sceptile, go!" Melany held up the pokeball and released Sceptile. The large grass lizard appeared and immediately activated its Leaf Blade technique and took up a fighting stance. Sceptile's keen senses alerted it to the prescence of a pokemon, but Sceptile couldn't tell where it was. It focused its gaze on the large lava pool ahead, assuming its opponent was hiding in the lava.

"Hmm..." Melany reached into her backpack, retrieving a red gem. "Maybe Groudon's a little shy?" She wondered, holding up the ruby. In truth, Melany didn't particularly know what she was doing, but she was hoping the ruby might lure Groudon out of hiding. It seemed to work, however, as the lava in the center of the pool began to bulge. 

The surface of the lava was broken as Groudon rose up above it and gave a mighty roar, casting its gaze down at Melany and Sceptile. Sceptile tensed, ready to go on the attack, but Melany put a hand out to stop him.

"Groudon, I would like to make a challenge." Melany called out to Groudon. "A pokemon battle, during which I will attempt to catch you. I will use all pokemon currently with me. If I am successful, then you are to obey the commands of a trainer holding the ruby. If I fail, then the ruby is your's."

_"I don't know whats crazier!"_ Sceptile thought in disbelief. _"That she's trying to bargain with Groudon or whats at stake if we lose here!"_

"-Fool!-" Groudon bellowed, a wide grin spreading across its face. "-You honestly believe you can defeat me? Then so be it! I accept your challenge!-" Groudon nodded to get its point across to Melany, knowing she wouldn't understand it.

"Alright then!" Melany quickly put the ruby away, then pointed towards Groudon. "Sceptile, you're up first! Go! Leech Seed!" Sceptile dashed forward, spinning around for fire off a seed from its tail. The Leech Seed scored a direct hit on Groudon's stomach and latched on, beginning to slowly drain away Groudon's energy. Groudon looked down at the seed for a moment then dove under the lava briefly, burning off the seed.

"Looks like Leech Seed isn't going to work...again." Melany noted in dismay. "Alright, Sceptile! Agility! Then use Leaf Blade!" Scpetile closed its eyes and focused, relaxing its body to increase its speed. Groudon saw this opening and moved forward, an orange glow enveloping its right claw as it brought it down towards Sceptile in a Dragon Claw attack.

Sceptile opened its eyes just before Groudon's attack would connect and jumped up on Groudon's arm to avoid it, Groudon's claws struck only the ground where Sceptile had been standing. Sceptile then quickly ran up Groudon's arm to strike it in the side of the head with a Leaf Blade attack. Groudon roared in pain and brought its arm up to swipe at Sceptile, but the agile lizard had already leapt off and was clinging onto the rocky wall at the far end of the chamber.

_"Even without the ruby's power, Groudon can take a lot of punishment."_ Melany thought. _"Best Sceptile can do is just keep hitting it and use its speed to evade Groudon's attacks. So far, though, everything's going just as I thought it would."_ Melany smirked to herself. _"Groudon's so confident in its power it doesn't think it can lose, but with six pokemon I'll manage to bring it down eventually."_

Groudon turned to face Sceptile, causing ripples in the lavapool it was standing in. It opened its mouth and shot out a ball of fire that expanded into a shape almost like a stick figure. Sceptile tried to jump over one of the arms of the attack, but its feet ended up caught in the flames. Sceptile started plummeting towards the ground. It just barely cleared the lavapool, landing facedown on the ground behind Groudon.

_"Sceptile, be careful! Try to keep the fight away from the lava!"_ Melany called out to it. _"Sceptile's body can't withstand that kind of heat, if he were to fall into the lava he could be burned to death. I better be ready to recall Sceptile, just in case..."_

Sceptile got back up on its feet, but standing up was causing it pain now from the burns on its feet. Groudon was already turning to face it to attack again. With its injured feet, Sceptile wasn't going to be able to move as fast or jump as well because of the pain it'd put itself through. Melany came to this realization as well.

"Sceptile, thats enough for now! Return!" Melany called out as she recalled Sceptile into its pokeball. Without hesitating for a second she took another pokeball from her belt to release another pokemon to battle Groudon. "Go, Camerupt!" Melany pressed the button on the pokeball, releasing the ground and fire type pokemon Camerupt.

"Camerupt, Flamethrower!" Camerupt took several steps forward and began spewing out hot flames at Groudon. The Flamethrower hit Groudon in the stomach, but Groudon withstood the attack easily. While Camerupt was still attacking, Groudon curled its clawed hands into fists and brought them down on the edge of the ground, causing a massive Earthquake. 

The ground rose up and ruptured from the impact, the effects speeding out from where Groudon hit the ground until Camerupt was caught up in it. Camerupt was tossed about as the ground rose up around it and cracked below it, causing it to be smashed about the rough terrain. Camerupt was eventually tossed onto flat ground, landing flat on its stomach and completely knocked out by the attack.

_"Right...its easy to forget Groudon is the land titan..."_ Melany thought, holding out Camerupt's pokeball and recalling it. _"One strong earthquake from Groudon is all it takes to take down a fire type like Camerupt."_ Melany placed the pokeball back on her belt and thought carefully before taking another pokeball in hand.

_"Groudon will almost definitely recognize Regice as an ice type and try to use its ice attacks."_ Melany thought to herself. _"Given how many Flamethrowers it took from Camerupt it should be able to shrug off a Fire Blast or two from Groudon at least."_ Melany raised the ultra ball, pressing the button on the front of it. "Regice, go!" The ultra ball opened up, freeing the ice golem Regice for battle.

"Regice, use Ice Beam!" Melany called out as soon as Regice appeared. Regice raised its right hand and pointed at Groudon, firing a blue beam of energy and hitting it in the shoulder. Groudon growled in pain as ice briefly formed on its shoulder then shattered. Groudon paused for a moment, thinking over its situation, then closed its eyes and fell asleep. A blue glow surrounded Groudon, completely restoring it to perfect health.

_"Rest..."_ Melany thought. _"I should probably consider teaching that technique to the regis. They're durable enough for it."_

"Regice, use Amnesia! Then follow it up with Curse!" Regice's eyes flashed, removing a portion of its memories to drastically increase its resistance to non-physical blows. Once its Amnesia technique was complete, it focused on using Curse and a dark red aura surrounded it as it traded off its movement speed for increased physical strength and durability. By the time Regice had used both techniques, Groudon's eyes were slowly opening as it woke up.

"Alright, Regice! Thats good enough!" Melany called out to it. "Now! Ice Beam again!" Regice brought its arm forward and fired another Ice Beam at Groudon. Groudon shot out a fireball to counter, which formed into its Fire Blast attack. The two attacks collided and the Fire Blast was extinguished by the Ice Beam, but Regice's Ice Beam also no longer had enough power to reach Groudon and fell short of its target.

_"No good...looks like Groudon's just going to keep using Fire Blast."_ Melany thought, thinking over her options carefully. _"Groudon shouldn't be able to counter an Icy Wind attack, though. It'll slow Groudon down a bit too. Groudon will probably use Fire Blast again, but Regice should definitely be able to take it then strike back with an Ice Beam."_

"Regice, use Icy Wind!" Regice flung its arms outwards and the temperature in the cave began to drop, though it was still fairly warm. Around Groudon, however, the temperature dropped even lower and small ice crystals even swirled around it in the air as a cold wind chilled its surroundings.

Groudon growled at Regice's attempt to hurt it and instead of using another Fire Blast attack it brought its clawed hands slamming down on the ground. The already cracked and shattered ground was send flying everywhere, slashing through Regice's body. With its increased defenses, however, Regice was able to take the attack and stand its ground.

"Not what I expected but it doesn't change my plan any." Melany quietly said to herself. "Regice, now! Ice Beam!" Regice brought its arm up to fire another beam at Groudon. The Ice Beam struck Groudon square in the chest. Ice began to form on Groudon's body and expand around it, aided by the chilled air, until all of Groudon's upper body was frozen in a block of ice. No sooner had the ice formed, however, before it started to melt from the heat of the lava Groudon was standing in.

"Regice, keep it up! Use Ice Beam again and aim for the head!" Regice raised its arm, taking the time to aim at Groudon's head before firing off year another Ice Beam attack. The beam struck its target and the layer of ice that had already formed on it grew slightly thicker, making its situation even more difficult.

Groudon was far from helpless, however. With a quick flex its arms were freed from the ice, and with its hands free it was able to smash the ice covering its head. Groudon gave a loud bellow once it was free from the ice, its infuriated cry echoing throughout the cave. Rather than launching a counter attack, however, Groudon chose to take the time to heal. It closed its eyes, using its Rest technique again. A blue glow surrounded its body and rejuvenated it instantly.

"Rest again." Melany noted. "Alright, Regice, use Curse and keep at it until Groudon wakes up." Regice lowered its arm and its eyes flashed as it registered the commands. A dark, reddish glow surrounded the ice pokemon as it used dark energies to increase its physical power and endurance. It maintained this aura until Groudon began to show signs of stirring, the aura of its Curse technique fading as Groudon opened its eyes.

_"If Groudon saw Regice powering up like that, Groudon might change its battle strategy."_ Melany thought to herself. _"By battling it like this I can keep going until Regice is at full power, and then have it use Explosion. A fully powered explosion should be enough to knock Groudon out, and even if it isn't it should buy me enough time to send Sceptile back out and finish it with a Solar Beam."_

"Now, use Ice Beam!" Regice slowly raised its arm towards Groudon again. Groudon was able to get its attack off first, however, because of how slowly Regice was moving. It fired a large fireball out of its mouth, which then expanded to take the familiar shape of the Fire Blast technique. The Fire Blast scored a direct hit and had enough power behind it to push Regice back a bit before the flames dissipated. Other than a few scorch marks, there were few visible signs left by the attack on Regice.

By the time Groudon's Fire Blast had faded away, Regice had finally taken aim on Groudon and fired its Ice Beam attack at it. The blue beam struck Groudon in the chest, briefly forming into ice on its body.The ice shattered almost immediately after. Groudon growled and glared down at Regice, carefully considering its next move. Groudon couldn't really tell how much of an effect its attacks were having on Regice as the ice golem didn't show any signs of being in pain.

_"Alright, lets see if we can take this up a notch..."_ Melany thought before issuing her next command. "Regice, use Ice Beam! Aim for Groudon's feet!" Regice adjusted its aim slightly then fired off another blue beam from its arm. The beam struck Groudon's foot directly, causing Groudon to howl in pain and raise its foot reflexively. 

The beam also had an effect on the lava around Groudon's feet, however, instantly cooling it down and causing it to solidify in a burst of steam. As Groudon pulled its foot free of the hardened lava it knocked itself off balance and fell back in the pool, causing the lava to ripple out in a wave as half of its body sank into the liquid.

_"Wish I thought of this one sooner, I might be able to keep Groudon pinned like this."_ Melany smirked to herself. "Alright, Regice! Keep it up! Ice Beam around Groudon's body!"

Regice fired another series of Ice Beam attacks at Groudon, aiming where Groudon's body disappeared below the surface of the lava. Steam rose all around Groudon as Regice made a circle around it, covering as much area as it could from where it was. The tactic seemed to be working, Groudon was becoming stuck in the lava as it cooled to a solid state and couldn't get any leverage to free itself. From the position it was in it also couldn't attack Regice without risking injury to itself.

_"Good, looks like Groudon's stuck. For now at least..."_ Melany thought to herself. _"Now I just have to hit Groudon until it uses Rest again, have Regice use Curse some more, Ice Beam a bit when Groudon wakes up for good measure then have Regice use Explosion to finish it off. Groudon's a powerful pokemon, no doubt, but its overconfidence has proved to be a major weakpoint..."_

"Regice, use Ice Beam again and aim for Groudon directly!" Regice once again adjusted its aim on Melany's command and fired another beam into Groudon. The beam struck a glancing blow across the length of Groudon's torso with the remainder of the beam striking Groudon in the chin, causing its head to snap back as if it had been hit by an uppercut. 

Groudon quickly took survey of its situation, not wanting to be subjected to another Ice Beam attack from Regice. It tried to reach with its arms and legs to push back against the hardened lava, but it was no good. Its arms and legs were pinned against it from the position it was stuck in. Groudon remembered it had yet another option, however, and the rock encasing Groudon's body began to crack as it pushed itself up with its tail.

"Looks like Groudon's figured out a way to get up." Melany commented to herself. "I think we still have time for one more attack though, so use Ice Beam again Regice!" Regice once again fired off its attack, a blue beam firing out from the tip of its hands and striking Groudon in the side this time. The beam formed into ice on Groudon's body briefly then shattered.

Groudon ignored the pain from the Ice Beam, however, and continued to pry itself loose of the rock. It managed to get enough leverage to grip the ground with its claws, bringing them down hard to crack the rock and dig them into it. With a good grip on solid ground, Groudon managed to pull itself free and rose to its full height on the newly hardened ground. 

Groudon gave a triumphant roar then took several deep breaths, exhausted from enduring Regice's attacks as well as the effort it needed to pull itself out of the rock. Realizing it was just about ready to collapse, Groudon closed its eyes and fell into a deep sleep. It was using Rest yet again to recover from its injuries.

"Perfect, just as planned." Melany said, a slight grin forming on her lips. "Regice, use Curse and keep it up until Groudon wakes up again." Regice slowly lowered its arm to its side again as it focused on powering up. A crimson aura surrounded it, filling it with dark energies to enhance its abilities while slowing it down as a tradeoff. Like last time, it continued to use this technique until Groudon opened its eyes again, looking upon Melany and Regice curiously.

_"Why do they not attack me while I am asleep?"_ Groudon wondered, a slight grin spreading across its face. _"Fools...such honour will only bring them defeat."_

"Alright, now back on the offensive!" Melany called out. "Regice, Ice Beam!" Regice very slowly raised its right arm towards Groudon to aim its attack. Groudon noticed Regice seemed to be getting slower, but thought nothing of it. Instead, it went back on the offensive as well and opened its mouth to launch another Fire Blast attack. The blast of flames soared towards Regice and pushed back against it as the attack colided with its target, burning against Regice for a brief time before the flames dissipated.

Even after Groudon launched its attack, Regice was still bringing itself into position to fire its attack. It wasn't enough time for Groudon to launch another counter attack, however. Regice finally fired its Ice Beam attack, managing to land a hit near Groudon's neck. Groudon coughed as a chill ran through its throat, ice forming on it briefly then shattering.

"Even with Regice's defenses right now it probably won't be able to take much more. Time to end this." Melany thought to herself, preparing to command Regice for one last attack. "Regice, move closer to Groudon!" Regice began to slowly move forward, moving one step at a time as if it was moving in slow motion. Groudon gave a roar that sounded almost like laughing, finding Regice's speed to be amusing.

"-I don't know what you're planning, but at that speed you'll never pull it off!-" Groudon declared loudly, snickering at Melany's Regice. Regice slowly continued on its way, not even registering Groudon's taunts.

Groudon began focusing its power, causing shards of rock to float up all around it as it summoned ancient energies. The rocks were then fired at Regice, each of the many shards slashing across its ice body. Regice staggered for a moment as it was attacked, but with its increased defenses it was able to take it and keep moving towards its target, moving to within only a few feet of it.

"Good! Stop there!" Melany called out to it. As instructed, Regice halted its movements. "Now! Explosion!" Regice's body began to glow as it built up energy within it. Groudon's eyes went wide in fear, understanding the power such a technique would have. It began to back away from Regice, but it wasn't moving fast enough. 

A burst of energy blasted out from Regice's body in every direction, creating a massive explosion that engulfed Groudon completely. The explosion rocked the cave and brought the ceiling above Groudon crashing down on top of it and Regice. When the dust and debris finally settled, both Regice and Groudon were both burried under the rubble and neither pokemon appeared to be moving.

"Well, looks like that takes care of that then." Melany said to herself, taking out Regice's pokeball and recalling it. She paused for a moment to look at the pokeball in her hand. "You know, if I thought Regice was actually capable of feeling emotions, I would probably feel worse about banking on an Explosion strategy." She placed the pokeball on her belt, then turned her attention to the unconcious form of Groudon burried under the rubble.

"Well this battle actually went pretty well, thought I'd have one heck of a fight too given how strong it is. Hope Kyogre will be this easy too..." Melany reached into her backpack and took out a black and yellow ultra ball, then lobbed it at Groudon. The unconcious Groudon was pulled inside and the ultra ball landed on a large rock. It didn't even shake once, as Groudon was thoroughly knocked out. The ultra ball locked shut, then gave off a white glow and vanished.

"Now lets hope Groudon will respect that little deal we made..."

* * *

Meanwhile, off the coast of the very same beach Groudon's cave was situated near, the legendary pokemon Raikou was swimming to shore. May was also approaching the shore on Flygon, following Raikou from a distance. So far, Raikou was completely unaware of their prescence.

"Once Raikou reaches the shore, we'll swoop in to attack." May said to Flygon, gripping a pokeball in her right hand. "Lileep will grab its hind legs and then we'll battle it two on one. I hate to do it like that, but otherwise Lileep might not be able to hold on for long."

"-Lets just get to it already!-" Flygon replied in an excited tone. "-I'm itching for another go at that guy...-"

"Hmm..." May looked up, raising her left hand to shield her eyes against the sun. "Sun seems kinda brighter than usual, doesn't it? I wonder if that could mean Groudon is nearby..."

"-Heads up. Our target has reached its destination.-" Flygon informed May. Although May didn't understand it, Flygon did manage to get her attention. She looked down and saw Raikou walking up out of the water and onto the beach.

"Great! Time to go to work then!" May said eagerly. "Fly in behind it so I can get Lileep on it." Flygon nodded and went into a dive down towards the water, pulling up before hitting to skim across the surface and come up from behind Raikou. Raikou still seemed to be completely unaware of their prescence.

As Flygon flew past Raikou, May dropped the pokeball she was holding behind it. Raikou growled when it saw the two pass by it, ignoring the pokeball until it felt something latching onto one of its hind legs. It was May's Lileep. Lileep had wrapped its tendrils around Raikou's leg in a Constrict attack and had also sprouted roots that grew down deep into the sand, anchoring it firmly in place and restoring it with nutrients absorbed from the soil.

"-Well of all the low down tactics...a sneak attack?-" Raikou grumbled. It looked back towards May and Flygon, who were landing several yards up ahead of it to give them room to battle. "-Well don't expect that plant thing to hold me for long.-" Raikou's body sparked with electricity, causing Lileep to wince in pain as Raikou's body shocked it through Lileep's tendrils. The attack failed to force Lileep to loosen its grip, however, which Raikou found out when it tried to move but was still being held in place by Lileep.

"We've got it now!" May declared triumphantly. "Flygon, attack it with Dragonbreath!" Flygon took off flying towards Raikou and fired out a blast of blue flames, strafing across Raikou's back with the attack as it flew by. Flygon took off straight up after its attack run, leaving Raikou growling in pain. Raikou appeared to be physically weakened by the attack and barely capable of standing up, suggesting paralysis was setting in.

_"Paralysis and a trap Raikou can't just Roar away..."_ May thought, smiling to herself. _"This time I'll get it for sure!"_

"-Damn oversized bug, you're going to pay for that one!-" Raikou growled at Flygon, looking back to spot its target in the air. Raikou focused, drawing out its hidden power. Blue orbs swirled around it then fired straight up into the air towards Flygon, but Flygon knew the attack was coming and simply dove forward in a vertical u-turn to dodge the attack and started on a dive towards Raikou again.

"Keep it up!" May called out, urging her pokemon on. "Flygon, use Screech! Lileep, Amnesia!"

Flygon dropped down in front of Raikou and raised its wings behind it, rubbing them together to create a terrible screeching sound. Raikou dropped its head to the ground and placed its paws over its ears, trying to block out the sound. Lileep, meanwhile, concentrated for a moment to forget something in exchange for increasing its defenses against Raikou's attacks.

"Good! Now use Confuse Ray, Lileep! Flygon, attack Raikou with Sand Tomb!" Lileep slackened its tendrils slightly so that it could aim its head towards Raikou. It then emitted a white, transparent beam towards it. Raikou removed its paws from its ears and blinked, looking a bit out of it as it stood up again.

Flygon, meanwhile, spread its wings out again and began flapping them. A whirlwind began to form around Raikou, dragging up sand with it and creating a vortex of it around the now confused and paralyzed Raikou. In its current state, Raikou was unable to make any attempt to attack as it couldn't make heads or tails of its surroundings. It barely even knew where it was.

_"Maybe I should back it off a bit. I'm taking this a bit far..."_ May thought to herself, but shook her head. _"No! I have to catch Raikou, no matter what it takes! Everytime I miss catching Raikou is a chance Jessica might find it and catch it instead, so its now or never! I can't let up!"_

"Flygon, thats good enough for now! Return!" May called out, holding up Flygon's pokeball and recalling the dragon pokemon into it. She placed the pokeball on its clip on her belt then took another one in her hand. "Bellossom, go!" May quickly held up the pokeball and pressed the button on the front, releasing the grass pokemon Bellossom to battle Raikou next. 

"Lileep, keep hold on Raikou with Constrict! Bellossom, weaken Raikou some more with Poison Powder!" Lileep tightened its hold on Raikou, though it didn't seem the legendary beast would be going anywhere anytime soon. At the same time Bellossom began to dance and spin around in front of Raikou, releasing a toxic powder from the flowers on its head. The powder drifted towards Raikou, poisoning it as the powder was inhaled. Much of the powder was also sucked up by Flygon's Sand Tomb attack, keeping the poisonous powder flowing around Raikou.

_"Where...enemy?"_ Raikou wondered in a confused state of mind. _"Must...escape...scare...enemy..."_ Raikou raised its head and gave a loud Roar, startling both of May's pokemon. Bellossom was sent fleeing towards May, retreating back into its pokeball on May's belt. Lileep, however, stood its ground and kept its grip on Raikou's leg. Raikou tried to run, but Lileep once again held it tightly to keep it from escaping.

_"Good! Lileep's holding up against Raikou's Roar, just like Brendan said it would!"_ May thought, smiling to herself. _"It forced Bellossom back, but I was just hoping to hit it with a status attack anyway. I'll weaken it some more with Flygon and then send out Bellossom again to put it to sleep. Then I'll give an ultra ball a shot."_

"Flygon, go! Dragonbreath!" May quickly removed Flygon's pokeball from her belt and released it again. As soon as Flygon had appeared from its pokeball it opened its mouth and blasted Raikou with a Dragonbreath attack. Raikou growled as the attack struck it in the face and raised its head again, as if about to use Roar, but then suddenly smashed its face into the ground.

"We've almost got it now!" May took Bellossom's pokeball from her belt and released it again to battle Raikou. "Flygon, back off the attack! Bellossom, use Sleep Powder!" As soon as Bellossom emerged from its pokeball it went on the attack, spraying a green powder from its flowers. When the powder enveloped Raikou it began to look peaceful for the first time since May had shown up. It fell over on its side, fast asleep. 

Even though it was clearly not running away anytime soon, Lileep kept a firm grip on its leg. The whirling sand vortex that Flygon had stirred up was also beginning to die down by now, leaving Raikou sleeping peacefully with Lileep latched onto it.

"Between the Sand Tomb, Poison, and Flygon attacking it twice, Raikou should be pretty weak now and its asleep." May thought as she reached back into her fanny pack and took out an empty ultra ball. "Alright! This time for sure!" May called out triumphantly as she threw the ultra ball towards Raikou, catching the sleeping legendary pokemon inside of it.

The ultra ball fell to the ground and began to shake, as even in its sleep Raikou was managing to resist capture. May and her pokemon all watched tensely for several moments until finally the ultra ball emitted an audible click, sealing Raikou inside then vanishing in a white light as Raikou was sent to storage. May was silent for a moment, stunned, until finally crying out in joy.

"WE DID IT!" She cried out, jumping up excitedly and raising her fist into the air. "We caught Raikou!" Flygon, Bellossom, and Lileep all likewise cheered. Bellossom and Flygon even hugged May. Lileep eventually hobbled its way over to May as well and latched onto May's face with her tendrils, pulling her down towards its own face in a display of affection.

"H-hey! Let go!" May's muffled cry for help went unanswered as Flygon and Bellossom chose to stand back and laugh, knowing May wasn't in any danger. While holding May, Lileep began to glow. What looked like a head began to emerge from the center of its tendrils, which kept their grip on the now startled May. The base of its body grew larger as well and its neck grew longer. When the evolution was complete, the fully evolved Cradily finally let go of May.

"Lileep! You have to stop doing that!" May scolded it, taking a few seconds to realize what had just happened. "Or...whoever you are?" May quickly took out her pokedex to check.

"Cradily, the barnacle pokemon." The pokedex read. "It drags its heavy body along the seafloor. It makes its nest in the shallows of warm seas. Cradily can be seen on beaches when the tide goes out."

"Well congratulations on evolving, but please don't..." Before May could finish, she was cut off by the sound of a massive explosion nearby.

"What was that!" May looked back in the direction of the explosion, a nearby rocky hill. Dust rose from part of the hill, suggesting it collapsed in on itself. May also noticed the intense sunlight died down to a more normal level. She quickly recalled all three of her pokemon and ran off to investigate.

When May arrived on the scene, she was surprised to see a familiar helicopter parked outside of a cave as well as the two guards she remembered being with Melany.

_"Is Melany here?"_ She wondered for a moment. _"Thats right, Melany's been going after legendary pokemon too hasn't she?"_ May paused for a moment, blinking in surprise and staring off towards the cave as a sudden realization dawned on her.

_"Wait a minute! Intense sunlight? That happens when Groudon is around...and it stopped after that explosion. So does that mean...?"_ May didn't have to wonder much longer. Spotting Melany leaving the cave, May ran towards the group to get her answers. "Melany!"

"Huh?" Melany looked up, blinking in confusion upon spotting May. _"I run into her at some of the worst times..."_

"Melany! What happened in there?" May asked her when she caught up with them.

"Yeah! What the heck was that explosion?" One of the guards also asked Melany. Melany looked between them, then shook her head.

"Nevermind..." Melany replied quietly while addressing May, then turned to the two guards. "I'm finished here, so lets go already." Melany walked past the two, heading inside the helicopter. The two guards shrugged and followed behind her.

"Wait!" May called out desparately to her. Melany stopped in the helicopter's doorway, her back to May. "You can't control that pokemon! Its too powerful!"

"May..." Melany closed her eyes, sinking into her thoughts. "If only I could bring myself to tell her the truth...I think the only way May's ever going to know is if she somehow finds out on her own..." Melany opened her eyes, blinking as she ran that thought through her mind again. She slowly looked back over her shoulder towards May.

"May...are you entering the Devon Grand Prix by any chance?" She asked her.

"Y-yeah..." May replied, caught off guard by Melany's question. Melany paused for a moment before replying.

"Then I guess I'll see you there." Melany walked into the helicopter, closing the door behind her and preventing May from asking any further questions.

_"But...whats that supposed to mean?"_ May quietly wondered to herself, watching as the helicopter began to take off. _"If she has caught Groudon...then I guess I'll have some tough competition at the Devon Grand Prix, even if she can't control it..."_

* * *

Author's Notes: Might stick in one more chapter for May before the Devon Grand Prix begins. I wanted to give her a fair bit of spotlight beforehand, moreso than Melany, but I had a lot of captures to cover with Melany as well. Part of the reason I drew out Raikou's capture. Next chapter will be Melany again, sort of. I might give May a training chapter after that, or even include it at the end of the next chapter since it'll probably be short. After the DGP, the focus will be on May for the short remainder of the story (I think about 3-4 chapters left after the DGP). 


	63. Chapter 52: Final Preparations

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Fifty Two**

**Final Preparations**

Torrential rains continued to pour down on the island city of Mossdeep, the unscheduled storm had many residents fearing a repeat of a recent disaster which became known as the "Day of Awakening". Their concern was not unfounded, as just south of the city an underwater cave had formed. In that cave, the legendary pokemon Kyogre was making its home. It was the cause of the torrential rains that plagued Mossdeep.

The cave was not the same one Kyogre had been sleeping in previously, however, as it was constantly on the move. It never stayed in one area for more than a few days. The underwater cave was mostly dry, which would be unexpected for a place where the titan of the sea made its home. At the southern end of the cave, a small pool served as the entrance to the cave from the ocean outside.

At that very entrance, a bubble of psychic energy began to rise from the pool of water. Inside the bubble was an Alakazam wearing a brown cloak. Around the pokemon's waist was a belt with three pokeballs on it, one of which was its own of course. Another was a single, empty ultra ball. There was also a blue crystal.

The Alakazam levitated in its barrier until it was over solid ground then floated down until it could stand, dismissing the barrier it had used to travel through the water. Without even a second of hesitation, Alakazam teleported ahead to start on its way further into the cave.

_"There is no doubt in my mind that Kyogre is here."_ Alakazam thought as she continued on, quickly moving further and further into the cave with each teleport until she eventually reached a very large body of water more akin to an underground lake. _"This body of water is most definitely where Kyogre resides, I merely need to lure it out."_

Using its psychic powers, Alakazam detached the sapphire from the belt she was wearing and levitated the crystal out over the water. It could vaguely make out the telepathic objections of a voice from within the crystal, but they were mostly unintelligible to her. As Alakazam was well aware it would only make sense were it either reading the thoughts of another listener, or she had a special connection to the sapphire. Alakazam had neither.

_"The being in this sapphire is likely aware of my intentions."_ Alakazam thought to herself. _"Though it seems rather foolish to be wagering such valuable objects on a battle with a legendary pokemon, as Melany has suggested, it is a guaranteed method of ensuring their co-operation. Of course, there is no chance of my losing to Kyogre. I have already planned out exactly how the battle shall flow based on Melany's experiences with Groudon as well as my own experiences with the legendary pokemon."_

From below the surface of the water, Kyogre felt the prescence of the sapphire and looked up to see it levitating near the surface of the water. It tried to call out to it, but felt another force holding it back. Annoyed, Kyogre rose to the surface near the edge of the water and spotted Alakazam. The psychic pokemon retrieved the sapphire as Kyogre surfaced, holding it in her hand.

"-Pokemon...why is it you have the sapphire?-" Kyogre asked Alakazam. "-I demand to hand that over to me at once.-"

"-Why I have it...is not important.-" Alakazam replied calmly. "-I have with me but a single empty pokeball and one other pokemon to accompany me. Should you best me and my companion in a standard pokemon battle, the sapphire will be your's. However, should I manage to capture you in this pokeball, you must agree to obey whatever trainer holds the sapphire.-"

"-Should my single pokeball be spent, this will also be a victory for you as I will no longer be able to capture you. It is only fair to warn you that despite how much the wager may appear to be in your favor that you have no chance of victory over me. Knowing this, do you accept my challenge?-"

"-HA! You are a foolish one!-" Kyogre shot back with a laugh. "-You believe you can pose any threat to I, the titan of the sea? You have met your match, pokemon. The power of the sapphire shall be mine once again. Make your move!-"

"-I will take that as a yes...-" Alakazam stated with a quiet sigh. _"One would expect ancient wisdom to accompany ancient pokemon such as Kyogre and Groudon, but rather than being wise they behave like children. It is no mystery as to why Rayquaza would be required to settle their meaningless squabbles and childish bickering. I am merely thankful Melany will not be required to wager the emerald on her battle with Rayquaza, as the dragon would certainly prove the greatest challenge of the three..."_

Using her psychic powers, Alakazam detached the single used pokeball from its belt and levitated it in front of herself. Alakazam pushed down on the button with her mind, causing the pokeball to open up and release Sceptile. The grass pokemon appeared rather dramatically in a kneeling position, both arms drawn back and already preparing its Leaf Blades for attack.

"-My companion, Sceptile, shall start off this battle.-" Alakazam explained to Kyogre. Sceptile already knew it would be taking orders from Alakazam, having been briefed on the situation earlier. Alakazam had specifically requested only one pokemon to bring with her against Kyogre, and that was Sceptile.

"-Sceptile, your strategy is as we discussed earlier. Understood?-" Sceptile nodded. It took off in a blur of movement, using its Quick Attack to evade an Ice Beam from Kyogre. The beam struck where Sceptile had been standing, covering the ground with ice. Sceptile took off running once it was out of its Quick Attack, following along the edge of the water.

"-Foolish creature. Stand and fight!-" Kyogre bellowed in rage, turning in the water to try to follow Sceptile's movements.

_"Now while Sceptile attacks Kyogre, I will use Calm Mind."_ Alakazam thought to herself. _"My strategy will be completely unnoticed by Kyogre, and by using the technique with my eyes open it is even less likely to notice anything suspicious. Once I am fully powered, Sceptile can call off its attack and I will take over the battle, bringing swift defeat and severely damaging Kyogre's enlarged ego."_

Alakazam kept its eyes open as it began to use Calm Mind, clearing its mind to focus on increasing its power. Though Alakazam's eyes were open, she was almost completely unaware of her surroundings aside from what she sensed around her. She saw the battle through her mind rather than through her eyes.

In an effort to strike the fleeing Sceptile, Kyogre used its Surf technique to send a wave towards the shore in multiple directions. Rather than try to dodge the attack, Sceptile knelt down near the water and braced itself for impact as Alakazam had previously instructed it to. By crouching down, it minimized the amount of impact the Surf attack would have in addition to bracing itself against it.

Sceptile was only knocked back a few inches by Kyogre's attack, maintaining its defensive pose all throughout. It also took the opportunity to relax its muscles and focus on increasing its speed by sharpening its reaction time with Agility. Sceptile stood up and quickly leapt away as Kyogre followed up the Surf attack with another Ice Beam, evading the attack once again and taking off running.

_"I have to hand it to Alakazam..."_ Sceptile thought, keeping his eyes on Kyogre and preparing himself to dodge any attacks aimed at it. _"Melany's strategies are good, but Alakazam was a million steps ahead of Kyogre before we even began the battle. Clearly, her species truly is the most intelligent pokemon in the world."_

"-Coward, stand still and your defeat will be swift!-" Kyogre opened its mouth and fired a large, powerful stream of water at Sceptile and moving as if to follow Sceptile. Sceptile already knew what to do in this situation and came to a sudden stop, crouching down. Kyogre continued to turn long enough for Sceptile to attack with its increased speed, whipping its tail around to send a single seed at Kyogre. Vines sprouted from the seed and latched onto Kyogre, slowly draining away its health.

_"Bullseye."_ Sceptile thought to himself with a smirk. He started off running again as Kyogre's Hydro Pump nearly caught up with him, running until Kyogre's attack finally ran out of power and trickled down. _"If Alakazam wasn't so set on taking out Kyogre herself I could easily gain the upperhand now. Kyogre can't remove that seed as easily as Groudon did, no lava hazard to watch out for, and no wide area ice attack. This will be a cakewalk."_

Kyogre suddenly stopped following Sceptile's movements and remained in its position in the water as Sceptile kept running. Sceptile was perplexed and came to a stop behind Kyogre, where it would be less likely to face a surprise attack. Sceptile watched the legendary pokemon intently, wondering what it was planning.

_"Alakazam didn't include this in her strategy talk..."_ Sceptile thought while observing Kyogre. _"Its not attacking at all. Huh?"_ Sceptile noticed a sudden chill in the air that seemed to be all around it. It didn't seem to be an actual attack, or at least not one Sceptile recognized or was warned about by Alakazam, but it still perplexed him. The temperature continued to grow colder around Sceptile, and eventually ice began to form on Sceptile's shoulders and knees.

"-What that?!-" Sceptile yelped in surprise. Kyogre was still not moving from its spot, but it was obvious that it was causing the cold somehow. Sceptile quickly cracked the ice on his knees with his hands and started running, hoping to somehow evade the attack, but it didn't seem to be doing any good. Ice was still beginning to form on its body, slowly spreading over it as if to encase Sceptile completely.

_"Damn it! What kind of attack is this?!"_ Sceptile wondered, shooting a glance at Kyogre. _"I can only think of one way to get out of this..." _Sceptile jumped towards Kyogre with its arm raised, ice beginning to form on its body more rapidly now. Sceptile was barely able to maneuver its arm forward to strike at Kyogre with its Leaf Blade. Much of the ice shattered as Sceptile colided with Kyogre, and the attack caused Kyogre to lose its concentration on the technique as well and brought it to an end.

_"That one was too close..."_ Sceptile thought. Its troubles weren't over yet, however, as Kyogre began to submerge under Sceptile's feet. Sceptile reacted as quickly as it could, its body still slowed from the cold and ice and the effects of its Agility technique negated. Sceptile jumped from Kyogre's back just as it sunk below the surface entirely, avoiding being dragged down into the water with it.

"-Another close one...-" Sceptile muttered. "-If it had gotten me in the water I would have been completely at its mercy...it has to be weakening by now though.-"

Sure enough, Kyogre slowly rose to the surface. However, its eyes were closed by now and it was clear it was sleeping soundly. Kyogre used the Rest technique while under the water, buying it precious time to rest before it was forced back to surface. Sceptile tensed its muscles, raising its arms back and was about to leap forward to strike the sleeping Kyogre while it could.

"-That will be enough, Sceptile.-" Alakazam said to Sceptile. "-I will be taking over from here.-"

"-Tch. Fine.-" Sceptile replied indignantly, moving back behind Alakazam. "-Had it right where I wanted it to...-"

Alakazam moved closer to the edge of the water with a Teleport and waited for Kyogre to wake up before beginning its attack. Kyogre soon opened its eyes, looking between Alakazam and Sceptile.

"-So, you face me yourself now?-" Kyogre asked Alakazam.

"-Yes, I will be your opponent now.-" Alakazam replied. "-It appears you had managed to catch my partner off guard with techniques even I was unaware of, and I must compliment you on this. Once you are in my trainer's possession I will have to study your capabilities further.-"

"-You seem to be quite confident in your ability to catch me, yet you are a mere pokemon.-" Kyogre stated, snickering quietly.

"-True that I may be but a mere pokemon to a legend such as yourself...-" Alakazam replied calmly. "-However, my particularl species is renowned for our intelligence and thus far this battle has been playing to my strategy perfectly. For example, as we speak the seed on your back continues to steadily drain your strength. By my estimation you should be weak enough now...-"

Alakazam's eyes began to emit a blue glow as a similar glow surrounded Kyogre, quickly picking up the massive pokemon and flinging it into the far wall with a tremendous force. The wall cracked in all directions and Kyogre's body even became momentarily embedded, leaving its imprint behind as Kyogre fell flat onto the ground. The legendary pokemon was clearly knocked unconcious.

"-...for a single Psychic attack to finish you off. Mind you, I took the liberty of raising my power beforehand. Long story short, you had no hope of victory.-" Alakazam telekinetically removed the empty ultra ball from its belt, then flung it at the unconcious Kyogre. Kyogre was pulled inside the ultra ball and caught without any struggle. The pokeball then vanished as it was transported to storage.

"-I could have handled that.-" Sceptile said to Alakazam, folding his arms over his chest.

"-I have no doubt you could have.-" Alakazam replied calmly, turning to face Sceptile. "-However, I felt it necessary to put Kyogre in its place. As powerful as Kyogre is, it tends to behave rather foolishly because of it. Now, return to your pokeball. I will be able to teleport to the Sky Pillar from here to meet with Melany.-"

"-Whatever...-" Sceptile replied with a shrug. "-Still think that was overkilll...-"

* * *

Meanwhile, near the Sky Pillar, Melany was flying towards the tower on Skarmory and circling near the top of the tower. She had remembered the higher entrance to the tower from her previous visit with May and was searching it out. When she spotted it, she pointed it out to Skarmory. Skarmory dove down towards the entrance and came to a landing just inside.

"Alright, this is going to be the toughest legendary pokemon to catch yet." Melany said to Skarmory as she hopped off its back. "I hope you're..." Before Melany could say another word, she suddenly collapsed to the floor and was fast asleep. Skarmory, startled by this, hopped back and flapped its wings frantically.

"-HEY! No sleeping on the job!-" Skarmory growled at her. "-You promised me a battle with Rayquaza damn it!-"

* * *

Melany saw nothing but darkness all around her, with the exception of a lone figure clad in leather armor standing before her. Melany stood up, narrowing her eyes at the other girl.

"Odari, I know you're bitter about the whole gem-wagering thing, but would you just GROW UP already?" Melany said to her, clenching her fists in rage.

"This has nothing to do with that!" Odari shot back, then raised her hand to gesture to the empty space above them. "See anything missing?"

"Huh?" Melany followed Odari's gaze, it took her a moment to realize what she was referring to. "Rayquaza's not with us, what about it? The only time it has been was the last time we were in the tower."

"I've been trying to contact Rayquaza, but I haven't been able to reach it." Odari replied, lowering her hand. "It as if Rayquaza isn't here."

"So Rayquaza went out for a bit. Big deal." Melany crossed her arms gave a shrug. "Did you really have to bring me here just to tell me this?"

"I felt the need to demonstrate." Odari replied with a shrug. "Also..." Odari quickly raised her fist and punched Melany in the face, her movements too fast for Melany to follow. Melany staggered back, holding her face in pain. "Maybe I AM a bit sore about that still. Go figure." Odari snickered and waved a hand, allowing Melany to wake up.

* * *

"Ow..." Melany muttered as she came to, sitting up on the stone floor. Though it was technically just a dream and the punch caused her no injury, the pain felt real enough and lingered in her mind.

_"You really hold a grudge, especially considering nothing even happened from that. Groudon's caught, and the ruby is still in my possession."_ Melany thought angrily.

_"That you would be so reckless to offer the ruby in the sapphire in the first place angers me greatly."_ Odari shot back. _"I am upset to even think that you are descended from my bloodline."_

"Whatever..." Melany muttered. A sharp peck on the shoulder quickly reminded her why she was there to begin with. Skarmory was getting impatient so Melany started off down the long, stone corridor leading to Rayquaza's chamber. Skarmory followed behind her.

When they reached the chamber they discovered, as Odari had suggested, Rayquaza wasn't there. However, there was a figure in a red cloak standing in Rayquaza's place with his back to Melany.

"So Rayquaza really isn't..." Melany looked up and narrowed her eyes when she spotted the figure. "Hey! You! Who are you?"

The man slowly turned around to face Melany, his cloak swirling about him. He was an older man, easily at least in his early thirties. He had six pokeballs on a belt around his waist. His brown hair was short and stuck out on the sides and he wore a red jacket and a black shirt and pants under the cloak. His face was expressionless as he looked down at Melany.

"So you have come...just as I knew you would..." The man said quietly.

"Whats that supposed to mean? Who are you?!" Melany questioned him angrily.

"Thats not important." The man replied, holding out his left arm with a pokeball in hand. "I have been waiting here ever since the incident, waiting for the one who would bring the emerald. Only with the emerald will Rayquaza's true power be unleashed. Hand it over."

"There's no way I'm handing over the emerald to you!" Melany shot back.

_"Melany, I have a bad feeling about this guy."_ Odari informed Melany. _"I think we should leave while we have the chance..."_

"If you will not hand it over, I will simply take it from you myself." The man replied calmly. "With the power of the legendary pokemon I will finally be able to bring the full extent of my operations into the light. My power as a trainer is unrivaled. You will not leave here alive..."

"I'm not afraid of some cloaked nut." Melany shot back and motioned for Skarmory to move forward. Skarmory quickly moved out in front of Melany, ready for battle.

"Then you will learn to fear me..." With a quick movement of his thumb, the man pressed the button to open the pokeball he was carrying. "Tyranitar." A red beam shot out of the pokeball. As the pokemon began to form, sand suddenly blasted out from its position and began swirling around to create a sandstorm. Melany was outside the storm but the man who released Tyranitar wasn't, though the swirling sand didn't seem to bother him in the least.

The pokemon that appeared from the pokeball stood at nearly seven feet tall and had a body that looked almost like godzilla, only it had a brown rocky hide. Two rows of spines lined the pokemon's back and on its stomach was a purple diamond-shaped imprint. Melany gritted her teeth upon seeing the pokemon standing within the sand.

_"That pokemon...its not from the Hoenn region!"_ Melany thought in surprise. _"I've heard rumors of Tyranitar's power, and its obviously a rock type, but thats all I know about it. This one might be tough to take down..."_

"Skarmory, go! Attack with Steel Wing!" Skarmory began flapping its wings then took off towards Tyranitar, veering to the right slightly to hit the pokemon with its sharp, metallic wings.

"Tyranitar, grab it." The pokemon's trainer commanded calmly. Tyranitar raised its hands and caught both of Skarmory's wings. Skarmory was surprised at first but wasn't about to back down. It tried to push on and began pecking at Tyranitar's hands, but the monsterous rock pokemon wasn't letting go.

"Fire Punch, then finish it with Thunderbolt." Tyranitar let go of Skarmory's right wing. Flames began to surround its hand as it curled its fingers into a fist and quickly punched Skarmory in the jaw. Skarmory was sent sprawling onto its back, at which point Tyranitar fired off a blast of electricity from its body. The electricity arced towards Skarmory and Skarmory squawked in pain as the electricity flowed through its body then collapsed into unconciousness.

Melany quickly recalled Skarmory with one hand while simultaneously taking another pokeball from her belt to battle Tyranitar with. "Regirock, go!" Melany called out as she released Regirock from its pokeball, then placed both Regirock's pokeball and Skarmory's back on her belt.

"Regirock, one of the three regi pokemon." The other trainer stated upon Regirock's release. He reached back into his cloak and produced a small metal ring with three red orbs going around it. He pulled at the ring, expanding it.

"I will be ending this battle now, and when I do I will be in position of all three of the regi's." He stated with an almost unnoticable smirk forming on his lips. He threw the ring towards Regirock like a frisbee. It split open as it closed in on Regirock, looking like a claw as it flew towards it and latched around what would be considered its neck.

"Now, Regirock, I command you to attack Melany." A silence fell about the chamber, save for the swirling sand. Regirock's eyes flashed and it raised its arms. Melany tensed, ready to turn and run, but was relieved when Regirock struck the metal claw and knocked it off instead. The ring fell to the ground with a clatter.

"I don't know what you were trying to do, but it didn't work." Melany said smugly. "Now, Regirock! Use Curse!" Regirock's eyes flashed and a dark red glow surrounded its body as it gathered dark energies to power itself up.

"I see..." The man noted quietly. "Appears my slave collars don't work on artificial pokemon...I suppose I will have to take them the old fashioned way. Tyranitar, Dragon Dance." Tyranitar gave a mighty roar and orange flames surrounded its body as draconic energies powered it up.

"Regirock, keep using Curse!" Melany commanded Regirock. Regirock continued to power up while reducing its speed. Melany's opponent issued no command, but Tyranitar continued to power up on its own.

_"I can't let that Tyranitar use Dragon Dance anymore..."_ Melany thought to herself. _"It took down Skarmory in only two attacks, so its obviously powerful. If it manages to take down Regirock with its improved defenses, the rest of my pokemon likely won't fair much better either."_

"Regirock, now! Lock-On!" Regirock's gemstone eyes flashed and the image of a red crosshair appeared on Tyranitar. "Now, Superpower!"

"We will not give you the chance to attack." The man stated calmly. "Tyranitar, end this. Focus Punch." Tyranitar raised its fist, glowing with energy as it focused its power. It dashed towards Regirock at incredible speeds for its size and delivered its powerful punch into Regirock's midsection. Despite its weight, Regirock was easily knocked back by the attack and sent crashing into the wall behind Melany.

Regirock was able to endure the attack, however, and answered back with its Superpower technique. The wall behind Regirock began to crack from the power Regirock was exterting. A massive blast of energy fired out, the very tip of the blast engulfing Tyranitar before it staggered back out of the range of the attack. For a moment it looked like Tyranitar had survived the attack, but then it suddenly collapsed to its knees then fell over unconcious.

"Hmm...perhaps I have underestimated the power of Regirock..." Tyranitar's trainer stated quietly, recalling Tyranitar into its pokeball. "No matter, I still have five pokemon remaining, each one more powerful than your's, and I see you only have four with you..."

_"He's right! I'm outnumbered and outgunned here!"_ Melany thought to herself before a slight smirk crossed her lips. _"Except, he miscounted...I might be able to catch him off guard with Porygon still..."_

"I believe this one will be more familiar to you..." The man said as he retrieved another pokeball and released the pokemon sealed within. A familiar green lizard appeared before him, the grass pokemon Sceptile. It looked almost identical to Melany's own Sceptile, except its skin was a slightly darker shade of green.

"Sceptile, take care of that rock beast. Leaf Blade." The dark skinned Sceptile quickly moved forward with the speed its species was known for and struck a harsh blow to Regirock's head with its Leaf Blade, causing the rock pokemon to collapse to the ground as it was knocked out by a single Leaf Blade attack. Melany quickly drew two pokeballs, one to recall Regirock and another to send out a pokemon to defend her, but was too slow.

"Now kill the girl." The man ordered coldly. Sceptile turned towards Melany, raising its Leaf Blade to strike her before she could send out another pokemon. It brought its blade down towards Melany, who was completely at Sceptile's mercy. Sceptile's blade never reached its intended target, blocked by a spoon held by Alakazam.

"Alakazam!" Melany cried out in surprise. The psychic pokemon materialized out of nowhere and blocked the enemy Sceptile's attack.

"-Attacking a defenseless human is hardly sporting.-" Alakazam scolded Sceptile. The Sceptile gave no response, merely glaring at Alakazam. It raised its arm to strike the psychic pokemon, but was stopped as a blue aura surrounded it and smashed Sceptile into the wall behind it, cracking the stone surface. Alakazam didn't stop there, quickly raising Sceptile up with its Psychic attack to smash it into the ceiling next.

Alakazam finally released Sceptile, dropping it onto the floor hard. The man's Sceptile was completely unconcious with no sign of movement from its body at all. The arm it was going to attack Alakazam with was bent into a rather odd position, suggesting it was broken.

"Seems the tide has turned..." The man stated quietly, immediately recognizing Alakazam's power. "No matter. I still have Rayquaza, and my operations in Kanto are running smoothly. It is only a matter of time before I rise up and take the world by storm with the power of the legendary pokemon..." He quickly recalled his Sceptile then took a small black ball out of his pocket. Alakazam teleported in between the stranger and Melany, ready to defend her.

"Enjoy your victory while you can..." The strange man taunted Melany one last time before he dropped the ball. A thick, black smoke surrounded him and concealed him from view. Alakazam narrowed her eyes, sensing something behind the smoke. She blasted the smoke with a Psychic attack to disperse it, but the stranger was already gone by then.

_"Teleport...from a remote location..."_ Alakazam thought, having sensed the psychic energy signature. With the threat finally gone, Alakazam turned its attention to Melany. Melany was in complete shock over what had happened.

_"Alakazam...if you were even half a second slower..."_ Melany thought, shuddering as the image of Sceptile's Leaf Blade cutting through her flashed through her mind. Looking down at her hands, she realized she was shaking.

"It was pretty much inevitable." Odari said to her. _"You've caught four, I'll guess five since Alakazam's back, legendary pokemon and you've been showing them off to that Birch guy. Someone was bound to find out and go after you eventually, I suggest you keep your guard up..."_

"Right..." Melany said quietly, nodding slightly. "Alakazam...thank you. I'd be dead now if it weren't for you..." Alakazam nodded to her, then took the sapphire from her belt and tossed it to Melany.

_"Looks like Alakazam pulled through after all. Lucky you."_ Odari said to Melany with a hint of malice. _"Since you have Kyogre and Groudon I highly suggest you find out who that was and go after him, he obviously has managed to catch Rayquaza somehow..."_

_"No."_ Melany replied firmly, shocking both Odari and Alakazam. _"That prophecy on the wall has been 100 correct so far, right?"_

_"It has..."_ Odari replied curiously. _"Are you suggesting you think he is somehow involved?"_

_"He mentioned operations in Kanto. Unless I've missed my guess, whoever the Ruby belongs to is in Kanto." _Melany thought. Alakazam nodded in agreement, seeing where Melany was going with her theory. _"Whatever happens, she'll find her way here for that final confrontation. The only question now is...what role does that guy play in all of this?"_

"Well in any case, I'm not getting Rayquaza anytime soon it seems." Melany said flatly. "Might as well head home and get ready for the tournament, worry about this guy later. Alakazam?" Alakazam nodded and teleported next to Melany. She placed a hand on Melany's shoulder and concentrated, and both Melany and Alakazam disappeared.

* * *

"Raikou! Get over here already!" May called out desparately to the legendary pokemon, Raikou. Raikou was content to just rest in the shade of a nearby tree. May was with the legendary pokemon just north of Littleroot.

"I can't believe this!" May growled in frustration. "I go through all that trouble to catch you and now you won't even listen to me?!"

"-You may have successfully managed to catch me...-" Raikou replied tiredly. "-But no sapphire, no deal.-"

"This is just great...competition at that tournament is going to be tough enough as it is and one of my best shots at gaining an advantage refuses to listen to me!" May cried out loudly in frustration, pulling at her hair, then let out a loud sigh. "Well at least Brendan's helping me with my training...I'll just go tend to the rest of my pokemon..."

May turned around to face the rest of her pokemon. Standing behind her were Swalot, Altaria, Plusle, and Blaziken. Blinking, May nearly panicked when she realized one of her pokemon was missing and immediately pointed at Swalot.

"Swalot! Open your mouth right now!" May yelled furiously at it. Swalot shook its head quickly, refusing to do so. Blaziken, seeing this, stepped up to Swalot and grabbed its upper lip in one hand and its lower lip in the other hand. Blaziken forcefully pulled Swalot's mouth open, revealing a confused looking Bellossom inside. Blaziken held Swalot's mouth open while Bellossom walked out.

"Thank you, Blaziken..." May said, sighing in relief. Blaziken nodded and released Swalot, then put itself between Swalot and Bellossom so it couldn't try swallowing her again.

"Now...I'll pair you all up and then I want you to go and fight as if you were having an actual battle." May instructed her pokemon. They all nodded except for Swalot, who had its eye on Bellossom still. "Ok, Altaria I'll be pairing you up with Swalot and Blaziken you'll be fighting both Bellossom and Plusle. Everyone set?"

Once again, all but Swalot nodded. The group then parted ways to begin their training with Altaria forcing Swalot off into the field by using Peck repeatedly to force it back. When the pokemon had all distanced themselves, they started training.

"If I knew a certain pokemon wasn't going to listen to me, I could be training a sixth pokemon instead." May grumbled loudly enough for Raikou to hear her. _"What is it with electric types anyway?"_ She wondered. _"Plusle paralyzed me when I tried to catch it, Manetric suddenly became rebellious as Electrike after that battle with Gabby and Ty, and now Raikou just lounges around..."_

"-I'm just following orders, lady.-" Raikou replied flatly.

"Sounds like someone's been having a pretty rough day." Brendan commented as he quietly approached May from behind, holding a piece of paper in his hand.

"Its all Raikou's fault!" May yelled, turning around and pointing a finger at Raikou. "All it wants to do is lie around!"

"You can't just treat Raikou like its any other pokemon, May." Brendan said to her. "Its a legendary pokemon for a reason, afterall." Brendan glanced back over his shoulder at Raikou. "I wouldn't mind knowing why its in Hoenn though. Ever since it was first rumored to be in Hoenn, rumors about Suicune and Entei starting popping up too..."

_"Unfortunately for you, you're human, else I would gladly fill you in on why I'm not taking orders from this kid..."_ Raikou thought, laying its head down in the grass and observing the two trainers.

"Well it certainly doesn't act very legendary!" May said as she placed her hands on her hips. "In fact its acting no different than Manetric was back when he wasn't listening to me..."

"Don't you think its kinda funny though that Raikou, a Johto legendary, shows up in Hoenn and is caught by a girl from Johto?" Brendan suggested with a wide grin on his face as he turned to May. "Its almost like it was destined to happen, don't you think?"

_"The resemblance is uncanny..." _Raikou thought to itself while looking over May. _"But, again, no sapphire. Ho-oh specifically said that its chosen one would have the sapphire, so I'm going to be brave and chalk this up to coincidence..."_

"Anyway, May, I went over your pokemon's capabilities..." Brendan handed the paper to May for her to look over. "The first column is attacks they already know but haven't learned to use yet, and the second column are all the attacks I think we can teach them before the Devon Grand Prix. We could probably fit more in if you'd just narrow down the pokemon you want to train though..."

"Well how many are you using mister 'I've caught 60 species'?" May asked him sarcastically.

"I'm using the same six I always use. I've put a lot of effort into raising them, which is why they're my best." Brendan replied, smiling slightly. "Just because I'm not using my other pokemon doesn't mean I care about them any less, I'm just not using them for battling."

"I guess I never really thought about that..." May said quietly, pondering Brendan's strategy for raising pokemon. "But still...I'm positive I want to use all of my pokemon in this tournament at least once. I think my pokemon will be strong enough, plus it'll give me an edge since my opponents will never know what pokemon I'm going to use."

"True enough I suppose..." Brendan replied with a shrug. "Anyway, we'll need to squeeze as much training in today as we can because I need to run another errand tomorrow. My dad's been really busy lately studying the legendary pokemon Melany Stone has been bringing him."

"Umm...just out of curiosity, how many has she caught so far?" May asked. She wasn't just curious, though, as she was also worried she might have to face them in the tournament.

"Four so far." Brendan replied. "Regice, Registeel, Regirock, and Groudon. She claims she'll have Kyogre and Rayquaza tomorrow..." May's eyes widened in fear, and even Raikou lifted its head curiously.

"She...she has a full team of legendary pokemon then..." May stammered in disbelief.

"Well, thats what she says." Brendan replied with a shrug. "If she hadn't managed to tame Groudon somehow I'd be more skeptical about her bringing both Kyogre and Rayquaza tomorrow."

_"The golems were supposed to be sealed away..."_ Raikou thought, growling quietly. _"I can only think of one person who'd be able to unseal them...but for what purpose would she aide in the capture of Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza? She always was cold, but she was never the type to just wantonly go after powerful pokemon..."_ Raikou thought about this for a moment then gave a shrug and lied down again.

_"Whatever, not my problem. Besides, if it was anything to worry about she wouldn't be letting some researcher study them..."_

"By the way, May, I think you need to do a better job pairing up your pokemon." Brendan suggested, pointing to where May's pokemon were supposed to be sparring. Looking back, she spotted Altaria and Blaziken training against each other. Swalot, Bellossom, and Plusle had all been KO'd in their respective training matches.

"I've got a long way to go..." She said with a sigh.

"Why are you putting so much effort into this anyway?" Brendan asked her out of curiosity. "You don't want the prize that badly do you?"

"No way!" May replied quickly. "I just want to be ready to face Alex in the tournament, and I guess Melany too..."

"Melany's entering too? Well thats hardly fair if she's going to be using all of those legendary pokemon..." Brendan grumbled, folding his arms over his chest. "I see why you're so eager to train for it though..."

"The best I've manager against Alex so far was a tie. I need to be able to beat him this time, even if I have to go through all six of Melany's legendary pokemon to do it!" May turned and glared at Raikou. "And even if I don't have a legendary pokemon to help me!"

"-If you're trying to guilt trip me, it ain't working.-" Raikou replied, baring its teeth in a smug grin.

_"Yeesh...there's no stopping her when she gets this determined I guess..."_ Brendan thought to himself, grinning nervously. _"On the other hand though, if Alex is going to be there then maybe I can impress May by beating him? Or maybe even Melany!"_

"I wonder what Alex would do if he ended up having to face Melany?" May wondered aloud, trying to imagine the battle. _"Kinda odd now that I think about it..."_ She then thought, while picturing Alex and Melany about to face off against each other. _"They seem awfully similar. Melany apparently knows Alex as well...I wonder if they're related somehow?"_

"You'd probably know the answer to that better than I would, you're the one that was travelling with him." Brendan said to her with a bit of resentment in her voice. "Anyway, shouldn't you be worrying more about yourself?"

"You're right, I need to get back to training!" May looked over her shoulder to where her pokemon were training. Swalot, Bellossom, and Plusle were back on their feet but too weak to fight. Altaria and Blaziken, meanwhile were still going at it. They were matching each other's attacks perfectly, Flamethrowers meeting Ice Beams and Blaziken blocking Altaria's physical attacks as well. Both pokemon seemed to be ignoring their non-offensive techniques, which would have potentially given one of them an edge.

"Well how about a quick match then?" Brendan suggested. "It'd have to be two on two though I guess, since you only have Blaziken and Altaria still in fighting condition and Raikou refuses to fight."

"You're on!" May replied eagerly. The two trainers ran out into the field and prepared for their training match. Raikou eventually got up and followed them as well, interested in at least watching their match. It stopped to lie down in the grass and watch them from a distance.

"Alright, I'll start off with Blaziken!" May called out. The fire type Blaziken stepped out in front of her accordingly.

"I figured you would!" Brendan called back with a smirk, already holding a pokeball in his hand. "Which is why I'll be starting with Swampert!" As Brendan said this, he pressed the button to open the pokeball and release his fully evolved Swampert before him. Swampert looked like a larger version of Marshtomp with two fins on its head and a very large fan-like tail

"Well we're not going to back down just because you're using a water type, right Blaziken?" Blaziken looked back at his trainer and nodded in agreement. "Alright! Start off with Bulk Up!" Blaziken flexed its muscles, forcing power into them to increase its strength and endurance.

"Lets see how you handle this, then!" Brendan called out to her. "Swampert, attack Blaziken with Muddy Water!" Swampert raised its hands upwards, causing a wave of brown water to rise up in front of it. The wave was then sent crashing down on top of Blaziken and sent the brown, muddy water splashing everywhere and covering Blaziken in mud from head to toe though it managed to stay standing throughout the attack. Blaziken quickly shook off as much as the mud as it could.

_"I've never seen that one before..."_ May thought. _"Is it a water type or a ground type attack? Probably water, and either way its an effective attack against a fire type like my Blaziken!"_

"Blaziken, now! Attack with Brick Break!"

"Swampert, Bide!"

Swampert crossed its hands in front of itself, bracing itself against Blaziken's attacks. Blaziken ran towards Swampert, fist raised, and punched the water pokemon square in the face. Even with the well-aimed attack, Swampert barely flinched and maintaned its stance.

_"Bide...I need to watch out for that one!"_ May thought to herself. _"Blaziken's already dealt a strong blow to Swampert, which will be retalliated double against Blaziken! After taking that Muddy Water attack, that might be too much for Blaziken to handle. My best shot right now is to hit Swampert with everything I've got and hope to take it out first!"_

"Blaziken! Use Blaze Kick, then use Brick Break again!" Blaziken's right foot became engulfed in flames as it gave a quick spin and delivered a powerful, flaming kick into Swampert's stomach. The flames extinguished on impact. Blaziken followed up this attack by punching Swampert in the face again. Though Swampert was clearly straining with the effort of enduring Blaziken's attacks, it still stood strong.

A white veil of energy began to surround Swampert, as if it was about to explode. A massive blast of energy shot out in all directions, briefly engulfing Blaziken before the blast shot it back towards May. Swampert used the stored up energy from enduring Blaziken's attacks to unleash a blast of energy similar to an Explosion attack, only without danger to itself. The force of the attack was enough to knock Blaziken unconcious, but Swampert was panting heavily with the effort it had exerted.

"Blaziken, good job! Return!" May held up Blaziken's pokeball and recalled it, then looked over her shoulder at Altaria. "Ok, Altaria, you're up next! Go!" Altaria nodded and flapped its wings, flying past May to land a short distance in front of her to prepare for its fight against Swampert.

"-Oooh! Blaziken lost!-" Plusle groaned, upset at its friend's defeat. "-I bet its all our fault too!-" Plusle cried out, turning to Bellossom standing next to her. "-We wore him out during training!-" Bellossom blinked, staring vacantly at Plusle for a moment.

"-...We did?-" Bellossom eventually replied with a hint of confusion. "-All I remember is fire...ouchies...-" Bellossom winced at the memory of her short match with Blaziken.

"One strong attack should finish off Brendan's Swampert." May thought to herself. "Alright, Altaria! Lets end this quick! Ice Beam!"

"Swampert, counter with Ice Beam!" Both Altaria and Swampert fired off blue beams at each other. The beams collided near Swampert and formed a large chunk of ice that fell into the muddy and wet grass below, shattering on impact and sending small pieces of ice scattering in a small radius. May had briefly forgotten Brendan's Swampert knew Ice Beam as well.

"Altaria, try flying low and use Take Down!"

"Swampert, hold it off with Muddy Water!"

Altaria began flapping its wings then took off skimming across the ground towards Swampert. Swampert raised its arms up, creating a wall of muddy water and sending it at Altaria in an attempt to slow it down. Altaria punched through the wave, leaving it to crash down behind it as it continued on its course towards Swampert. Altaria slammed into Swampert with full force and finally toppled it to the ground. Altaria fell backwards from the impact but managed to right itself to land on its feet.

"Good job, Swampert. You deserve a rest." Brendan stated, recalling Swampert to its pokeball. "One and one so far." Brendan took another pokeball from his belt and quickly released his next pokemon. "Manetric, this one's your's! Go!" Brendan called out as he released the electric type pokemon Manetric. Altaria was briefly startled as Manetric appeared directly in front if it due to how close Altaria was to Brendan.

"You won't surprise me with this one!" May declared, preparing herself for battle. "Altaria, start off with...huh?" Raikou suddenly stepped out in front of May, facing Altaria and Manetric.

"-Hey, featherbrain! Move over!-" Raikou called out to Altaria. "-I'm battling this one myself.-" Brendan's Manetric yelped in surprise at this, realizing Raikou's power as an electric pokemon.

"I think Raikou wants to battle Manetric..." Brendan said to May, noticing his Manetric's reaction.

"Well that just figures..." May grumbled. "You don't want to train but you'll battle Brendan's Manetric?"

"-Don't get me wrong, I still have no intention of helping you out.-" Raikou stated, glancing over its shoulder at May. "-This pokemon just happens to interest me and I want to test its strength...-"

"I guess thats a yes..." May muttered bitterly. "Ok, Altaria, looks like you can sit this one out." Altaria nodded and flew off to where the rest of May's pokemon were gathered to watch the ensuing battle. "Brendan, three pokemon each then?" May then asked Brendan.

"Might as well, since it seems you have a third pokemon to battle with now." Brendan replied. "Battling Raikou should be really good experience for Manetric!"

"Alright then! Raikou, ready?" Raikou nodded, turning its attention to Brendan's Manetric. "Lets get this started then! Attack Manetric with Thunderbolt!" Raikou launched a bolt of electricity from its body. Brendan watched closely as the bolt of lightning arched through the air towards Manetric, planning out the timing for his counter measure.

"Manetric, now! Charge!" Manetric began charging up electricity just as Raikou's Thunderbolt attack struck Manetric's mane. Instead of hurting Manetric, the Thunderbolt was absorbed into its mane and stored to power up its next attack.

"Now release! Thunderbolt!" Manetric fired off three bolts of electricity, two firing out from its mane alone and one firing straight up from its back. All three lanced through the air towards Raikou. Raikou growled and grimaced in pain as all three bolts struck it, electricity forcefully flowing through its body.

_"No way! How'd Manetric do that?"_ May wondered.

"In case you're wondering, May, thats a special technique I developed with Manetric for countering electric attacks." Brendan said to her with a smug smirk on his face. Even Manetric was beaming, having overpowered Raikou. "Manetric's Lightning Rod ability draws all electric attacks towards its mane. With a perfectly timed Charge attack it can absorb an electric attack to instantly charge to full power and strike back with a powered up electric attack of its own. We worked on that strategy together when she was still an Electrike!"

"Well I guess its a good thing Raikou has other tricks up its sleeves!" May shot back, also smirking. "Raikou, use Hidden Power!" Raikou began to focus, creating several light-blue orbs of energy that began to swirl around it. It launched the orbs at Manetric, and each one hit their mark one after the other. Manetric growled and staggered back with each hit.

_"Hidden Power...maybe I should teach Manetric that technique..."_ Brendan thought to himself, realizing he was now low on options. _"May won't use another electric attack now, knowing it'll be thrown right back at Raikou, and Manetric doesn't have any techniques that'll really hit hard against Raikou. Guess I'll just have to use what I've got and try to take it down!"_

"Manetric, strike back with Iron Tail!" Brendan called out. Manetric quickly dashed towards Raikou and jumped up, its tail gaining a metallic appearance as it turned in the air to strike Raikou.

"Raikou, catch it with Bite!" Raikou opened its jaws and moved forward, biting down on Manetric's hard tail and catching it easily. Manetric dropped to the ground, standing only on its front legs while being held up by Raikou.

"Good! Now hit it with Hidden Power!" Raikou concentrated while keeping its grip on Manetric, forming several blue orbs of energy around it.

"Manetric, Thunderbolt!" Brendan's Manetric launched a Thunderbolt attack straight through its tail and into Raikou's mouth. Raikou let out a yelp in surprise, letting go of Manetric's tail and losing its focus on its Hidden Power technique. The orbs around it faded into nothing.

_"Brendan said Manetric needs perfect timing to absorb an electric attack with Charge."_ May thought to herself as she formed a plan. _"I bet, at this close range, that won't work!"_

"Raikou, use Thunderbolt!" May called out to it.

"We tried this already, but whatever you say." Raikou thought with a shrug. Its body sparked with electricity and it fired a bolt of lightning from its body. The lightning immediately shot down and struck Manetric from above, hitting its mane. Manetric didn't have enough time to react to the attack to try to absorb it this time. Manetric howled in pain as the powerful bolt flowed through its body.

Manetric was starting to look a bit tired now, though Raikou wasn't fairing too much better. Both pokemon had taken powerful electric attacks that easily would have overpowered them had they not been electric pokemon themselves. Raikou, being a legendary pokemon, was particularly strong but even it felt the effects from the charged up Thunderbolt attack from earlier.

"So it worked this time..." Raikou thought, noting how exhausted Manetric seemed to be. "-I'll admit, I didn't expect this much of a challenge.-"

"-The difference is the trainer.-" Manetric replied, still looking determined despite what it had endured.

"Manetric, lets use Iron Tail again!"

"Raikou, lets end this! Quick Attack!"

Brendan's Manetric quickly turned around, aiming to strike Raikou in the side of the face with its Iron Tail attack. Raikou quickly shot forward in a blur of movement before Manetric could pull off the attack, striking it as Manetric was turning around. Manetric fell over onto its side from the impact. It tried to get back up, but didn't have the strength anymore and collapsed in exhaustion.

"You put up a good fight Manetric! Return!" Brendan called out, recalling his Manetric. "Pretty good for fighting a legendary pokemon if I might add." With the battle over, Raikou slowly walked off to its spot in the field and lied down again to rest.

"Hmph...and now Raikou's back to lounging around..." May muttered to herself before calling out to Altaria again. "Alright, Altaria! You're up again!" Altaria flapped its wings and flew over to land in front of May for its battle.

"Well then, since Manetric's down I'll choose Masquerain!" Brendan called out as he grabbed another pokeball and released Masquerain. The pokemon's appearance at first looked like a giant monster's face, startling May and Altaria for a moment until they realized the face was just a pattern formed by the pokemon's wings.

"Masquerain? Whats that?" May wondered as she took out her pokedex to scan it.

"Masquerain, the eyeball pokemon." The pokedex read out. "It intimidates foes with the eye-like patterns on its antennae. Because it can't fly if its wings get wet, it shelters itself from rain under large trees and eaves."

"Lets see what it can do then! Altaria, Peck!" Altaria began flapping its wings and took off towards Masquerain.

"Masquerain, dodge low with Quick Attack!" Masquerain also began flapping its wings and shot downwards in a streak of light, avoiding Altaria's attack for the moment. Altaria threw its wings out to slow itself down, braking and turning towards Masquerain again.

"Masquerain, attack with Water Pulse!"

"Altaria, dive through it and use Peck!" Brendan's Masquerain fired off several blue pulse-like rings of water towards Altaria while Altaria dove down towards it. Each ring encircled Altaria's head completely and splashed against its body. Altaria was slowed slightly by the attack but plowed through to strike Masquerain head on with its beak, knocking Masquerain to the ground with a Peck attack.

"Now hit it with Ice Beam, Altaria!"

"Masquerain, counter with Psybeam!" Masquerain and Altaria fired their respective beam attacks, Altaria attacking with a cold blue energy beam and Masquerain firing out a beam of psychic energy. The two beams collided and Masquerain began to push back on the Ice Beam with its psychic attack, but it was easily overpowered by the Ice Beam attack. The beam struck it and froze Masquerain in a thin block of ice.

"Now follow up with Take Down!" Altaria charged down towards the block of ice from the air and smashed into it with full force, shattering Masquerain's ice prison and sending the bug rolling across the ground. Masquerain slowly picked itself up off the ground as Altaria landed where it had previously been frozen, both pokemon standing firmly on the ground and staring each other down. It was quite clear that Masquerain was getting exhausted already, having endured blow after blow.

"Alright! Lets finish this, Altaria! Peck!"

"Masquerain, now! No holding back! Blizzard!" Altaria flapped its wings and took off towards its opponent, flying low to the ice and mud covered ground.

"Blizzard!" May thought in surprise, recalling her battle with Juan's Luvdisc. "An ice attack that powerful might be strong enough to finish Altaria off in one hit!"

Fortunately for Altaria, the attack never came. In fact, Masquerain didn't even look like it tried to attack. Altaria rammed Masquerain with its beak, knocking Masquerain to the ground. The bug pokemon didn't even make an attempt to get back, Altaria's last attack finished it off.

"Heh...actually we never quite mastered that technique yet..." Brendan replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. He quickly recalled Masquerain.

"Wouldn't it have made more sense to use an attack it actually KNEW then?" May asked Brendan in a tone that sounded like she was scolding him.

"I didn't think Masquerain was going to pull off the win at that point anyway, I was just hoping the threat of Blizzard might have forced you to back off..."

"Well thats just silly..." May replied, rolling her eyes. "Well anyway, good job Altaria! You can rest now. In fact, I guess everyone should..." May recalled Altaria, then took each of her pokeballs and recalled Swalot, Bellossom, and Plusle as well. She hesitated for a moment before recalling Raikou, but the thunder pokemon didn't seem to have any qualms about being put back into its pokeball despite being so reluctant to follow May's orders.

"Well, now what?" Brendan asked May.

"I say we grab a bite to eat!" May called back cheerfully, slowly starting to back away. "And...loser buys!" She called out to Brendan, then quickly turned around and took off running towards Littleroot.

"H-hey! May! Thats not fair! MAY!" Brendan called out to her desparately before running to try to catch up with her.

* * *

May spent the weeks leading up to the Devon Grand Prix training with Brendan. Brendan continued to use the six same pokemon; Swampert, Manetric, a Lairon that evolved into Aggron, Masquerain, Shiftry, and Torkoal. May continued to raise all of her pokemon, teaching them new techniques with Brendan's help in preparation for the tournament.

Raikou continued to disobey May, so she eventually chose to just leave it in storage so train the rest of her pokemon. By the time she was finished training she was sure all of her pokemon would be ready for the tournament. However, although her pokemon were ready...

"Why didn't anyone wake me?!" May screamed in a panic, she was in the kitchen tying on her bandana as quickly as she could and trying to slip her feet into her shoes. "The tournament starts in only 20 minutes!"

"I did wake you." Her mother replied calmly, sitting at the table and sipping her tea. "Three times in fact. Now didn't I tell you not to be up so late training last night?"

"AHHH!! I don't have time for this! I haven't even registered yet!" May pulled her bandana tight and reached down to fix her shoes. "Bye mom! Wish me luck!" May called out as she bolted out the front door, slamming it shut behind her.

"Good luck." Her mother quietly replied to an empty house.

Once outside, May quickly took a pokeball from her belt while still running. She only stopped after releasing Flygon from its pokeball then jumped on its back with little warning.

"Lets go Flygon! To Rustboro, and step on it! We don't have much time!" Flygon nodded quickly in response and took off, flapping its wings as fast as it could to carry May towards Rustboro and the Devon Grand Prix.

* * *

Author's Notes: For some reason, I couldn't help but picture May just barely making it to the tournament.

Quite a bit in this chapter, between Alakazam outsmarting Kyogre to the mystery man in the Sky Pillar. The man in question won't be making anymore appearances between now and the end of this series, but I'm not finished with him yet. I'm sure some people can see where I'm going with this.

Also, as for Raikou, originally I actually did plan for Raikou to be obedient to May and it was going to be in a major battle in the DGP. Manetric will take its place instead, and likewise Raikou will be taking Manetric's place in another area after.


	64. Chapter 53: Preliminary Round!

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Fifty Three**

**Start! Preliminary Round!**

"Tournament will be starting soon, we might as well pack it up." One of the tournament officials said to another. The two of them had a small table set up just outside the competitor entrance for the stadium. Since there were so many entrees to start out, they were gathering just inside the stadium rather than in the building set up as the competitor's lounge. By the end of the day, there would be only eight competitors remaining.

The stadium itself consisted of a wall about 10 feet high, separating the audience from the competitors as well as the battles. The wall surrounded the stadium completely, just outside what was once a walking track. There was a small, single-floor building at each end that served as a competitor's lounge during the later parts of the tournament when there would be fewer competitors. A third, tower-like building with a third floor acted as the announcer's booth. On either side of the field were platforms that could raise up above the walls and would be where trainers would stand during the top eight matches. The audience stands, behind the wall, were about three quarters filled.

"Only two more minutes...I would say anyone signing up already has by now." The other official agreed. The two of them began packing up, not noticing the Flygon barreling down towards them from above. They were startled when it slowed down and landed hard just outside the entrance. May jumped off Flygon's back and waved to the two.

"Sorry! I'm not too late to sign up am I?" The two officials looked at each other for a moment, then pulled out the forms they had started packing away.

May recalled Flygon and quickly signed the required form, her writing a bit messy in her rush to get registered. After finishing the form she was given her 'DGP Pass' and granted entrance into makeshift stadium. Inside, she could see a group of trainers gathered. May could tell from a glance that there were a lot of trainers, even a few she recognized. She looked through the group from behind, seeing if the could spot Alex among them. Every one of them had their backs to her.

"I don't see him anywhere..." She said to herself in disappointment. "Well there's a lot of people, I'm sure he's here somewhere!" May looked around at the stadium and noticed four large billboards set up with video display. They appeared to be attached to the back of the spectator stands and all of them were displaying a live feed of Steven Stone from the center of the battlefield. May rushed out to find a spot in the crowd and watch what was going on.

"As you all know, I myself once came out the victor of one of these tournaments." Steven said to the audience. President Stone of Devon Inc. was standing with him, as well as another woman who was acting as the head tournament official and was also an employee of Devon Inc.

"One might be quick to dismiss these tournaments as being no challenge for someone who has challenged and defeated the gym leaders of Hoenn or even the Elite Four." He continued his speech. "That is not necessarily true, however. One must remember that the strongest trainers aren't always the ones who have dreams of becoming the league champ someday." Steven glanced around at the trainers gathered before him.

"I am sure there are trainers gathered here now who have no interest in the Elite Four. Perhaps they enter this tournament in the search for a real challenge, or are after the tournament's grand prize. Some trainers may even be only interested in recognition as the tournament's champion." Steven smiled as he prepared to deliver his final statement to the crowd.

"Regardless of your reasons for being here, trainers, lets make this tournament one to remember. We all look forward to seeing you give it everything you've got, but most importantly we want to see you having fun. With that said, lets get the preliminary double battle rounds underway!"

The spectators and trainers gathered all gave a loud cheer and the tournament officials set about making up the pairings. As they were decided, the pairings were listed on the billboards. Eight pairings were listed on each, except for the final slot which listed only a pass for a randomly selected trainer. May didn't recognize the name, but understood that meant there were 31 trainers total and would be sixteen remaining in the next round, leaving eight in the final round.

For the double battle preliminaries, the large stadium field was divided up into four sections so that four battles could take place simultaneously with each one having a referee stationed to watch and ensure all participants follow the rules and judge knockouts. Once all matchups were decided, the billboards changed to display the trainers in the first round and who would be in each field.

"Oh! Looks like I'm in field three!" May realized as she looked over the list. She blinked slightly when she saw the name of her opponent. "Doctor D...wonder who that is?" May ran through the field, following the walking trail at the edge of the stadium until she reached field three. Her opponent was already waiting there.

"Wait...you're Doctor D?!" May asked in surprise. The figure standing at the other side of the field was wearing a black suit looking like something out of a sentai anime, complete with matching white gloves and boots. She couldn't see her opponent's face either, concealed beneath a helmet with a black visor and a steel mouthpiece.

"That is correct, I am..." The figure struck a pose. "DOCTOR D!"

_"Why do I get paired up with the weirdo?"_ May thought, groaning quietly. _"Lets just get this over with..."_ May reached for two pokeballs, while her opponent stood with his arms crossed and stared at her as she did.

"Donphan, Beautifly, go!" May called out, releasing both her evolved Donphan and Beautifly onto the battlefield. Her opponent, Doctor D, still hadn't released any pokemon.

"I shall choose...Mightyena!" Doctor D flung his arm out as if making an open-plam strike, holding a pokeball in his hand and releasing a black furred Mightyena from the pokeball. "Dustox!" He called out again as he struck out with his other hand and released the purple bug pokemon Dustox from another pokeball.

"Trainers! Begin battle!" The referee for the match, standing off to the side, called out while raising a green flag.

"Donphan, attack Mightyena with Earthquake! Beautifly, use Stun Spore and aim for Dustox!"

"Mightyena, Taunt that Beautifly! Dustox, Toxic on her Donphan!"

May's first double battle for the tournament was finally underway. Mightyena taunted May's Beautifly before it could attack, sending Beautifly into a rage that made it refuse to use an attack that didn't directly damage its foe. Dustox spat out a blob of purple poison towards Donphan but landed short of its target, landing on the grass in front of it instead.

Donphan, meanwhile, rose up on its hind legs and slammed the ground hard. A shockwave rippled out in all directions, cracking the ground all around their designated battle field. The ground cracked and lifted under Mightyena, knocking it over on its side and slamming it with a chunk of the ground. Mightyena yelped as it was struck and quickly got back to its feet, helped by the fact that the impact knocked it upwards. It struggled to maintain its balance at first.

"This guy looks like an idiot, but I think he knows what he's doing..." May thought to herself. "Alright then! Beautifly, attack Mightyena with Silver Wind!"

"Dustox, counter with your own Silver Wind!" Doctor D called out while flinging his arms out beside him in a dramatic pose. Both Dustox and Beautifly began flapping their wings and stirring up wind currents. Beautifly was aiming for Mightyena, but Dustox got in its way and the two seemed to be at a stand still. The air between them began to glisten with small silver particles they were both releasing from their body for their attacks.

_"Actually, I think this kinda works out for me!"_ May thought with a smirk, noticing how Mightyena and Dustox were lined up perfectly for her to attack both. "Donphan, now! Attack Dustox with Rollout!"

Donphan curled up into wheel and began spinning rapidly. It then launched itself towards Dustox, soaring through the Silver Wind attacks to strike the bug pokemon with its Rollout technique. After knocking Dustox down to the ground, Donphan's path kept it going to land on Mightyena's back. Mightyena let out a yelp in surprise as it was smashed into the ground again from above. Donphan rolled off Mightyena's back and headed towards the left side of the battlefield to turn around and make another pass at Dustox.

"Beautifly, attack Dustox with Gust to keep it pinned!" Beautifly directed its attack downwards and ceased releasing the silvery powder, attacking Dustox with wind only to keep it pinned against the ground.

"Mightyena, stop that Beautifly's attack with Shadow Ball!" Doctor D punched at the air to put emphasis on his command. Mightyena tried to get up on its feet to attack, but the force with which it was hit previously was causing it some pain trying to get back up. It was too slow to attack Beautifly as a result and Donphan plowed into Dustox and rolled over it, flattening it against the ground. The referee raised a red flag.

"Dustox is unable to battle! Trainer, recall Dustox!" The referee announced Dustox's defeat then lowered the flag once Doctor D had recalled it.

_"One down and one to go!"_ May thought with a smirk, focusing her attention on Mightyena. Mightyena had finally gotten back to its feet and formed a shadowy sphere before it and raised its head to hurl it towards Beautifly. The Shadow Ball attack struck Beautifly directly and caused it to fall towards the ground, but Beautifly managed to recover before hitting and hovered just above the ground.

Meanwhile, Donphan had once again managed to turn around for another attack and was barreling towards an inattentive Mightyena. Mightyena cried out loudly as it was suddenly struck in the side with a tremendous force, Donphan's attack had been constantly increasing in momentum to land harder hits. Mightyena was knocked to the ground and rolled over. Mightyena was knocked out by the attack and the referee raised his red flag again.

"Mightyena is unable to battle and Doctor D is out of pokemon!" The referee declared, then raised his green flag towards May. "This match is over! May is the winner and continues on to the next round."

"Hrmph..." Doctor D recalled his Mightyena, then turned around and quickly left the battlefield.

"What a sore loser..." May commented to herself. "Well anyway, good match you two! We've made it past the first preliminary round!" Donphan trumpeted loudly at the praise from May and Beautifly also gave a quiet cheer. May recalled both her pokemon then headed back over to wait with the remaining trainers.

When May met up with the group she quickly scanned around for Alex again, but she didn't see any sign of him either in the crowd or out on the battlefield. She did catch sight of Brendan battling another trainer with his Aggron and Shiftry and was just finishing up the battle. From where May was standing it looked like his pokemon were a bit worn down, but both of them were still standing. Brendan recalled his pokemon then met up with the group, immediately spotting May.

"Hey, May!" Brendan called out to her. "I didn't think you were going to make it! You must have made it here just in time!"

"Hehe...yeah...I kinda slept in..." May replied, nervously twiddling her fingers. "I was up late last night getting in a bit of last minute training..."

"Relax! If you're not ready for this now, you'll never be ready!" Brendan assured her, grinning widely. "By the way, I haven't seen Alex around anywhere..."

"Yeah, me neither..." May said with a concerned tone. "I hope nothing happened to him, its not like him to miss this. He wanted to get back at that jerk Vito so badly too!"

"Umm...May...you probably shouldn't say that too loudly..." Brendan said while pointing behind her.

"He's right behind me, isn't he?" May asked quietly, daring a glance behind her. Vito Winstrate was, in fact, standing directly behind her.

"So your boyfriend was looking for a rematch here, was he?" Vito said to her, snickering derisively. "I bet he chickened out!"

"You take that back!" May shouted at him, turning around fully to face him. "If Alex was here he'd not only beat you but he'd humiliate you!"

"Hmm. I highly doubt that..." Vito replied smugly, running a hand through his hair. "I've never lost..."

"Well why don't you put your money where your mouth is?" Brendan interrupted them, pointing to one of the electronic billboards. "You're up on field two, Vito."

"About time too." Vito replied, turning to leave the group. "Watch and learn, kids." He called back to them while heading off on his way to the battlefield.

"I heard the son of the Winstrate family was a tough trainer, but I didn't think he was such a jerk." Brendan said to May. He took another glance at the billboards around the stadium. "Hey, looks like Melany's battling in field three now."

May looked up at the screen Brendan was looking at and saw Melany Stone facing off against a boy with red hair. Melany had out her Skarmory and Metang and the boy was using a Combusken and Ninetales.

"Looks like she's up against Dante." Brendan said to May. "Dante's Flannery's sister, and the weaker of the two if you ask me. Still, he has a major type advantage over Melany's pokemon..."

"Why isn't she just using her legendary pokemon?" May asked no one in particular. "If she was using Groudon she could probably just end the battle in one Earthquake..."

"Who knows?" Brendan replied with a shrug. "Maybe she's decided to play fair..."

* * *

"There's no way you're going to beat me with two steel-type pokemon!" Dante called out to Melany, grinning madly. "This match is mine!"

"Oh brother..." Melany rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest. "Lets just get this over with. Skarmory, go! Attack his Combusken with Sky Attack!" Skarmory began flapping its wings to prepare for its attack and focused its gaze solely on Combusken. All the while, Metang continued to stand off to the side. It looked like it was focusing on something, but it wasn't doing anything else.

"We won't give you the chance to use that attack!" Dante declared. "Combusken! Ninetales! Attack Skarmory with Flamethrower!" Both of Dante's pokemon opened their mouths and spewed out a blast of flames towards Skarmory. The steel bird was hit by both attacks but maintained its position hovering above the battlefield, even while it disappeared entirely in the twin Flamethrowers.

Skarmory hung on and maintained its focus throughout the attacks. With its preparations complete it suddenly shot out of the flames, a fiery aura surrounding it. It dove down swiftly towards Combusken and smashed into it with tremendous force, sending it flying back out of the battlefield until a blue aura surrounded it to stop its movements and keep it from interfering with the battle behind it.

"Combusken has been defeated! Trainer, recall Combusken!" The referee declared while holding up a red flag. A Kadabra appeared next to him courtesy of a Teleport technique. The Kadabra was responsible for stopping Combusken and lowering it to the ground where Dante finally recalled it, gritting his teeth in rage.

"Ninetales! Now! Finish that Skarmory off with Flamethrower!" Ninetales quickly turned its head towards Skarmory, who was now standing next to it where Combusken had been, and fired off another blast of flames that instantly knocked Skarmory out. The referee once again raised a red flag, prompting Melany to recall Skarmory.

_"I'm not worried."_ Melany thought to herself, a smirk forming on her lips as she looked over towards Metang. Metang had started glowing just shortly after Combusken's KO. _"About time...I've been training it hard enough..."_

Metang's body began to expand, and the referee continued to hold up the red flag to signal a pause in the battle. A pair of arms sprouted from the back of Metang's body, looking like a second Metang had attached to it. Its body continued to grow and the arms all angled downwards to appear more like legs.

The glowing finally ceased and each leg struck the ground hard, cracking the surface and sinking in about an inch with the impact. The fully evolved pokemon that now faced down Dante's Ninetales stood at least five feet tall at the top of its legs, its head attached to them at an angle and was lower to the ground. A metallic band formed an X on its face, giving it a mean appearance.

"Recommence battle!" The referee called out, waving his green flag now that Metang had finished evolving.

"Even if its evolved now, its still weak to fire!" Dante called out while grinning. "Ninetales, take it down with Flamethrower!"

"Does he even know any other attacks?" Melany commented dryly. "Metagross, end this! Earthquake!"

Metagross's head became completely enveloped in flames from Ninetale's attack, but its legs were still outside the area of the attack. Metagross raised one of its legs and pounded the ground, creating a local tremor that caused the ground to crack and shift around the battlefield.

Ninetales was knocked off balance by the attack and fell over, releasing Metagross from its Flamethrower attack. The ground continued to shift and pummel Ninetales until it had finally collapsed and the referee raised a red flag.

"Ninetales is defeated! Match over, Melany wins!" The referee declared loudly. Dante grumbled to himself as he recalled his Ninetales.

"So much for your type advantage." Melany said to Dante with a smirk. "Metagross, good job! You can take a rest now." Melany recalled Metagross, then turned and left the battlefield.

* * *

"She has a Metagross too now?! Ugh!" Brendan growled in frustration. "With a pokemon like that I hope she doesn't use any of her legendary pokemon!"

"Whats the big deal about Metagross?" May asked him, blinking curiously.

"Metagross is an extremely powerful pokemon, maybe even more powerful than some legendary pokemon." Brendan said to her. "The same can be said for some dragons, like Salamence, but Metagross is particularly dangerous because of its type. Its only weaknesses are ground and fire attacks, but it can still hover to evade ground attacks."

"I'm not that worried about it..." May replied, smiling slightly. "Afterall, I have Blaziken."

"May, you saw it use that Earthquake attack, right?" Brendan asked, giving her a skeptical look.

"I know, but still..." May shrugged lightly. "Anyway...where do we go to heal our pokemon? I need to be ready for my next match."

"Well..." Brendan glanced around at the screens for a moment, checking to see if there was anything of interest going on before replying. "Alright...follow me."

* * *

May went with Brendan to the competitor's lounge, where there were several lockers set up as well as a PC for transfering pokemon and a restoration machine exactly like the ones used in pokecenters. Brendan explained to her that during the finals of the tournament they would be able to make use of the lockers and wait in the lounge between matches.

A vending machine was set up, as well as a large tv that would display the matches. It was off now, however. The competitor's lounge was only really used during the finals due to the speed at which matches take place during the preliminaries. After healing their pokemon they left the lounge and returned to the battlefield to wait until the second round of the preliminaries would begin.

Upon returning to the field, May noticed a fair few less trainers around and she could see a few more familiar faces. In particular, she spotted a nervous looking Wally nearby with Suzy standing with him. She also noticed, to her dismay, that Jessica was there as well. She was sitting against the wall further away typing on her laptop while her Zangoose stood next to her.

_"Great, she's here too?"_ May thought to herself. Her and Brendan went over to meet up with Wally and Suzy. Jessica happened to glance up from her laptop. Spotting May, she smirked to herself but didn't say anything.

"Hey Wally! Hey Suzy!" May called out to the two as she approached them.

"Hi May..." Wally replied while giving her a look that seemed to say 'help me'. Suzy was clinging to him tightly, her arms wrapped around his waist. Suzy was wearing yet another different outfit for the tournament today, and looking a bit more serious than usual. Her outfit consisted of a white tank top with a black, sleeveless vest worn over it and a matching black shirt. She was also wearing a necklace with a small red gem hanging down from it.

"Hi May!" Suzy called back cheerfully. "Isn't Wally the cutest?" Suzy giggled and ruffled Wally's hair. "I just LOVE the color of his hair!"

"Help...me..." Wally said quietly, looking at May pleadingly.

_"Sorry, your on your own with that one..."_ May thought to herself, smiling nervously. "So I guess you two made it to the next round?" She asked them.

"Yep! We're going all the way to the finals!" Suzy blurted out before Wally even had a chance to respond.

"May?" Brendan tapped May on the shoulder to get her attention.

"Oh, sorry..." May replied, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. She gestured towards Suzy and Wally with her other hand. "Brendan, this is Suzy and Wally. Suzy, Wally, this is Brendan." May gestured towards Brendan. Suzy finally released Wally, much to his relief, and extended a hand towards Brendan.

"Nice to meet you! I've heard about you, you're Professor Birch's son!" Suzy greeted Brendan. Brendan extended his hand to shake Suzy's.

"Nice to meet you as well, I've seen your exploits on TV." Brendan replied. "You're quite the co-ordinator...so what brings you here?"

"May, whats this girl's deal with me?" Wally asked May nervously, having crept closer to her while Suzy was talking with Brendan.

"I don't know..." May whispered back. "I don't know her that well...how long have you known her?"

"For about the last five minutes..." Wally replied. May blinked at him in surprise then giggled quietly.

"Suzy probably has a crush on you now..." May said to Wally, smiling softly at him. "She'll probably get over it eventually though, so try not to get too worked up!"

"B-but! She keeps touching my hair and hugging me!" Wally replied frantically while trying to keep his voice down. May couldn't help but giggle again at Wally's reaction, though she couldn't think of anything to say to him.

"May! I think you should go out with Brendan!" Suzy suddenly announced, startling everyone and causing Brendan to blush.

"Wh-what?!" Brendan stammered in response.

"Brendan's a much nicer guy than Alex is, and he's the son of a famous researcher!" Suzy added, grinning brightly.

"He is?" May and Wally both asked in surprise. Brendan gasped, partially in shock.

"Whats that supposed to mean?!" Brendan demanded of them both, his face still beet red.

"H-hey! I hardly even know you!" Wally replied, holding his hands up defensively. "I just know Alex is a nice guy, thats all!"

"Well its true..." May added, not nearly as intimidated by Brendan's outburst. "I mean, nothing personal Brendan..."

"You know, people can probably hear you guys from the other side of the stadium." Everyone turned around as they heard Melany address them. She was looking at May specifically. "Haven't been watching the displays either obviously. May, if you're not in field four in five minutes you forfeit the match..."

"Wh-what?!" May quickly glanced up at the board. She was against the trainer who got the pass in the first round. "ACK!" May cried out in surprise and ran off without another word to get to field four for her next match.

_"I feel kinda sorry for her..."_ Melany thought as May ran off. _"At least if I was paired up against him, he wouldn't recognize me now...May will probably get an earful though..."_

"So, Melany, decided against using those legendary pokemon of your's?" Brendan asked her. Wally and Suzy both looked at her curiously as neither really knew Melany, let alone knew she had legendary pokemon.

"I'm saving them for the finals..." Melany replied casually. "I'm sure anyone who makes it into the top eight can handle them. Besides, if they couldn't, they probably can't handle the pokemon I used to catch them either..."

"Huh...I never thought of it like that..." Brendan stated, briefly scratching his head. "Well either way, I guess you're going to be the trainer to beat."

"Please, even if I didn't have strong pokemon, just entering a tournament hosted by my father pretty much puts a bullseye on me..." Melany replied, rolling her eyes. "If I didn't have personal reasons for wanting to enter, I wouldn't be here." Melany turned away from Brendan, looking up at the screen displaying May's match.

_"Personal reasons?" _Brendan wondered, following Melany's gaze. _"...Does it have something to do with May? But why would Melany have an interest in May?"_

* * *

_"Why? Of all the people to be stuck with...of all the people to even be in this tournament...why do I have to battle..."_

"You! I'm about to make you regret ever meeting me!" A boy wearing a straw hat declared. He was standing opposite May on the battlefield with two Wurmples already out, ready to fight.

_"Him..."_ May sighed loudly. _"At least he can only use two Wurmples..."_

"HEY! COME ON AND FIGHT MY WURMPLES ALREADY!" The boy shouted angrily. The two Wurmples glared at her. For being weak bug pokemon, both of them were looking pretty mean.

"Fine...keep your hat on..." May muttered in response, taking two pokeballs from her belt. "Roselia! Swalot! Go!" May simulatenously released her pokemon, sending out the purple blob-like pokemon Swalot and the small rose pokemon Roselia to battle the boy's Wurmples.

Before the battle could even get underway, Swalot grabbed Roselia in its mouth and swallowed her whole. Fortunately, unlike May's Bellossom, Roselia proved itself a bit tough to stomach. Swalot's eyes went wide as Roselia began pummeling the inside of its stomach and he quickly spat her out onto the ground. Roselia got up and turned to Swalot to give him the raspberry.

_"Knew that was going to be a bad idea..." _May thought to herself, sighing._ "Well lets just get this over with already. I can't believe I'm even battling this guy! Of all people to get the pass it had to be the one who was least likely to even make it to the second round!"_

"Trainers, begin battle!" The referee waved his green flag, signalling the start of the match.

"Lets finish this quick! Roselia, Magical Leaf on the one on the right! Swalot, attack the one on the left with Sludge!" Both May's pokemon attacked, Roselia spinning around and firing out a barrage of leaves that instantly honed in on their target while Swalot spat up a blob of sludge from the pit of its stomach. Both attacks hit their mark but, to May's surprise, neither Wurmple was KO'd by the attacks.

"Alpha, Beta, attack Roselia with a Tackle attack!" The two Wurmples charged across the battlefield, moving surprisingly quickly for Wurmples and barreling towards their target like a runaway train. They each hit Roselia, one after the other, pushing it back towards the edge of the battlefield and knocking it to the ground. Roselia slowly got up and glared at its opponent's, already looking pretty weak.

_"No way! Those Wurmples couldn't really have gotten that strong could they?"_ May wondered, shocked to see how much damage they had done to Roselia. _"I need to slow them down somehow!"_

"Roselia, jump on top of Swalot and use Grass Whistle!" Roselia quickly jumped up into the air, spinning to propel itself up onto the top of Swalot's head. It then put both its flowers to its mouth and began making a strange whistling noise. One of the Wurmple started to become drowsy and fell asleep.

"Beta, Tackle Swalot and knock that Roselia off!" Wurmple boy commanded his pokemon. The remaining Wurmple, Beta, charged Swalot and rammed it in the side. Swalot maintained its position, though its body wriggled from the impact. Roselia just barely managed to keep its balance on top of Swalot's head.

"Roselia, use Grass Whistle again and put that last one to sleep! Swalot, Stockpile!" Roselia made its strange whistling noise again, putting the remaining Wurmple to sleep. Meanwhile, Swalot opened its mouth slightly and a slight glow could be seen within as it began gathering up energy for a moment.

"Now! Roselia, Leech Seed on that first one you put to sleep! Swalot, keep using Stockpile!" Roselia brought its arms out in front of it and pointed at the first Wurmple it had put to sleep. It fired out a small seed that attached itself to the Wumrple and began draining energy from it to restore Roselia. Shortly after the seed attached to it, the Wurmple began to stir. Swalot, meanwhile, continued to store up energy within and its body expanded slightly from the stored energy.

"Now Leech Seed the other one too! Swalot, attack that first one with Dream Eater!" Roselia turned towards the second Wurmple and fired another seed which immediately began draining energy from it. While Roselia was doing that, Swalot opened its mouth wide and turned towards the first Wurmple. A purple mist began to drain away from Wurmple and the pokemon quickly woke up, looking quite startled. The mist gathered as a ball in Swalot's mouth and was promptly swallowed. The second Wurmple soon woke up as well.

"Heh heh heh...you're more of a challenge than I thought you'd be..." Wurmple boy said to May, grinning maliciously.

"I'M more of a challenge?! You're STILL using WURMPLES and you're SOMEHOW putting up a fight against me!" May called back, flailing her arms wildly. "Your pokemon should have been down after that first attack!"

"Well you've underestimated my Wurmples for the last time!" The boy shot back. "Alpha! Beta! Evolve now!"

The two Wurmples both looked upwards and began spraying out a string shot attack. The string fell around them and surrounded them in a white glow. The glow began to harden, leaving two silk cocoon-like pokemon in the place of the Wurmples. One was white, and the other was purple.

_"He commanded them to evolve?!"_ May thought in surprise. _"But if he could have evolved them at any time why wait? Ugh!" _May looked down at the ground and noticed both pokemon had managed to shed their Leech Seeds through the evolution. Both of them still looked ready to fight.

"Roselia, Leech Seed the Cascoon! Swalot, us Toxic on the Silcoon!" Roselia fired yet another seed at what was the same Wurmple she had just attacked. The seed latched on to the evolved Cascoon and once again began draining energy. Swalot, meanwhile, spat up a vile substance at the Silcoon to inflict it with a deadly poison.

"Alpha, attack Swalot with Tackle attack! Beta, pull that Roselia down with String Shot!" Alpha, the Wurmple that had evolved into Silcoon, threw itself at Swalot in a Tackle attack that had a noticeable increase in power. Swalot nearly fell on its side from the impact but managed to remain firmly planted on the ground.

Roselia, however, had a bit more trouble on its hands as it was knocked off balance. A white, sticky string struck it on the head and stuck to it. Beta, now a Cascoon, wiggled back to pull Roselia down to the ground with a soft thud. It then began to retract the silk into its cocoon to draw Roselia towards it.

"Roselia, cut the string with Poison Sting! Swalot, use Stockpile one last time!" Roselia nodded and raised its red flower, brandishing a sharp, poisonous barb. It brought the barb down quickly, slicing through the string and cutting itself off from the Cascoon. Swalot took the time to gather energy inside its mouth again, its body further expanding with the gathered energy.

"Don't think you'll get off that easy!" The boy cautioned May. "Alpha! Beta! Time for another evolution! Go!" Both the Cascoon and the Silcoon began to glow. The two cocoons split down the middle and a pokemon began to emerge from each. From the Cascoon came another Dustox like the one May had battled earlier and from the Silcoon came a Beautifly not unlike her own.

"Time to take one of them down!" May thought, gritting her teeth in determination. "Swalot! Go! Attack Dustox with Spit Up!" Swalot quickly turned to Dustox and opened its mouth wide, unleashing all the stored energy at once in a massive beam of energy that completely engulfed Dustox. Energy continued to fire out for several seconds, shrinking in width until it was used up entirely. Dustox fell to the ground, its body charred and smoking.

"Dustox is unable to battle!" The referee declared while holding up a red flag. "Trainer, recall Dustox!"

"Lucky shot..." The boy grumbled, recalling his fallen Dustox. "Well lets see you try that again! Alpha, attack them with Gust!"

The Beautifly began flapping its wings rapidly, stirring up stong wings and sending blast after blast of air at Swalot and Roselia. Both pokemon braced against the attacks, but the lightweight Roselia was easily blown across the battlefield. This turned out to be an advantage, though, as it was thrown clear of the attack's range. It was barely holding on though, panting heavily with exhaustion as it rose to its feet.

"Roselia, Ingrain! Swalot, Toxic!" Roselia firmly planted its roots in the ground, anchoring it down and drawing nutrients from the soil to restore itself. Swalot, meanwhile, spat out a poisonous purple blob towards Beautifly. The attack failed to reach its target, blown back by the winds.

_"Doesn't look like Swalot will be able to attack easily..."_ May thought to herself. _"This one might prove tough, I'm glad I was able to take down Dustox quickly! This Beautifly has my Swalot pinned and Roselia has to recover after just one attack..."_

"Just give up!" The boy taunted May gleefully. "There's no way you can beat my fully evolved bug pokemon! Just keep it up, Alpha! Her pokemon can't attack you!"

"Wanna bet?" May called back. "Roselia, Leech Seed! Aim up!" Roseilia raised its two flower-tipped hands and fired off a Leech Seed attack in an arc towards Beautifly. The attack managed to avoid being thrown off course by the Gust from Beautifly and hit its target, latching on to the top of Beautifly's head and beginning to steadily drain its energy.

"Grr! Damn it!" The boy growled in frustration. "Alpha, after that Roselia and hit it with Gust!"

"Swalot, bring Beautifly down with Sludge Bomb!" Beautifly stopped its Gust attack and moved towards Roselia, flying over Swalot. Swalot tilted its head back as Beautifly was above it and fired a massive ball of sludge straight up. The ball burst into a sticky, toxic mess all over Beautifly and brought it crashing to the ground behind Swalot.

"Alpha, shake off that sludge and use Morning Sun!" Beautifly gave a strong flap of its wings, sending the sludge off of it. It then spread its wings wide and began to absorb sunlight, using it to restore its energy. May immediately saw the opening to attack.

"Swalot, now! Encore!" Swalot began clapping its tiny hands together, creating a burst of applause all around Beautifly and prompting it to continue using Morning Sun.

"Hey! Thats cheap!" The boy called out angrily.

"Its called a strategy!" May shot back, glaring daggers at him. "Swalot, attack his Beautifly with Toxic! Roselia, use Giga Drain!" Swalot fired out another blob of poison at the boy's Beautifly while a large stream of energy began flowing between the butterfly pokemon and Roselia. Swalot hit its target this time, the intense poison seeping into Beautifly's body and beginning to weaken it while Beautifly did nothing but try to heal. Roselia was at about half strength now as well after absorbing energy from Beautifly.

"Keep it up! Roselia, Giga Drain! Swalot, Body Slam!" Another green burst of energy flowed from Beautifly to Roselia, the attack causing another light hit to Beautifly. Swalot, meanwhile, moved forward and jumped on top of the still grounded Beautifly, pinning it against the ground. Try as it might, Beautifly could no longer get enough sunlight to its body with Swalot on top of it for its Morning Sun technique. Despite this, it was still feeling compelled to use the attack.

"Alpha! Snap out of it already!" The Beautifly's trainer demanded while flailing his arms furiously. "Get up and kick her pokemon's butts!"

"Not going to happen!" May replied with a smirk. "Swalot, keep it pinned! Roselia, Grass Whistle!" Swalot maintained its position on top of Beautifly to keep it pinned down while Roselia made a strange whistling noise. Beautifly soon ceased struggling under Swalot as it fell into a deep sleep.

"Now, Swalot! Dream Eater!" Swalot opened its mouth wide and began gathering a purple mist in its mouth that was emanating from Beautifly as it used Dream Eater. Beautifly woke with a start as its dream was eaten, swallowed in one gulp by Swalot. The bug pokemon immediately collapsed again however, further weakened to the point of losing conciousness by the Leech Seed and poison.

"Beautifly is unable to battle!" The referee declared, holding up a red flag. "Match over! May is the winner!"

"Alright! We did it, guys!" May cheered loudly alongside her pokemon.

"This isn't over!" Wurmple boy declared as he recalled his Beautifly. "Just you wait! I'll get even stronger Wurmples! Then you'll be sorry!" The boy quickly turned and left the battlefield in a huff. May likewise left after recalling Swalot and Roselia.

With her second match complete, May was now guaranteed a spot in the finals. All that was left for her was to wait for the rest of the results as well as the pairings for the finals, which would be starting the next day. Of course, there were still many preliminary matches to go.

Melany won the next match she took part in, again using the same combination of Skarmory and Metagross. Metagross would use Earthquake while Skarmory attacked from the air, proving themselves to be quite an effective combination despite both pokemon being of the steel type. Their opposition in the second round was a Rhydon and a Linoone, the later of which didn't put up much of a fight at all against the two steel pokemon.

Brendan also moved on to the finals, winning yet another match with his combination of Shiftry and Aggron. The steel and rock pokemon Aggron withstood many attacks that were directed at it while Shiftry attacked from behind it to bring down an opposing Vileplume and Camerupt. Though Camerupt proved troublesome, Brendan took it down first then easily finished off Vileplume for the win.

Wally won his next match using a fighting type pokemon, Hariyama, as well as the dragon pokemon Altaria. The duo managed to bring down a tough Salamence paired up with an Absol. Absol went down after a single attack from Hariyama, leaving both Wally's pokemon to tackle the remaining Salamence. After their victory, Wally ended up getting hugged by his Hariyama and was nearly crushed by the excited pokemon.

Vito and Jessica both won their next matches, Jessica using both her Ninjask and Shedinja while Vito was using Dodrio and an Electrode. Suzy won her match as well, using her powerful Slaking paired up with Milotic. One good hit from Slaking managed to take down the opponent's pokemon one at a time while Milotic weakened them and drew their attacks.

The final trainer moving onto the finals was a boy about twelve years old by the name of Brad. The pokemon he used in his match consisted of a Corsola and a Cyndaquil. Despite being unevolved, Cyndaquil proved to be quite capable. Cyndaquil and Corsola took down the opponent's Nosepass and Grovyle to pull off their victory, bringing the trainer Brad into the final match.

After several hours, the preliminary matches were finally over with. The eight remaining trainers were gathered in the center of the stadium shortly after, standing side by side. From left to right was May, Brendan, Melany, Vito, Jessica, Brad, Wally, and Suzy. Standing in front of a podium before them was Steven Stone, who was once again making the announcements.

"The pairings for the final match have been decided." Steven declared loudly into a microphone, after having been handed two pieces of paper by a tournament official. Around the stadium the electronic billboards all showed a blank tournament rankings chart, starting with four lines on the right and left sides. They then narrowed down to two lines for names and then finally one line on each side for the final round.

"Battling in the first round will be Wally Wood, from Verdanturf, battling against Suzy Rose, from Lilycove." As Steven announced the first pairings, Wally and Suzy's names appeared one after the other on the left side of the chart.

"Oh, how cruel!" Suzy whimpered, grabbing Wally around the waist. "To be forced to battle you! And in the first round, no less!"

"I'm sure we'll be fine..." Wally replied to her, grinning nervously.

"In the second match will be Vito Winstrate, from Route 111, against Melany Stone, from Rustboro." Again, as Steven declared the next pairings, Vito and Melany's names appeared under Wally and Suzy's on the chart.

_"Finally..."_ Melany thought, glancing at Vito out of the corner of her eye. _"Time to take Vito down a notch..."_

"Third match will be Brendan Birch, from the town of Littleroot, against Jessica Rivers of Mauville City." Both Brendan and Jessica nodded as they were assigned their pairings. Brendan wondered what Jessica would be like, and May silently wished it was her against Jessica in the first round.

"Finally, the fourth match will be between May Maple, currently residing in Littleroot, and Brad Turner from Goldenrod City in Johto." May looked over at Brad curiously when she heard where he was from. Brad was a slightly older trainer, about 13-14 years of age. He was a dark haired boy and his blue outfit looked like a typical school uniform.

_"From Goldenrod City?"_ May thought to herself. _"Well he doesn't look like anyone I know at any rate. Still though...he came here all the way from Johto? He didn't just come for the tournament, did he?"_

"The finals will start tomorrow morning at 10A.M., starting with the match between Wally and Suzy." Steven announced, then switched to the second paper to continue his speech. "In the next few minutes we will be taking out the trading machines and leaving them just outside the stadium for anyone who wishes to trade pokemon. The field itself will be open for anyone who wants to battle as well. Please speak with any tournament official if you would like to arrange a match between yourself and a friend. The stadium will remain open for the next three hours, so until then please enjoy yourselves."

Applause erupted throughout the stadium. The podium was quickly removed from the field as trainers began to pile in, many of those who had not participated in the tournament itself were looking for friendly matches between their friends. Many trainers began showing off their pokemon and trading began just outside the stadium almost as soon as the machines to do so were brought out.

_"Well I guess thats that..."_ May thought to herself as she began to leave the stadium admist the chaos. After all the battling she had been through she was looking forward to getting a bite to eat. She looked around the crowd as she walked away and sighed to herself.

_"Where could Alex be? I KNOW he was going to be entering the tournament but I don't see him anywhere..."_ Looking up ahead, May spotted Melany leaving the field as well. _"Wait! Melany knows Alex, right? She'll know where he is!" _May pushed through the crowd to catch up with Melany, calling out to her as she did.

"Melany!" Melany stopped and turned around as she heard May call her name, waiting a moment for her to catch up.

"Hey, congratulations on making it to the finals." Melany said to May with a light smile.

"Thanks, you too!" May replied quickly. "By the way, any idea where Alex is? I thought he was going to be here in the tournament..."

"He is here. Sort of." Melany replied with a shrug. "You'll figure it out soon enough I'm sure."

"He is?" May thought about it for a moment. "Wait, what do you mean I'll figure it out?" Melany didn't answer May, turning her back to her instead and continuing on out of the stadium.

"See you later, May." She called back as she left, ignoring May's question.

_"Great, now I have more questions than answers!"_ May thought, sighing in disappointment. _"Well if Alex is here I'll find him! Maybe he's in a disguise or something?"_ May looked back out to the crowd, scanning the faces for a moment then shaking her head. _"I'll try tomorrow I guess...I'm kinda hungry right now..."_

May left the stadium for the day, as did most of the remaining finalists. With the preliminary matches over, everyone was eagerly awaiting tomorrow's tournament matches.

* * *

Author's Notes: Well, tournament's finally under way. For the preliminary matches I wanted to show both of May's matches, but only showed one of Melany's because it was the match her Metang would finally evolve in. Every remaining battle now will be a full 6 on 6 and will have a chapter dedicated to each. In other words, next four chapters will consist of Wally vs. Suzy, Melany vs. Vito, Brendan vs. Jessica, and May vs. Brad. Brad is just a trainer I threw in and gave a bit of a background just to even things out because I didn't want May to face Jessica in the first round, probably won't be appearing again after the tournament.

Like in most anime and such with a 'tournament arc', you can expect that what would normally just be an ordinary tournament will have an unexpected significance of sorts. Though definitely not in an "evil space demon trying to gather seven MacGuffins" kind of way...


	65. Chapter 54: Crushing Defeat!

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Fifty Four**

**Crushing Defeat? Wally Vs. Suzy!**

_"Its kinda funny that I'm on time today..."_ May thought as she walked towards the trainer's lounge. It was the next day and the tournament finals were about to get underway. _"I'm not even battling for a while, not until the fourth match. I definitely don't want to miss Wally and Suzy's match though!"_

"YAY! Its May!" May heard a girl's voice cry out exitedly. Before she could even turn around, May felt a small pair of arms gripping her around the waist. She looked back and saw a familiar blonde-haired girl. The girl had her hair done up like May's and was even wearing a green and white bandana like May's. She was also wearing a green shirt and black shorts in an obvious attempt to mimic May's outfit.

"A-Angela? How'd you get here? Shouldn't you be in Sootopolis now?" Angela's hair style and bandana finally registered in May's mind. "And...why is your hair like that?"

"Mommy brought me so I could cheer you on!" Angela replied, giggling happily.

"Angela! There you are!" An older, blonde-haired woman in a black casual dress approached the two and took Angela by the hand. "Angela, don't run off like that!" The woman, who May recognized as Angela's mother, scolded her.

"But mom! I wanted to see May!" Angela protested.

"I'm sorry about this, May." Angela's mother said to her apologetically. "You've become such a role model for her. As soon as she heard you'd be in the tournament she wanted me to bring her all the way out her to watch..."

"Don't worry about it!" May replied, smiling to Angela's mother and giving her a wink. "You know, Angela, when I was your age I ALWAYS listened to my parents..." Angela looked up at May for a moment, then hesitantly let go of her.

"Lets go find our seats, Angela. I'm sure your father is waiting for us. You can watch all of May's battles from the stands!"

"Ok..." Angela replied quietly. "May! I'll be cheering for you! I know you're going to win!"

"I'll do my best!" May replied, smiling brightly. Angela's mother smiled at May in a silent thanks then lead Angela to the stands to find their seats.

_"I guess Angela kinda looks up to me after that incident at Sootopolis..."_ May thought to herself, turning to head into the lounge. _"There's probably going to be more girls her age looking up to me as a role model if I win this tournament...thats a lot of weight to carry around..."_

May finally opened the door and entered the lounge, the same one she had been in with Brendan the day before. Brendan and Jessica were the only other two inside when May entered. Brendan was watching the screen to see the upcoming match while Jessica was off in the corner, looking between her screen and her laptop.

"Wow...I would have figured everyone would be here..." May commented, sitting down next to Brendan on the bench in front of the screen.

"Well Wally and Suzy are already out on the field, and naturally Melany and Vito wouldn't be caught hanging around in here anyway." Brendan replied with a shrug. "As for that Brad guy...who knows? He could be the same way, or maybe he's just not interested in watching the matches."

_"I was hoping to talk to Melany again today too..."_ May thought to herself, frowning slightly. _"Well her match is next, so I can question her after the battle..."_ May focused her attention on the screen to watch the upcoming match between Wally and Suzy.

* * *

"On the west stand, hailing from Verdanturf, Wally Wood!" The announcer's voice echoed through the stadium from loudspeakers. Wally waved to the crowd gathered from the trainer's stand on the west side of the field.

"And on the east stand, Lilycove's top co-ordinator Suzy Rose!" The audience gave a loud cheer as Suzy waved from her own stand. It was already obvious that Suzy was a crowd favorite. Suzy then looked across the field at Wally and blew him a kiss.

"Good luck, Wally!" Suzy called out to him. Her voice could be heard all over the stadium because of the platforms they were on. Each raised platform was set up so that everyone would be able to clearly hear the commands the trainers were issuing to their pokemon, as well as ensuring their pokemon could hear them. It was a big field, so it was a possibility that had to be accounted for.

"Y-yeah...you too Suzy..." Wally replied nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. _"Man!"_ He thought. _"As if this wasn't nerve-wracking already!"_

The platforms had a railing surrounding them with a small control panel on the front. The panel displayed their opponent and their revealed pokemon, identifying whether the pokemon was still active or had been knocked out. Next to the display was a red button for a trainer to push should they happen to decide to forfeit the match. There was a similar display on the electronic billboards as well to show what pokemon each trainer had used, as well as who was winning.

The field itself showed almost no sign of the battles from the previous day, except for the grass that was missing almost all around the field. The tournament officials flattened the ground with their pokemon, but they couldn't instantly grow new grass. In the middle of the field, the ground opened up to a large pool 30 feet across that had been covered during the double battle matches the day before. For the finals, the pool would remain open.

"Trainers, call out your first pokemon!" The announcer's voice instructed them. Both trainers quickly took their first pokeballs from their belt.

"Altaria, I choose you! Go!" Wally called out, releasing a bird pokemon with cloud-like wings onto the battlefield. On the displays, a slot lit up with a picture of Altaria next to Wally's image.

"Donphan, lets give them a show! Go!" Suzy released her pokemon, the ground-type elephant pokemon Donphan, onto the battlefield. Likewise, Suzy's image on the scoreboard had an image of Donphan appear next to it.

"Trainers, begin battle!"

"No hard feelings, Wally! But I'm not taking it easy on you!" Suzy called out to him. "Donphan, attack his Altaria with Rollout!"

"Why would you?" Wally wondered to himself out loud and was surprised to hear his voice echo around him. He shook his head and quickly got his act together. "Altaria, block it with Steel Wing!"

Suzy's Donphan curled up and took off rolling across the field, picking up speed as it raced towards Wally's grounded Altaria. Rather than taking off to avoid the attack, Altaria held its cloud-like wings in front of it defensively. The wings gained a metallic-like appearance just before Donphan collided with Altaria, blocking Donphan's attack with its Steel Wing technique. Donphan jumped back and uncurled, landing flat on its feet.

"Now, Altaria! Use Dragon Dance!" Orange flames surrounded Altaria's body as draconic power surged from within, enhancing Altaria's power and speed.

"Donphan, use Double-Edge! Don't let it get off the ground!" Donphan rushed towards and threw itself into Altaria hard, tackling it to the ground and pinning it down.

"Altaria, knock it off with a Steel Wing then take off!" Altaria's wings took on a metallic appearance again and it raised one of them quickly to smack Donphan in the side, sending it rolling off itself. Altaria quickly got to its feet while Donphan was still recovering and began flapping its wings, taking off from the ground to gain an aerial advantage over its opponent.

"Now, Altaria! Attack with Aerial Ace!" Altaria swiftly dove towards Donphan, gaining speed in its dive. It then vanished into a blur with a sudden burst of speed to strike Donphan hard in the side with its beak. Donphan was knocked onto its side but quickly jumped back to its feet. Altaria was already gaining altitude again by the time Altaria got back up.

_"Only way we can bring that Altaria down now is with a strong ranged attack..."_ Suzy thought to herself. _"Well we have that covered!"_

"Donphan, attack Altaria with Hyper Beam!"

"Hyper Beam?!" Wally gasped in surprise. "Altaria, watch out! Circle around so it can't get a good shot!"

Altaria began flying around in circles above while distancing itself from Donphan. Donphan followed Altaria's movements until it was finally comfortable with attacking and raised its trunk to fire a massive beam of energy. Altaria moved to dodge, but the Hyper Beam attack still landed a glancing blow on its right wing and sent Altaria spiralling to the ground and crashing head first.

"Altaria! Can you still fly?" Wally called out to his pokemon. Altaria slowly picked itself up and flapped its wing experimentally, then nodded to Wally affirmatively. Wally breathed a sigh of relief. Altaria was still fully capable of fighting back, but now Donphan needed time to rest after using its Hyper Beam technique.

"Altaria, now! Attack Donphan with Steel Wing while its disabled!" Altaria flapped its wings, slowly at first as it was a bit sore from taking the Hyper Beam attack. It then finally managed to lift itself up and took off, skimming across the ground towards Donphan. The ground-type pokemon was helpless to do anything but watch as Altaria flew towards it, still resting to regain its energy.

Altaria's wings took on a metallic appearance as it approached Donphan. Altaria then flew beside Donphan while striking it with its left wing. Donphan was sent rolling backwards, smashing into the wall of the stadium. The wall shuddered with the impact but remained strong. The impact was enough to finish Donphan off, however. It collapsed to the ground after the impact, completely unconcious.

"Donphan, return!" Suzy called out as she recalled Donphan. Donphan's picture on the display faded, signifying that it had been knocked out. Suzy looked across the field at Wally with a slight smile on her face. "Not bad, Wallykins! You won't take down my next pokemon so easily!"

"W-Wallykins?!" Wally cried out in shock, blushing furiously.

"Slaking, your next! Go!" Suzy cried out as she held up a pokeball and released Slaking far out into the field, near the edge of the pool. The ape-like pokemon was sitting down when it appeared. It gave a yawn and jumped up on its feet.

"Altaria, be careful! Concentrate on dodging its attacks!" Wally called out to his pokemon. _"I can still remember my battle with Norman's Slaking. It packs a lot of power but it takes a break after every attack. If Altaria dodges its attacks, I can take advantage of its rest period and put it to sleep!"_

"Slaking, attack Altaria with Ice Beam!" Slaking beat its chest then opened its mouth and fired a blue beam at Altaria. Altaria rolled over in the air, narrowly avoiding the beam. The attack came close enough for Altaria to feel the cold radiating from it. Having made its attack, Slaking plopped back on the ground again to take a break.

"Altaria, now's your chance! Put it to sleep with Sing!" Altaria flew over the pool towards Slaking while singing out in a soothing tone. Slaking felt its eyelids grow heavy, then fell back to lie down on the ground and went to sleep.

"Good! Now attack it with Steel Wing!" Wally smiled, happy to see his plan working out so far for him. From the other side of the field, he didn't notice Suzy also smiling. Suzy had a plan of her own.

"Slaking, use Sleep Talk!" At Suzy's command, the sleeping Slaking suddenly rose to its feet while still sleeping. Altaria dove down towards it, its wings having a metallic sheen in preparation for its attack. It was surprised to see its opponent standing, but was even more surprised when its sleeping opponent delivered a swift punch to Altaria's face as it tried to move past.

The force of the punch knocked Altaria back and sent it plummeting into the pool. When Altaria floated to the surface, it was clear it was unconcious. Wally paused for a moment, stunned by the sudden turn of events. He recalled Altaria, and Altaria's image on the scoreboard faded to show it had been knocked out.

_"I wasn't expecting a Sleep Talk attack..."_ Wally thought to himself. _"Norman's Slaking never used Sleep Talk. Suzy must have prepared her Slaking just for something like this! Well, I'll just have to be more careful. No telling what else she'll have in store!"_

"I'll admit, you caught me off guard with that Sleep Talk, but I'm ready for your Slaking now!" Wally took another pokeball from his belt. "Hariyama, this one's your's! Go!" Wally held up the pokeball and released his next pokemon. A fighting-type pokemon bearing a similarity to a sumo wrestler appeared on the field and pounded its chest, ready to fight the opposing Slaking.

_"Bleh! Hariyama is totally an ugly pokemon!"_ Suzy thought to herself, though she frowned when she looked at her own Slaking. _"Not that I wanted my Vigoroth to evolve either! He used to be so full of energy! Oh well, I better switch to Raichu. Its my best bet to take on Hariyama..."_

"Slaking, thats good enough for now! Return!" Suzy held up Slaking's pokeball and recalled it.

"Wh-what the?!" Wally cried out in surprise. "Did she just..." Wally stopped mid-sentence and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as the thought suddenly dawned on him. "Right...my opponent's can switch pokemon in this tournament..." The entire stadium fell quiet at Wally's outburst. Wally looked around and noticed everyone was staring at him and immediately became flustered.

"H-Hey! Its an honest mistake! I'm used to battling gym leaders!" Wally cried out, waving his arms frantically and his face becoming red with embarassment. Hariyama shook its head sadly, a bit embarassed by Wally as well.

_"Aww! Wally's so cute when he's embarassed!"_ Suzy thought, giggling quietly to herself. Her expression grew more serious again as she returned her attention to the battle and drew another pokeball. "Ok, Raichu! This one's your's! Go!" Suzy released her pokemon, sending out her fully evolved Raichu onto the battlefield. Raichu's picture appeared below Slaking's on the scoreboard, making a vertical line with her first three pokemon.

"Raichu, use Agility!" Suzy called out to it. "And keep your distance from it! Hariyama is too slow to hit you with any of its attacks if you stay away!"

_"Thats what she thinks!"_ Wally thought with a smirk. "Hariyama, use Belly Drum!"

Hariyama sucked in air and then pounded its chest, making a sound like a drum. This had the effect of drawing out Hariyama's full physical power, but by pounding its chest it caused a considerable amount of damage to itself as well. Suzy's Raichu, meanwhile, concentrated while relaxing its body in an effort to increase its speed and reaction time.

"After that Belly Drum, Hariyama should be easy to take down! So bring it down with Thunderbolt!"

"Hariyama, quick! Detect!"

Suzy's Raichu became charged with electricity and fired a bolt from its body towards Hariyama. The bolt of electricity travelled through the air and looked as though it was about to strike its target dead on. Hariyama's eyes flashed and, in a movement too quick to be followed, moved aside. The Thunderbolt attack struck the ground where Hariyama had previously been standing, missing it completely.

"Now! Strike back with Earthquake!" Wally called out to Hariyama. Hariyama quickly slammed its foot into the ground, cracking the ground beneath its foot with its incredible power. The crack shot out in two directions, circling around the pool and erupting into a full Earthquake once it reached the other side.

The ground under Raichu's feet suddenly rose up sharply, before it even had a chance to react, sending it flying back and onto the shifting terrain below it. Raichu continued to be bounced around by the rupturing ground which was spread over almost the entire side of the field it was on. Eventually Raichu found itself in a large crack and chunks of rock and dirt settled on top of it as the Earthquake ended. With the last of its strength, Raichu threw the debris off itself then collapsed.

"Stupid! I wasn't even thinking it might use Earthquake!" Suzy cursed herself and quickly recalled her fallen Raichu. Raichu's image on the scoreboard faded, leaving only Slaking out of her revealed pokemon.

"Phew! Well that went well at least..." Wally breathed a sigh of relief. He knew Belly Drum was a risky technique, but he needed to make sure he could take Raichu out before it could attack Hariyama.

"Well I know my next pokemon will do the trick!" Suzy said to Wally through the speakers. She took her next pokeball from her belt and released the pokemon inside towards the pool. "Milotic, go!" In the middle of the pool, upon being released from its pokeball, appeared Suzy's Milotic. It kept most of its body below the water, with only its upper body and head raised above the surface.

_"Hariyama definitely can't reach Milotic..."_ Wally thought to himself. _"Using Earthquake would just destroy the pool, which I'm pretty sure is against the rules. Definitely can't reach it with any other attack, and trying to fight in the water is out of the question, so I guess I'll have to exercise my right to switch pokemon!"_

_"Hariyama, great job! You can rest for now!"_ Wally called out, raising Hariyama's pokeball and recalling the fighting type pokemon. _"Too bad though...kinda wasted the Belly Drum..."_ Wally then thought in dismay as he placed Hariyama's pokeball on his belt. He immediately took another ball in hand, knowing exactly what pokemon he wanted to use against Suzy's Milotic.

"Roselia, come on out!" Wally released his pokemon from its pokeball, sending out Roselia onto the battlefield and releasing it near the pool. Roselia's image appeared next to Wally's on the scoreboard, showing Altaria, Hariyama, and Roselia for Wally's pokemon and Milotic, Slaking, Raichu, and Donphan for Suzy's pokemon. Waly was only down one pokemon so far, with Hariyama weakened, and Suzy was down two.

* * *

"Wow...Wally's actually doing pretty good out there..." May quietly commented to Brendan. "I wonder how many badges he has? He's definitely come a long way!"

"Well given how strong his pokemon are, he probably has all eight." Brendan replied with a light shrug. "I'd be surprised if he doesn't anyway, considering he said he was used to battling gym leaders."

"I didn't realize either of them were this strong though..." May recalled the last time she saw either of them in battle. Suzy's pokemon were fairly strong, May was sure of that, but she could also see that they've gotten quite a bit stronger since the Lilycove contest. Also, although it had been a while since she saw his pokemon, she could tell Wally had gotten considerably stronger. At any rate, he was at least holding his own against Suzy.

"You know, May, Wally might actually be pretty tough competition for you." Brendan said with a smug grin. "He might even make it to the Elite 4 before you do!"

"Well just because he beats them doesn't mean I can't too!" May replied with a hmph.

_"Oh please..."_ Jessica thought to herself, rolling her eyes. _"Like she could ever win against the Hoenn League Elite Four..."_

* * *

"Ooo! A Roselia! Its so pretty!" Suzy sighed. "Now I'll have to knock it out though...so cruel!"

_"Is...is this girl for real?"_ Wally wondered, his eye twitching nervously.

"Milotic, time to show off your new move! Blizzard!" Milotic raised its head back then quickly leaned forward, sending a sudden blast of cold air towards Roselia. Ice and snow began to form in the cool breeze and sailed towards Roselia.

"Roselia, quick! Lie down!" Roselia dropped down onto its stomach and flattened its body against the ground as much as it could. Because of Roselia's small size the Blizzard went right over it, Roselia was too small for the attack to hit it head on while Roselia was lying down. Roselia waited out the storm and stood up again as Milotic's attack died down, the Blizzard had achieved nothing more than cover parts of the ground in a thin blanket of ice and snow.

"Now, Roselia! Attack with Bullet Seed!" Roselia charged towards the edge of the water, moving very rapidly on its short legs while holding its two flowers out in front of it like guns. It began firing seeds at Milotic and opened up into a full barrage, firing off like a machine gun.

"Milotic, dive under the water!" Milotic slipped its body under the surface of the water, evading further attack from Roselia. Roselia came to a stop at the edge of the pool and looked down, spotting its opponent in the water but being unable to reach it with a Bullet Seed attack.

"Roselia, away from the edge and use Sunny Day!" Wally's Roselia performed a backflip, jumping back several feet from the water. Its body began to glow orange as it landed, and heat began to radiate from it. The orange glow then formed into a ball above Roselia, which then shot up and exploded. The effect enhanced the sunlight as well as making it feel hotter.

"Now! Attack Milotic with Solar Beam!"

"Milotic, surface and use Rain Dance!"

Suzy's Milotic quickly surfaced and began wiggling about, causing the sunlight to begin to die down. As the sun died down, Roselia found itself having to gather more and more sunlight to charge its attack and buy Milotic a bit more time. Clouds then began to form over the battlefield, blocking out the sun entirely and creating a sudden downpour around them but leaving the audience dry.

_"No! Roselia's wide open to attack now!"_ Wally realized, silently blaming himself for making such a mistake.

"Now, Milotic! While its open! Blizzard!" Milotic unleashed another blast of cold wind and frost at Roselia. This time Roselia was unable to take any measures to avoid the attack and was struck head on. It was slowly pushed back as it was hammered by the cold wind and snow, disrupting its attempt to gather energy for its Solar Beam attack. Roselia became briefly burried under a pile of ice and snow when the attack finally ended, but quickly jumped back to its feet and shook it off. Roselia was panting quite a bit, heavily weakened by the assault.

_"Need to give Roselia a chance to heal!"_ Wally thought to himself. "Roselia, Grasswhistle!" Roselia brought its flowers to its mouth and blew threw them, creating a whistling noise. Suzy's Milotic began to feel drowsy and soon fell asleep, falling over and lying on its side as it floated on the surface of the water.

_"Lets see...if I'm not mistaken Milotic's Marvel Scale is in effect now."_ Wally thought to himself, recalling his knowledge of Milotic. _"I'll set it up with Leech Seed, use Sunny Day again, and then have Roselia blast it with Solar Beam. By then, Milotic should be waking up or close to. So then Roselia can easily finish it off with his Solar Beam!"_

"Roselia, use Leech Seed!" Roselia pointed both its flowers at Milotic and fired off a single green seed. The seed soared through the air like a bullet until it dropped down and landed perfectly on Milotic's side. The seed sprouted vines and latched onto Milotic and began sapping its strength while it sleeped.

_"If it was any other status effect, Milotic could have just shaken it off!"_ Suzy thought to herself. _"That Leech Seed is going to cause me trouble too. I should have used Safeguard, but I thought I could take his Roselia down in one attack!"_

"Now, Sunny Day!" Roselia began to glow as it stored energy, then raised its flowers up and formed the energy into a ball. The ball shot into the clouds above the field and exploded, instantly dispersing the clouds and creating an intense sunlight. In the water, Suzy's Milotic was still sleeping soundly while Leech Seed was draining its strength.

"Come on, Milotic! Please wake up!" Suzy called out desparately to her pokemon.

"Now lets wrap this up! Solar Beam!" Roselia jumped, holding its flowers in the air as it absorbed sunlight into them. As it reached the peak of its jump it brought both flowers forward and fired a beam of light energy into Milotic from above. The force of the beam pushed Milotic down into the water, smashing it against the bottom of the pool. Milotic finally woke up at this point and rose to the surface, raising its head out of the water and giving Roselia an icy glare.

_"Ok, Milotic is definitely hurting now!"_ Suzy thought to herself. _"If she uses Recover though it'll leave her open to an even more powerful Solar Beam now that her Marvel Scale won't protect her, so I need to block out that sun again!"_

"Milotic, use Rain Dance!" Milotic began to spin around in the water, invoking rain clouds above it that blotted out the sun above the battlefield. Wally wasn't worried this time around.

"Roselia, attack Milotic with Bullet Seed!" Wally's Roselia rapidly fired three barrages of seeds at Milotic, holding its blue rose out while his red rose was pressed against it as if holding a cannon. Milotic cried out at the impact. It had endured a lot of abuse and was now reaching the edge of its endurance.

_"I need to end this now!"_ Suzy thought desparately. "Milotic, attack Roselia with Blizzard!"

"Roselia, jump towards Milotic and use Bullet Seed!" Roselia quickly dashed forward as Milotic sent forth a blast of ice and snow. Roselia jumped up on an angle, just barely clearing the attack, then pointed its blue rose down at Milotic. It fired off five full bursts, the final seed hitting Milotic in the head. Milotic collapsed back onto the surface of the water and Roselia landed on its unconcious body. Roselia quickly jumped again to get out of the pool and land on the other side.

"Milotic...you gave it your best..." Suzy quietly said in a disheartened tone, recalling her Milotic. Milotic's image on the scoreboard faded, indicating its defeat. Suzy was now left with only three pokemon.

_"I think its time I brought an old friend back out!" _Suzy thought as she took another pokeball from her belt. "Slaking, your turn again! Go!" Suzy released Slaking from the pokeball, sending out the sleeping ape for another battle. Wally tensed up when he saw Slaking coming out again.

_"Its just going to use Sleep Talk again!"_ Wally thought to himself._ "There's no way I can know what attack its going to use!"_

"Slaking, use Sleep Talk!"

"Roselia, watch it carefully and try to dodge its attack!"

Roselia focused intently on the sleeping Slaking. He tensed when Slaking stretched its arms up, expecting an attack. Slaking merely yawned, but in the process it breathed out a cloud of gas. Roselia began to feel a bit drowsy as the gas surrounded it.

"Not good! That was a Yawn attack!" Wally realized as he looked on in fear. "I need to get Roselia out of there!" Wally took Roselia's pokeball in hand.

"Roselia, this is for your own good!" Wally called out as he recalled Roselia. The small rose pokemon seemed a bit disappointed as it was returned to its pokeball. Wally placed Roselia's pokeball on his belt and took another one in hand.

"Hariyama, go!" Wally released his Hariyama again. The fighting pokemon now lacked the power boost from its Belly Drum technique earlier, but it was still hurting from the chest pounding. Seeing Wally's choice of pokemon, Suzy took Slaking's pokeball in hand again.

"Good performance, Slaking! Take a break!" Suzy recalled the still sleeping Slaking to its pokeball and held up another one. "Go Bellossom!" Suzy released her own grass pokemon now, sending out Bellossom onto the field. Bellossom spun around and struck a pose, raising its small arms in the air, as it appeared. The rain previously caused by Suzy's Milotic finally ceased, leaving the field wet and muddy as the sun finally broke through the unnatural clouds above the field.

"Hariyama, go! Use Tackle!" Wally called out. Hariyama immediately began charging towards Bellossom, or at least moving as fast as its legs could carry its bulky body across the muddy terrain.

"Tackle?" Suzy thought out loud. "Whats he hoping to do with that...?"

Suzy soon got her answer. As Hariyama came to the edge of the pool it gave one strong leap into the air, putting all of its muscle into the jump. Suzy could tell that Hariyama was actually going to make it all the way across the pool as well and looked as though it would hit Bellossom when it landed. Of course, Suzy still had time to act.

"Bellossom, jump back and use Razor Leaf!" Bellossom performed a backflip, spinning as it flipped upside down in the air and firing off several sharp leaves from its skirt. The leaves sliced across Hariyama's body as it came down towards where Bellossom had been previously standing, but Hariyama hardly took notice of them. It landed in front of Bellossom with a tremendous impact, sinking several inches into the soft ground.

"Hariyama, grab it!" Upon Wally's request, Hariyama reached out and wrapped its large hand around Bellossom's body. "Now! Vital Throw!"

"Bellossom, use Poison Powder!" Hariyama raised its hand back to throw Bellossom, holding her upside-down above it. Bellossom sprayed out a purple powder from the two flowers on the top of its head, hitting Hariyama with the attack from above. Hariyama threw Bellossom straight into the ground hard and the grass pokemon cried out with the sharp impact. Meanwhile, the poison Hariyama was breathing in began to take effect and Hariyama began breathing heavily as poison coursed through its body.

_"That poison would have activated Hariyama's guts!"_ Wally thought with a smirk. _"Now we can really let loose!"_

"Hariyama, attack with Vital Throw again!"

"Bellossom, quick! Use Razor Leaf!"

Just before Hariyama could grab Bellossom the grass pokemon spun around quickly, firing several sharp leaves at Hariyama. Again, the attack did very little to deter the bulky fighting pokemon as it grabbed Bellossom. It raised Bellossom above its head then slammed her into the ground with even more force than the last attack. Bellossom's body hitting the muddy ground sounded like a hard slap combined with Bellossom's pained cry. Bellossom was slow to get back to its feet after such an attack, but Hariyama also looked to be getting quite fatigued by now.

_"Come on, Bellossom! Hold on just a little longer!"_ Suzy mentally urged her pokemon on. "Bellossom, once more! Razor Leaf!"

"Hariyama, finish it with Arm Thrust!" Wally called out quickly. Bellossom spun around again in a short attack, sending out a few sharp leaves before Hariyama connected its first hit. Hariyama thrust its right arm forward, hitting Bellossom with an open-palm attack. It followed up with its left arm, then right again, and then one final hit with its left arm. Bellossom reeled from the attacks and finally fell back as it lost the energy to stand and fight. Hariayam also collapsed to its knees and fell over, succumbing to Bellossom's poison.

_"Well at least his Hariyama's down now..."_ Suzy thought as she recalled her Bellossom. _"Between Delcatty and Slaking I can still win this! I just need to wake Slaking up and then switch between the two. Slaking might not be my best looking pokemon but he is my strongest!"_

"Double KO, so we need to send out our pokemon simultaneously...I'll use Roselia again to play it safe." Wally recalled his Hariyama then returned the pokeball to his belt and took Roselia's pokeball in hand again.

"Roselia, you can do this! Go!"

"Delcatty, center stage! Go!"

Both trainers simultaneously released their pokemon. Wally sent out Roselia, giving the grass pokemon another turn in the battle, while Suzy sent out her second normal-type pokemon Delcatty.

_"Delcatty...its probably just going to use Heal Bell to wake up Slaking..."_ Wally thought to himself. Having a Delcatty himself, he was familiar with its techniques in battle. _"At least that gives me time to set up Sunny Day though and then I can start using Solar Beam again!"_

"Ok, Roselia! Start off with Sunny Day!"

"Delcatty, put his Roselia to sleep with Sing!"

Wally's Roselia raised its rose-tipped arms up as it prepared to use its Sunny Day attack, but its arms dropped to its sides lazily as Delcatty began singing in a soothing voice. Roselia began to feel drowsy, then collapsed to the ground as he fell asleep.

"Shoot! I thought for sure she would use Heal Bell first!' Wally thought.

"Delcatty, now use Heal Bell!" A blue, translucent bell formed on the end of Delcatty's tail. It brought its tail forward and started wagging it, creating a soothing chime. Though it didn't appear to have any effect, Wally knew that Suzy's Slaking was awake now.

"Roselia, return!"

"Delcatty, thats it for now! Return!"

Wally and Suzy both recalled their pokemon. Wally already knew what pokemon Suzy was going to use, and had choosen his next pokemon appropriately. Both trainers took another pokeball in hand and sent out their next pokemon.

"Magneton, this one's your's! Go!"

"Slaking, lets finish this up!"

Both trainers once again released two new pokemon onto the battlefield. Suzy sent out her Slaking again, which was now awake and standing up as it appeared. In an attempt to counter Suzy's Slaking, Wally sent out his steel and electric type pokemon Magneton. Wally was counting on Magneton to be able to take hits from Suzy's Slaking.

_"A steel type...well lets see what Wally does first!"_ Suzy thought to herself.

"Magneton, attack with Thunder Wave!" Wally called out. _"Slowing her Slaking down is my best option at this point. I just hope it doesn't know Earthquake, Magneton might not be able to withstand that kind of power..."_

"Slaking, strike back with a Focus Punch!" Suzy called out to Slaking, a smirk forming on her lips. _"That should take care of Magneton! Then only three more to go..."_

Wally's Magneton fired out a pulse of electricity as Slaking charged towards it. Suzy's Slaking jumped clear across the pool in the middle of the battlefield, but as it landed on the other side it was struck by the Thunder Wave attack. It staggered slightly as the electricity went straight to its muscles in an attempt to paralyze it.

For at least the moment, Slaking didn't seem to be stopped by the paralysis. It raised its fist and continued on the warpath. A white glow surrounded its hand as it focused its power, then delivered a powerful punch dead center on Magneton. The force of the punch sent Magneton crashing into the wall under Wally's platform.

"Magneton! Are you ok!?" Wally called out to his pokemon. Magneton peeled itself off the wall, sparks briefly erupting from the magnets on its body from the extensive damage it had taken from the attack. It was still capable of fighting, but just barely.

"Good! Now lets make our counter attack!" Wally said with a smirk. "Magneton, Mimic! Then follow up with your own Focus Punch!"

Magneton pointed its magnets at Slaking, focusing on copying the last technique Slaking had used on it. With Slaking unwilling to fight back after having just attacked, Magneton was able to use its newly acquired technique unhindered. It quickly hovered across the ground sideways, charging towards Slaking with one of its magnets pointed towards it. Its magnet began to glow with concentrated energy before slamming into Slaking with a Focus Punch attack. The force of Magneton's attack knocked Slaking back and sent it rolling across the ground, nearly landing in the pool in the center.

_"I didn't think his Magneton would be able to take a Focus Punch, let alone throw it back on me!"_ Suzy thought, gritting her teeth. _"This changes everything! If Slaking goes down, I don't have a chance!"_

"Slaking, rest up!" Suzy called out, recalling her Slaking into its pokeball again. She quickly took her other pokeball out and released Delcatty onto the battlefield again. "Delcatty, go! Your turn again!"

"Magneton, quick! Attack Delcatty with Focus Punch!" As it did with Slaking, Magneton hovered sideways across the field. It hovered over the pool and charged towards Delcatty just as it had been released from its pokeball. Its magnet began to glow as it focused its energy then delivered a powerful punch attack, knocking Delcatty into the back wall just as Slaking had done to Magneton earlier.

"Delcatty, get up and use Assist!" Delcatty quickly got up from the attack. Though it was a strong and effective attack, it wasn't as strong as it could be coming from Wally's Magneton. Delcatty faced down Magneton and opened its mouth, firing three small rings of water that expanded after being fired. Delcatty was calling on its ally's power and using Milotic's Water Pulse technique. Magneton staggered back as the blue pulses of water struck it then landed on the ground as its levitation ceased, knocked out by Delcatty's attack.

"Magneton, good job! Return!" Wally called out, recalling his fainted Magneton. The scoreboard now showed all six of Suzy's pokemon with only Delcatty and Slaking remaining, while on Wally's side it showed four pokemon with Roselia and two unknown pokemon remaining.

_"Ok, Suzy's definitely going to try to get Slaking back into the fight..."_ Wally thought to himself. _"Both her pokemon are weakened. My best option would probably be Gardevoir, but I'll save her for last since she can probably handle either of Suzy's pokemon right now. So instead...I'll use my own Delcatty."_

"Delcatty, I choose you! Go!" Wally called out, releasing his own Delcatty onto the field. Wally's Delcatty purred happily when it was released from its pokeball, happy to have the chance to battle. It tilted its head and peered curiously at the opposing Delcatty far off on the other side of the field.

"Oh wow! You have a Delcatty too?!" Suzy cried out, squealing in delight. Wally's Delcatty purred happily at the attention while Suzy's Delcatty turned its head away, disinterested in the exchange.

"Why me?" Wally wondered quietly. "Delcatty, attack with Ice Beam!"

"Huh?" Suzy blinked in confusion then quickly shook her head. "Right! Delcatty, Assist!"

Wally's Delcatty ran forward until it was near the edge of the pool, putting it in range to attack with an Ice Beam. Suzy's Delcatty likewise moved to the opposite edge of the pool to attack. Wally's Delcatty made the first move, firing a blue beam of energy from its mouth at its opponent on the other side of the pool. The beam struck Suzy's Delcatty head on and ice briefly formed over the front of its body then shattered. Suzy's Delcatty recoiled in pain, but was still determined to follow through with its attack.

Suzy's Delcatty used Assist to tap into the abilities of its allies. It opened its mouth and let out a yawn, breathing out a white gas that slowly crossed the pool and surrounded its opponent. Wally's Delcatty began to feel a bit drowsy as the effects of the Yawn attack began to sink in.

_"Yawn...so I'll only get one more attack."_ Wally thought to himself. _"Maybe I should have put her Delcatty to sleep first. I wouldn't have had anything to lose even if she used Sing as well. Oh well, one more attack should knock out her Delcatty now!"_

"Delcatty, lets take it out fast! Faint Attack!" Wally called out to his Delcatty. It immediately backed up, giving itself some room to make the jump.

_"This is my last chance!"_ Suzy thought. "Delcatty, quick! Heal Bell!"

A blue, translucent bell appeared at the end of the tail of Suzy's Delcatty. Delcatty then wagged its tail, ringing the bell to create a soothing chime that would cure Slaking's paralysis despite it being in a pokeball. Just after it had executed the attack, it was suddenly recoiled as if it had been struck and Wally's Delcatty appeared behind it.

Wally's Delcatty had jumped over the pool while Suzy's Delcatty was using Heal Bell and had used Faint Attack in mid-air, striking Suzy's Delcatty with a swift ninja-like strike. The attack was enough to knock out Suzy's Delcatty, but Wally's own Delcatty likewise fell asleep. Suzy recalled her fainted Delcatty.

_"Down to three against one now..."_ Wally thought. The odds were seemingly in his favor, but he was still feeling tense. _"I only have one pokemon that can fight though, Delcatty and Roselia are both asleep. Delcatty is wide open for a Focus Punch, which would probably be strong enough to knock it out coming from a Slaking. Roselia might be able to take at least one Ice Beam or Mega Punch though..."_

"Delcatty, return!" Wally called out as he, too, recalled his Delcatty. Both Wally and Suzy prepared to send out another pokemon.

"Slaking, its all up to you now! Go!" Suzy released her Slaking to battle once again, this time sending it out far to release it just past the pool and onto Wally's side of the field.

"Roselia, lets give it our best! Go!" Wally sent out his Roselia, another pokemon who had been in the battle several times at this point. Roselia was clearly asleep when it appeared on the field, courtesy of a Sing attack from Suzy's Delcatty earlier.

"Slaking, hit that Roselia with Mega Punch!" Suzy called out to her Slaking. Slaking complied and raised its fist. It quickly closed the distance between itself and Wally's Roselia and smashed it with a powered punch, sending the small rose pokemon colliding hard against the back wall of the stadium. Roselia fell to the ground after the impact and wasn't moving, but the quiet snoring from it suggested it was merely still asleep.

_"Come on, Roselia...wake up..."_ Wally silently pleaded with his pokemon while Slaking stood by and rested, waiting to get the energy to attack again. Roselia slowly fluttered its eyes open and rose to its feet, a pained expression on its face as it felt its body hurt from Slaking's previous attack.

"Good! You're awake!" Wally said to his Roselia. Roselia nodded slowly. "Lets get back in this then! Leech Seed!" Roselia pointed its red flower at Slaking and fired a seed from it. The seed landed on Slaking's chest and immediately sprouted vines to latch on. Roselia breathed a contented sigh as it felt its energy being slowly restored to it.

_"Shoot! I might be in trouble now..."_ Suzy thought to herself. _"Slaking's already taken a strong hit from Magneton's Focus Punch earlier, and I still don't know what Wally's last pokemon is. Well, I'm at least taking down his Roselia!"_

"Slaking, finish it off! Faint Attack!" Slaking moved its arms back, as if preparing to make a charge forward. It then seemed to vanish as it passed by and struck Roselia at a speed too fast to follow. Roselia seemed to be hit by an invisible attacker and Slaking appeared behind it. The impact sent Roselia rolling across the ground until it hit against Slaking's leg and was knocked out.

"You gave it your best. You deserve a rest, Roselia! Return!" Wally held up Roselia's pokeball and recalled it, then began to think over his situation.

_"I have Gardevoir and Delcatty left."_ He thought to himself. _"Delcatty is asleep though, so the obvious choice would seem to be to send out Gardevoir. On the other hand, her Slaking is looking like its getting a bit tired down there, so maybe Suzy would risk having Delcatty wake up to let it heal itself. I don't really have anything to lose, and if I'm right then Delcatty can get back in the battle."_

"Delcatty, go!" Wally released Delcatty back onto the battlefield, still asleep from an assisted Yawn attack.

_"Why would he send out Delcatty?"_ Suzy wondered. _"Delcatty can't even fight back now! He must be holding off his last pokemon for some reason, but why?" Suzy shook her head and smiled to herself. "Doesn't matter! While that thing's asleep I can take the time to have Slaking heal with Slack Off!"_

Both Suzy and Wally were forced into a waiting game for a short period of time. Delcatty was still asleep and couldn't do anything, while Suzy's Slaking was still taking a break. When Slaking was finally ready to attack again Suzy immediately issued her command.

"Slaking, use Slack Off!" Suzy Called out to it. Slaking happily oblidged, sitting back on the ground then lying out on its side to relax. Using the brief rest period it was able to restore its energy, pretty much negating the damage caused by Magneton's Focus Punch attack earlier. The seed latched onto it was still draining its energy, however, and shortly after making its attack Delcatty opened its eyes and gave a quiet yawn. Wally's Delcatty was awake again and ready for battle.

"Alright, now we're back in this thing!" Wally called out with a smirk. "Delcatty, Charm!" Delcatty began to prance arround, acting cutely. As it did, Suzy's Slaking got a somewhat serene expression on its face. Slaking's muscles began to relax and weaken from the sight.

_"No! He's weakening my Slaking!"_ Suzy thought in shock. _"Slaking's attacks will be drastically weaker after that Charm attack, and I can't recall it now either! My only chance at winning is slipping away!"_

"Slaking, quick! Hit it with a Focus Punch!" Suzy called out desparately, calling out her attack without putting much thought into it. Slaking got to its feet and raised its fist back, focusing power for its attack.

"Like we're going to let you! Delcatty, Doubleslap!" Delcatty mewed happily and jumped towards Slaking, turning in the air to land with her back facing it. Delcatty then began slapping at Slaking's stomach with her tail. Slaking dropped its fist and flinched at the first attack, losing its focus on its Focus Punch technique, but stood unphased by the rest of the weak attacks. Delcatty only hit Slaking three times in total, but it was more than Wally actually needed from it.

"Now, lets give Assist a shot while its resting!" Delcatty turned to face Slaking while tapping into the abilities of its allies in Wally's pokeballs. A pair of translucent, cloud-like wings formed on its back. The wings also had a metallic appearance to them as they became more solid, but only remained on Delcatty's body long enough for it to flap them and strike Slaking with a Steel Wing attack borrowed from Altaria.

_"That was really odd to watch..."_ Wally thought, blinking in disbelief.

_"I didn't even know Delcatty could use assist like that...assist is a really odd technique"_ Suzy thought in equal disbelief. _"Ugh! I have no time to think about that!"_ Suzy quickly shook her head, erasing the thought from her mind. _"Come on, think! There has to be some way I can still make a comeback! Slaking's Ice Beam is all I can think of though..."_

"Slaking, use Ice Beam!"

"Delcatty, counter with your own Ice Beam!"

Both pokemon quickly fired off their respective Ice Beam attacks at point-blank range. Both pokemon were knocked to the ground as a block of ice quickly formed between them and shattered, sending shards of ice everywhere. Slaking got the worst of it, being a larger target for the shards of ice.

_"No! I forgot his Delcatty knew Ice Beam too!"_ Suzy began tapping her head with her fist in frustration. _"Stupid, stupid, STUPID! Come on! I have to focus here! Slaking might be weakened, but he can still attack! I just have to use a strong attack like Mega Punch and not Focus Punch..."_

_"Suzy's looking pretty stressed over there..."_ Wally thought to himself. Though he was happy he was winning, he was a bit dismayed at what he seemed to be putting Suzy through. _"Sorry Suzy...but either way, I'm ending this battle!"_

"Delcatty, use Sing to put it to sleep!" Delcatty began singing in a harmonius tone, causing Slaking to fall back on the ground fast asleep. _"Slaking might have Sleep Talk, but what attack it uses is random..."_ Wally thought once Slaking was asleep.

"That won't stop my Slaking! Slaking, use Sleep Talk!" Slaking got up, while still asleep, then moved onto its hands and knees. With its eyes still closed, it looked at Delcatty with a sad face and hands clasped and held out towards her as if begging her for something. Delcatty turned around and gave Wally a look as if to say, 'What do I do now?'

_"Covet attack...I wonder if that hurt its pride any?"_ Wally thought, smiling sheepishly. _"Well, with that Leech Seed, Slaking's still weakening slowly. So lets get in one good attack!"_

"Delcatty, use Double-Edge!" Wally called out to her. Delcatty nodded and turned back to Slaking, then quickly jumped towards it in an all-out tackle attack. Delcatty put all the strength it could into the jump, slamming into Slaking and knocking it back onto the ground. Slaking stayed down, but it was fairly obvious it was still asleep and had a bit of fight left in it.

"Come on! One more attack, Ice Beam!" Delcatty jumped back off Slaking then opened its mouth and fired a cold, blue beam at nearly point blank range. Slaking's body quickly became encased in ice as the beam struck it, and the ice gave no sign of shattering. Realizing the battle was over, Suzy recalled Slaking.

"Thats it, there goes the battle!" The announcer called out excitedly. "This match goes to Wally Wood!" The crowd was quiet for a moment as that fact set in, then the entire stadium began to applaud Wally's performance. Wally blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at the praise until his Delcatty suddenly leapt up and pinned him to the floor of the platform, nuzzling her head affectionately against his face.

_"Well...I gave it my best..."_ Suzy thought with a sigh. _"Oh well...I can still win the contests once the tournament is over! Besides..."_ Suzy smiled as she looked across the stadium at Wally. _"I can't be upset at losing to a cute guy like Wally!"_

* * *

"Hey! Looks like Wally won!" May stated excitedly.

"Seemed like he had it pretty much under control anyway." Brendan said to her. "He didn't even need to use his sixth pokemon..."

"Yeah! I'll have to congratulate him on making it to the next round! I wonder who he'll end up against though?"

"Well, we'll find out soon enough. The next match starts in ten minutes..." Brendan looked over at May as he said this and noticed she was looking at something at the other side of the room. Following her gaze, Brendan saw a lost looking Minun standing by the door.

_"Melany said Alex was here..."_ May thought, looking at the Minun. The Minun was looking back at her curiously. _"I wonder...could that be his Minun?"_

* * *

Author's Notes: I actually had a bit of trouble naming this chapter, aside from the 'Wally Vs. Suzy' part. I think 'Crushing Defeat' is appropriate in more ways than one though, which is why I settled on that. About all I can think of mentioning here right now...


	66. Chapter 55: Best Served Cold

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Fifty Five**

**Best Served Cold - Melany Vs. Vito**

"I wonder whose Minun that is..." Brendan cautiously reached his hand out towards the Minun, but withdrew when Minun's cheeks sparked defensively. "Huh...well it doesn't seem to like me much..." Brendan stood up and glared down at the Minun, who was sitting in May's lap and enjoying having its head scratched.

"I bet you're Alex's Minun, right?" May asked it. Minun gave no response to her.

_"Mmm...yeah...just behind my ears there..."_ Minun thought to itself contentedly. _"Wasn't there something I was supposed to be doing though...?"_

"I know! I'll get Plusle out!" May carefully placed Minun on the floor, much to his dismay, then stood up and took Plusle's pokeball from her belt. "Plusle, come on out!" She called out while releasing Plusle. Plusle slowly materialized on the floor, standing next to Minun. The two looked at each other for a moment, blinking with a vacant expression on their face.

"-..Minun?-"

"-Plusle?-"

"-Minun!-" Plusle cried out happily and hugged Minun. "-Yay! Its Minun!-"

"-Plusle!-" Minun tightly hugged his friend back. The two began hopping around in a circle, happy to see each other.

"I was about to say how unlikely that'd be, but now I don't know what to say..." Brendan commented, scratching the back of his head.

"They definitely know each other!" May noted happily. "Now I just need Minun to lead me to Alex, and then the first thing I'm going to do when I find him is knock his block off!" May punched at the air to emphasize her statement, narrowly missing Wally as he walked through the door in front of them.

"H-hey! Watch it!" Wally cried out. May lowered her hand to her side in embarassment.

"Sorry Wally!" May said apologetically. "Oh! Congratulations on winning your match! You were great out there!"

"Thanks May! I feel kinda sorry for Suzy though..." Wally sighed and looked down at Minun and Plusle, who were still prancing about and chatting excitedly to one another. "I think I might have been a bit too harsh on her pokemon..."

"WALLY!" Wally looked up just as Suzy tackled him to the ground just outside the lounge door and hugged him tightly. "Wally you were great out there! I just loved your pokemon!"

"S-Suzy!" Wally cried out desparately, struggling to get out from under her. Suzy had him pinned though, and no one was offering to help him.

"Your Roselia was great! And your Delcatty too! And your Altaria was so elegant even when it was beating my Donphan!" Suzy continued to go on about their battle while Wally was struggling to get free until an announcement got everyone's attention.

"The second match will now get underway!" The announcer's voice echo'd throughout the stadium. "Trainers, take your places!"

"Ooo! The next match is starting! Lets go see who you'll be up against in the next round Wally!" Suzy finally let Wally up and went into the lounge to watch the screen. Wally sat up, taking a moment to catch his breath before being dragged away by Suzy.

"Suzy! Slow down already! I can walk!" Wally cried out while being helplessly dragged in front of the screen by Suzy.

"I think I feel more sorry for Wally than I do for Suzy..." Brendan commented, grinning wryly then turning to May. "Well, Melany's up next. I think this match will give us a good idea of what we'll be up against in the final round, since I'm sure one of us will be facing her..."

"Right! I can hold off punching Alex a little longer anyway..." May turned and headed towards the screen with Brendan but stopped and looked back when she heard Minun cry out in distress.

"-AHHHHH! I'm supposed to be on the battlefield!-" Minun cried out, flailing its tiny arms frantically. Minun took off out of the door, heading towards the battlefield.

"-Minun! Wait!-" Plusle called out, running off after Minun.

"Plusle! Minun! Get back here!" May took off out of the lounge as well, following behind the two electric pokemon.

"She needs to calm down." Suzy commented, nodding to herself. She was completely oblivious to Wally staring at her in disbelief.

* * *

"Alright, for my first pokemon I choose Heracross!" Vito called out as he held up a pokeball, releasing the fighting bug Heracross onto the battlefield. "You don't stand a chance against this one!"

_"We'll just see about that now won't we?"_ Melany thought to herself. _"I had a feeling you might start with Heracross, Vito."_

_"You're seriously expecting your electric mouse to beat that thing?"_ Odari commented in disbelief.

"Of course. I have this whole thing figured out." Melany replied. "For my first pokemon, I choose Minun!" Melany called out without raising a pokeball. Everyone looked around expectantly.

"Well then send it out already!" Vito called out mockingly. "Its not just going to appear because you called it by name."

"Sure it will." As if on cue, Minun jumped the fence separating the battlefield from the audience stand and landed on the battlefield in front of Melany. It quickly turned to face its opponent while Heracross looked on in disgust. Plusle was about to jump the fence as well until May caught up with her and grabbed it.

"Plusle, you can't go out there! There's a battle!" May said to Plusle while holding her in her arms. May looked out on the field and spotted the Minun ready to battle for Melany.

_"Thats Melany's Minun then...?"_ May thought in dismay. _"But...but I thought she only used ground, steel, and rock types?"_

"Good, looks like Minun got May's attention." Melany thought, noticing May standing on the other side of the fence. "Now I just need Minun's phobia to kick in..."

_"Your Minun has a Phobia?!"_ Odari cried out in shock. _"Look, is it too late to go back and switch your pokemon for the rest of the ancient pokemon? I don't have to remind you how much you've staked on making it to the final round!"_

_"Just trust me, ok? I know what I'm doing."_ Melany replied stiffly. Casting a glance out at Minun she noticed her pokemon acting a bit fidgety on the battlefield and looking around at the crowd watching it.

"Ha! You honestly expect to beat me with that?" Vito snickered. "What a pathetic pokemon! It looks scared to even be in a battle!"

_"Scared?"_ May thought. She watched Minun for a moment and it quickly clicked in. _"Wait! Its afraid of the people watching it! It has stage fright, just like Alex's Minun did! Could it really be Alex's Minun?"_

_"Minun, ignore the audience! Focus only on your opponent!"_ Melany called out to it. Minun nodded hesitantly and turned its attention back to Heracross. Minun still didn't seem sure of itself. Vito's Heracross had a bored expression on its face as at this point it wasn't expecting Melany's Minun to put up a fight.

"Trainers...begin battle!" The announcer called out, signalling the start of the battle.

"Heracross, lets finish this one before it can even attack! Earthquake!" Heracross brought both its hands together and slammed the ground hard, sending a twin pair of cracks circling around the pool towards Minun.

"Minun, quick! Into the water!" Minun ran forward on all fours and jumped into the pool, escaping the devastation that rocked the ground where he had been standing.

"A minor setback..." Vito stated calmly, running his hand through his hair. "Heracross, fish it out and then let it have it with Megahorn!" Heracross nodded and ran forth, diving into the pool.

_"He really needs to look before he leaps."_ Melany thought with a smirk. "Minun, out of the water with Quick Attack then use Thunderbolt!" Minun shot straight up out of the water with a Quick Attack then charged electricity and fired a bolt straight down into the water. The pool sizzled with electricity and Heracross cried out in pain from the surface of the pool.

With its attack finished, Minun plummeted downwards and landed on the edge of the pool. Shortly after, Heracross grabbed onto the edge and quickly pulled itself out of the water then turned to Minun and glared at it angrily.

"We won't tolerate that kind of trickery!" Vito called out angrily. "Heracross, show them! Megahorn!" Heracross horn gave off a greenish-yellow aura as the bug pokemon lowered it towards Minun. Heracross charged towards Minun, slamming him with its horn then tossing Minun upwards. Minun sailed through the air until it struck the wall of the arena then fell to the ground with a thud.

"Now ram it with another Megahorn!" Heracross lowered its horn again and charged towards Minun, who was picking itself up off the ground after the last attack.

"Oh please..." Melany rolled her eyes. "Minun, jump and Quick Attack off the wall!" Minun looked up and saw Heracross charging towards it. He quickly jumped up, narrowly avoiding the bug's attack, then kicked off the wall with a Quick Attack to land several feet behind Heracross. The wall shook violently as Heracross rammed it full force, but it managed to hold up.

"Now! Use Thunder Wave!" Minun turned towards Heracross and fired out a pulse of electricity. Heracross winced as the electricity coursed through it, striking its muscles and slowing its movements.

"Clearly you don't know of my Heracross special ability!" Vito called out with a grin. "Now that you've paralyzed it, its Guts ability activates and increases its strength. Heracross, Brick Break!" Heracross turned around sharply and raised its fist to attack Minun. Its fist struck the ground, though, just narrowly missing its target.

"Minun, hit it from above with Iron Tail!" Minun jumped straight up and flipped over in the air while its tail seemingly turned to metal. It then came down hard on top of Heracross's head to hit it with an Iron Tail attack, slamming Heracross face first into the ground.

"Now, follow up with Thunder!" Minun raised its arms up and gave a sharp cry, calling down a bolt of lightning from the cloudless sky above. The bolt struck Heracross from above and the bug pokemon cried out in pain as the lightning shot through it and into the ground. Despite taking a strong electric attack, Heracross still managed to slowly climb to its feet. It was looking pretty badly battered and bruised by this point though.

"My Heracross will not be made a fool by that electric rat!" Vito called out angrily. "Heracross, no holding back! Earthquake!"

"Minun, quick! Jump up!" Minun jumped straight up again as Heracross slammed the ground with its fist, causing it to ripple out in all directions. The ground cracked and ruptured, but Minun was safely above it all.

"Now, finish it with Quick Attack!" Minun shot down out of the air in a blur of motion and struck Heracross from above again, flipping in the air off Heracross's head and landing on the ground with its back to it as Heracross collapsed to the ground. Vito recalled his Heracross, uttering a 'hmph'. The first pokemon image next to Vito's picture on the scoreboard went out, signalling its defeat.

"My Heracross may have been taken down but victory will still be mine in the end." Vito took another pokeball from his belt. "Alakazam, go!" The pokemon was released from the pokeball and the psychic pokemon Alakazam appeared on the battlefield. Minun quickly turned towards it, ready to battle.

_"So he has an Alakazam. I think I have a plan now..."_ Melany thought with a smirk, drawing out Minun's pokeball. "Minun, good job! Return!" Melany recalled Minun to its pokeball then placed the pokeball back on her belt.

_"Wait, you're JUST getting a plan together?!"_ Odari cried out in shock. _"Did you even plan to win this match?!"_

_"Sure I did. First things first, I need to make sure he uses Alakazam later instead of now."_ Melany took another pokeball from her belt. "Absol, go!" Melany called out, releasing the dark-type pokemon Absol from its pokeball. Absol growled when it saw Vito standing on the other side of the battlefield.

_"Hmph. Alakazam cannot deal with a dark-type well at all. A shame. He will need to wait until later..."_ Vito recalled his Alakazam, switching pokemon again. "Then it looks like Shiftry will handle this again!" Vito called out as he released the dark and grass type pokemon Shiftry from its pokeball. Shiftry grinned when it appeared and spotted Melany's Absol.

_"Much better."_ Melany thought with a smirk. "First off...Absol, use Perish Song!" Absol raised its head and cried out, its voice sounding like a dark and creepy tone as it used Perish Song. Both pokemon were now on a short time limit.

"We still have more than enough time to defeat your Absol!" Vito boldly declared. "Shiftry, go! Brick Break!" Shiftry began running quickly across the field, circling around the pool as it moved towards Absol to attack. Absol had plenty of time to get ready with a counter-attack however.

"My Absol's learned a new trick since the last time it battled your Shiftry, Vito. Absol, use Flamethrower!" Absol turned towards the oncoming Shiftry then opened its mouth and released a stream of flames towards Shiftry. Shiftry was caught in the flames briefly, but jumped back out of range of the attack.

"Absol, now! Slash attack!" Absol stopped its attack and leapt towards Shiftry while it was still trying to defend itself and slashed it with the blade on its head. Shiftry cried out and staggered back as it was struck.

"Don't let up! Follow up with a Quick Attack!" Absol shot forward in a blur of motion, striking Shiftry as it dashed by it. Shiftry grunted with the impact. It turned to Absol and glared at it, curling its leaf into a fist and getting ready to strike with a Brick Break. Before it could attack, though, Vito recalled it.

"Time's up..." Vito grumbled as he recalled Shiftry.

"Absol, return!" Melany called out, also recalling her pokemon before Perish Song could take affect. She quickly took another pokeball in hand. "Skarmory, you're up next! Go!"

"Gyarados, go! Stomp her pokemon!" Both trainers released their next pokemon, Vito releasing the water pokemon Gyarados into the pool at the center of the field while Melany sent out her steel-type bird pokemon Skarmory.

_"Figures, I bet that Gyarados is the same one that took my fishing rod."_ Melany thought bitterly. "Skarmory, start off with Agility!"

"Gyarados, take that bird down with Flamethrower!" Skarmory closed its eyes and focused, relaxing its body to enhance its speed. Meanwhile, Vito's Gyarados raised up high out of the water near the edge of the pool and fired down a blast of flames at Skarmory. Skarmory became completely engulfed in flames.

"Skarmory, now! Air Cutter!" While still under the flames, Skarmory brought its wings together and fired off a v-shaped blade of air. The blade cut through the flames, separating them to strike the ground on either side of Skarmory instead of hitting it directly. The blade made its way through the flames to strike Gyarados in the head. Gyarados stopped its attack and growled in pain.

"Now! Take to the air!" Skarmory flapped its wings and took off, flying up quickly with its enhanced speed and raising up high above Gyarados's head. Gyarados followed Skarmory's movements, glaring at it angrily.

_"Hmm...Gyarados won't be able to hit it with Flamethrower up there."_ Vito thought to himself. _"Perhaps Hydro Pump would be a better option."_

"Gyarados, use Hydro Pump!"

"Skarmory, dodge it and get ready with a Sky Attack!" Skarmory easily swerved out of the way of Gyarados attack and began circling around it above, focusing sharply on Gyarados in preparation to attack.

"Gyarados, try Hydro Pump again!"

"Skarmory, dive down into it with Sky Attack!"

Gyarados raised its head and fired another powerful, wide stream of water at Skarmory. This time, instead of dodging, Skarmory dove straight down through the water. The pressure did little to slow Skarmory down as its speed and sharp body broke through it.

A fiery aura surrounded Skarmory as it dove through the attack and struck Gyarados in the head from above. Gyarados bellowed loudly and dropped into the water as its body collapsed under it. Skarmory pulled out of its dive and landed on Melany's side of the battlefield.

Gyarados lied still in the water for a moment, but soon its body rose up to its full height again and stared Skarmory down. It still had quite a bit of fight left in it, as did Skarmory.

_"Hmm...Gyarados isn't doing much to her Skarmory. Even with its special attacks. Her Skarmory is tough..."_ Vito thought to himself. "Gyarados, return!" Vito recalled his Gyarados. Vito now had Gyarados, Alakazam, Shiftry, and Heracross shown on the scoreboard while Melany had Minun, Skarmory, and Absol. Only pokemon whose image was faded out was Heracross.

"Electrode, zap that metal fiend!" Vito called out, releasing Electrode from its pokeball. The pokemon that appeared looked like a four foot tall pokeball with a face.

_"Electrode huh? Well, I'll let Skarmory take on this one."_ Melany thought to herself. _"I don't consider Electrode a particularly worrying pokemon."_

"Electrode, attack Skarmory with Thunderbolt!"

"Skarmory, Steel Wing!"

Skarmory flapped its wings and took off towards Electrode, quickly crossing the field to attack. Electrode began sparking with electricity and fired a bolt just as Skarmory struck it with its wings. Skarmory was knocked to the ground by the bolt, but Electrode was also knocked back and bounced off the wall of the stadium from the impact.

"Skarmory, quick! Get up and hit it with Steel Wing again!"

"Electrode, finish it with Spark!"

Skarmory hopped back to its feet, grimacing in pain. Electrode charged with electricity and rolled towards Skarmory. Skarmory raised its wing and struck Electrode as it rolled into it. Both pokemon were once again knocked back by their respective attacks, but this time Melany's Skarmory didn't get back up. Its image on the scoreboard went out, and Melany recalled it to its pokeball. It was Vito's first victory.

"Alright, he'll probably switch at this point but it doesn't matter." Melany thought as she took her next pokemon's pokeball in hand. "Golem, go!" She then called out, releasing Golem onto Vito's side of the battlefield so it wouldn't have to get past the pool.

_"You know, throwing your Skarmory away like that really didn't seem too bright."_ Odari said to Melany. _"What if your plan backfires?"_

_"If that happens, I doubt Skarmory would be able to help me." _Melany replied flatly.

"Electrode, return!" Vito called out, recalling his Electrode then quickly switching its pokeball with another. "Gyarados, this time you will win for sure! Go!" Vito released Gyarados out into the pool again, and Golem turned around to face its opponent.

"Golem, use Rock Blast!"

"Gyarados, take it down with Hydro Pump!"

Golem smashed its hands together then thrust its arms out towards Gyarados, blasting out four large rocks at it as if launching them from its body. Gyarados countered by firing out a powerful spray of water that blasted all four rocks out of the way and slammed Golem with the water, sending it rolling across the ground. Golem managed to put its arms out bounce up and flip in the air, landing back on its feet.

"Golem, strike back with Rollout!" Golem quickly curled up and began spinning rapidly, then shot towards Gyarados and jumped up so that Golem was aiming at its face.

"Gyarados, use Hydro Pump again!" Gyarados opened its mouth and sprayed Golem with another Hydro Pump attack. The Hydro Pump did little to slow down Golem's attack however, the rock pokemon continued on and smashed Gyarados in the face then continued on to land on the other side of the pool with its momentum. Golem uncurled on the otherside and nearly collapsed from being struck by a water attack.

"Gyarados, finish it off quick! Twister!" Gyarados turned towards Golem and gave a mighty roar, using draconic powers to summon a whirlwind around Golem. Golem disappeared completely inside the swirling cloud. It could eventually be seen trying to walk out through it, towards Melany, but fainted before it was clear of the attack. Melany recalled Golem, the second defeat for her pokemon.

_"You know, I don't often worry about the feelings of pokemon, especially other people's, but I think it was a bit cruel for your Golem to fight a battle you knew would be onesided like that."_ Odari said to Melany.

_"Its not like I'm just throwing him out there to be defeated."_ Melany replied sharply. _"I knew Golem didn't have a chance against Gyarados, but I knew Golem could still do some damage because Gyarados is a flying type. Plus Skarmory didn't do as much as I'd have liked it to do to Golem. Vito won't leave Gyarados out against my next pokemon now, so I'm slowly cornering him."_

_"I still don't think that plan is going to work, but whatever you say."_ Odari replied indifferently.

"Armaldo, you're next! Go!" Melany called out, releasing the ancient bug pokemon Armaldo from its pokeball. Armaldo stood tall and gave a sharp battle cry, preparing itself for battle.

"Gyarados still has an advantage over her rock type pokemon, but it has taken a beating." Vito thought to himself. A smirk formed on his lips as he had an idea. "Perhaps I shall introduce my final player to this game..."

"Gyarados, return." Vito recalled Gyarados, then quickly released his next pokemon. "Dodrio, this one is your's." Vito called out his pokemon's name as he released it. A wingless, three-headed bird pokemon appeared on the field and stared down Armaldo with all three heads. Armaldo was taken back by the sight of its opponent.

"Dodrio, use Drill Peck!" Dodrio gave a shrill cry from all three of its heads then charged across the battlefield at a breakneck pace, easily clearing the pool in the enter in a single bound. A vacuum of air began swirling around its three beaks, giving the appearance of drills.

"Armaldo, Protect!" Armaldo threw out its arms and formed a blue, protective bubble around itself as Dodrio closed in to attack. Its three beaks smashed against the bubble and began drilling against it, but the barrier held long enough for Dodrio to be forced to back off the attack. Dodrio took a step back and gave a low, menacing growl, angry at having had its attack blocked. The air swirling around its beaks dissipated.

"Now! Use Slash!"

"Dodrio, Double Team!"

Armaldo raised one of its claws and took a swipe at Dodrio, but this time it was Dodrio's turn to evade the attack as Armaldo slashed through a fake image of the three-headed bird. Four more similar images surrounded Armaldo, two in front of it and one on either side. Only one of them was the real Dodrio, and it wasn't the one it had attacked.

"Armaldo, use Iron Tail and spin around to hit them all!"

"Dodrio, jump and use Double Edge!"

Armaldo's tail took on a metallic appearance and it spun around to strike all the Double Team images in a single attack. It managed to strike the first two, swining in a clockwise direction, but the last two jumped before being hit. The final image disappeared as the real Dodrio, the third image Armaldo would have hit, dove down towards it and slammed into Armaldo with a full body tackle attack. Both pokemon were sent sprawling to the ground, with Dodrio on top.

"Armaldo, knock Dodrio off with Brick Break!" Armaldo raised its right claw and smashed Dodrio in the side hard with the back of it. Dodrio was knocked off to the side, allowing Armaldo the chance to get back on its feet.

"Dodrio, get back up and attack with Drill Peck!"

"Armaldo, use Ancientpower!"

While Dodrio was still getting back on its feet, Armaldo began drawing out its ancient power. The ground under Armaldo shattered and rocks began to float around it. The rocks fired out and pummeled Dodrio once it was back on its feet. Fortunately for Dodrio it was able to withstand the attack well-enough to stay standing.

Dodrio reared its three heads back and a drill-like vacuum of air swirled around each of its beaks. It closed the short gap between itself and Armaldo and drilled it with all three beaks. Armaldo stood its ground throughout the attack, raising its claws up defensively to protect itself.

"Hmm...it seems Dodrio isn't holding up very well." Vito realized as he observed the battle. "But her Armaldo has taken two good hits at least, enough for my Alakazam to get in and wrap things up."

"Dodrio, that is enough. Return." Vito recalled his Dodrio, then flicked his hair back with his hand before releasing his next pokemon. "This is the beginning of the end. Alakazam, go!" Vito held up a pokeball and released his Alakazam onto the battlefield once again.

"Armaldo, thats enough! Return!" Melany recalled Armaldo to its pokeball to send out another pokemon to take on Alakazam. "Minun, you're up again! Go!" Rather then sending out Absol, which many people would have expected, Melany sent out Minun onto Vito's side of the field.

"You're using that runt again?" Vito chuckled. "Your Minun may have gotten lucky against Heracross but it stands no chance against Alakazam. Alakazam, use Calm Mind!"

_"Minun can't beat Alakazam, but he can set you up for the fall..."_ Melany thought to herself. "Minun! Thunder Wave!" Minun raised its hands towards Alakazam and fired a pulse of electricity, paralyzing Alakazam while the psychic pokemon was busy meditating. Unfortunately for Minun, Alakazam's Synchronize ability took effect as well causing Minun to collapse to its knees as paralysis swept through its body as well.

"That won't us. Alakazam, take that runt out! Psychic!" Alakazam raised its two bent spoons in front of its face, using them as a focus for its psychic power. A blue aura surrounded Minun and lifted it off the ground. Minun cried out in pain as the psychic force began crushing it until Alakazam could no longer hold its concentration on the technique.

Alakazam finished the attack by throwing Minun across the field with its psychic power. Minun was tossed back through the air, sailing over the pool and landing on its face on the other side of the field. Minun tried to push itself back onto its feet, but collapsed with the effort. Melany recalled Minun to its pokeball.

"-Minun!-" Plusle cried out in shock at Minun's defeat.

_"I don't get it..."_ May thought. _"Melany has at least five legendary pokemon...but she's still not using any of them. She could have won this match already, but it doesn't even look like she's going to make it to the second round now. Well I guess if thats the case I wouldn't have to worry about facing her at least, but it just doesn't make sense to me..."_

_"I definitely need to ask her about her Minun though."_ May looked down at Plusle, who was actually crying over Minun's loss. _"Her Minun seems too much like Alex's for it to be a coincidence..."_

"Armaldo, go!" Melany called out as she released Armaldo from its pokeball again, sending it out on Vito's side of the field so it was in range to attack Alakazam.

"Armaldo, use Iron Tail!" Armaldo raised its tail in preparation and it took on a metallic sheen.

"Alakazam, Teleport to the other side of the field now!" Alakazam closed its eyes and focused to use its Teleport technique, but it was slow to get the technique off due to paralysis and was struck a harsh blow by Armaldo's Iron Tail. The impact sent Alakazam sailing back towards the wall, but it teleported away before the impact and landed hard as it reappeared on the other side of the battlefield near Melany.

_"I respect wanting to give water pokemon equal opportunity, but that pool is becoming a major pain."_ Melany thought bitterly. _"Although its not like I expect Armaldo to beat Alakazam anyway, I just need to put it into a position where my next pokemon can gain an early lead on it by forcing Alakazam to take time to Recover."_

"Why are you taking such a risk anyway? It hardly makes sense." Odari asked her.

_"The first time I battled Vito, his Heracross took out five of my pokemon before Minun finally stopped it."_ Melany explained. _"I want him to have five pokemon so I can beat each of them with one pokemon..."_

_"In other words its a childish revenge plot."_ Odari remarked. _"In my day we didn't hold grudges like that, it was detrimental to our tribes afterall."_

_"I don't buy that in the least."_ Melany replied dryly.

"Now, Alakazam, use Recover then Calm Mind!" Vito called out smugly, sure of his pokemon's safety. His Alakazam immediately focused on using Recover, a soft glow surrounding its body as its injuries from the Iron Tail attack were healed.

"Armaldo, get close enough to it and use Ancientpower." Armaldo began running towards the pool and then dove in, swimming across it towards Alakazam. In the time it took for Armaldo to reach the other side, Alakazam was meditating for its Calm Mind technique.

Armaldo pulled itself up out of the water and threw out its arms as it immediately drew out its ancient powers. The ground under it shattered and several rocks began levitating around it. Armaldo then fired the rocks at Alakazam, disrupting the pokemon's concentration briefly while it tried to defend itself against the attack.

"Alakazam, strike back with Psychic!" Alakazam focused, creating a blue aura around Armaldo as it focused its psychic powers and began crushing it. Armaldo growled in pain as the psychic force weighed down on it. When Alakazam's concentration began to wane it quickly turned around, bringing Armaldo with it at a distance, then released its psychic hold to fling Armaldo into the wall. Armaldo was knocked unconcious upon impact and was quickly recalled by Melany.

"Alakazam will almost definitely use Recover now, time enough for me to level the playing field. Time to call out my trump card..." Melany reached down to her belt with her right hand and grabbed a yellow and black ultra ball. She brought the pokeball up to release her next pokemon.

"Regice, go!" Melany released the ice golem onto the battlefield, drawing several surprised gasps and whispering from the audience. None of them recognized the pokemon.

"What the?! Is that thing even legal?!" Vito yelled out in surprise. A light-blue circle displaying the word 'ice' appeared next to Melany's name on the scoreboard to indicate her Regice, as there were no default images for Regice.

"I guess she brought a legendary pokemon after all!" May said in surprise. She hesitantly reached for her pokedex, wondering if it would have any information on Regice.

"Regice, the iceberg pokemon." The pokedex read out. "Information on this pokemon is still being processed by Professor Birch and is unavailable at this time." Despite the pokedex's lack of information, it did display Regice's picture and type.

_"Thats right, Professor Birch was researching Melany's legendary pokemon..."_ May thought while putting her pokedex away. _"Whatever he's found out about it must not be available yet, which means Melany has an advantage in that no one will know what to expect from it..."_

_"Looks like the judges are allowing this."_ Vito thought, noting the scoreboard. _"I bet its just because she's the daughter of Mr. Stone. Well I've got too much of a lead on her now! I'll teleport away before it can attack then have Alakazam Recover again."_

"Alakazam, teleport back and use Recover!" Vito called out. Alakazam focused briefly then disappeared from view, reappearing on Vito's side of the battlefield. It then focused on using Recover to restore its injuries from the Ancientpower attack.

"Regice, power up with Amnesia." Regice's eyes flashed as it registered the command then temporarily forgot something in exchange for increased defense against non-physical attacks.

"Well two can play at that game. Alakazam, use Calm Mind and keep it up!"

"Regice, use Amnesia to maximize your defense then switch to Curse!"

Both pokemon began powering up, Alakazam meditating with Calm Mind to increase its mental powers while Regice used Amnesia to temporarily trade off more of its memory for enhanced defenses. Once its defense against non-physical attacks was maximized, it switched to using Curse and became surrounded in a dark aura as it boosted its physical defense and power.

Regice was able to halfway maximize its physical defense as well, courtesy of Alakazam being briefly delayed due to paralysis. Even after Alakazam was fully powered, Regice continued on with Curse and Melany made no effort to stop it even as Alakazam opened its eyes and ended its meditative trance.

"Now, Alakazam! Lets take that ice monstrosity down! Psychic!" From all the way across the field, Alakazam reached out to Regice with its psychic powers. A blue aura surrounded Regice as Alakazam began applying pressure on its body with Psychic. Regice hardly seemed phased though, it continued to use Curse even while under attack.

"Regice, thats enough now." Upon Melany's command, Regice ceased use of its Curse technique. "Now, use Lock On!" Regice's eyes flashed then focused in on Alakazam. A red bullseye appeared on Alakazam's head, marking it for an attack.

"Now! Hyper Beam!" Melany called out sharply. Regice raised its arms then focused a ball of energy in front of it, expanding until it was as large as Regice, and then fired it in an equally large beam of pure energy.

"Alakazam, Teleport!" Alakazam disappeared just before the beam hit it, reappearing nearby. It was far from safe, though, as the Hyper Beam curved just after missing Alakazam and honed in on its new position. Before Alakazam could react it was swept up by the beam and pushed along with it until Alakazam was smashed against the wall of the stadium.

The stadium walls proved themselves to be quite durable, resisting the tremendous impact and the continued pressure with only a few cracks to show for it. Alakazam didn't hold up nearly as well and collapsed onto the ground, unconcious, when the Hyper Beam was finally spent. Vito recalled his Alakazam, gritting his teeth in anger.

_"Damn it! Now how am I supposed to deal with that thing?!"_ Vito thought desparately. _"My Heracross could have taken on an ice pokemon like that but...ugh! Was she planning this all along? She must be cheating somehow!"_

"Electrode, go! Explosion!" Vito sent out his Electrode onto Melany's side of the field. Electrode immediately rolled over to Regice, stopping directly in front of it, then unleashed all of its power in a massive explosion that engulfed Regice completely. For a moment, neither pokemon could be seen underneath the spherical wall of energy surrounding them.

When the energy finally dissipated Regice was still standing and seemed to be relatively unharmed, much to Vito's dismay, while Electrode had expended its energy completely in one attack. Vito recalled his Electrode. Though no one was close enough to notice, Vito was starting to sweat.

_"Even withstood an Explosion from my Electrode?!"_ Vito thought in disbelief. _"After a Psychic attack from Alakazam no less. Can this pokemon even be beaten?"_

"Gyarados, go! Take that thing down with Flamethrower!" Vito released his Gyarados again, sending out the serpent pokemon into the pool at the center of the field. As soon as Gyarados appeared it raised its head high up out of the water and breathed down a stream of flames onto Regice. Regice withstood the attack without even flinching.

"Regice, use Rest!" Regice's eyes faded out as it temporarily shut itself down, at the same time all damage that had been done to it was restored as well.

_"You seem to be getting better at judging their endurance."_ Odari commented to Melany.

_"Honestly, I'm just playing it safe."_ Melany replied with a shrug. _"It did take one attack that was relatively neutral to its defenses, Alakazam's Psychic, in addition to an Explosion. Of course, even though Electrode is known for its Explosion technique its not exactly strong. Still, better safe than sorry."_

_"Better safe than sorry? That hardly sounds like you at all."_

"Its resting, is it? Then now's our chance! Gyarados, Dragon Dance while its asleep!" Gyarados gave a loud roar and became surrounded in an orange glow as it called upon its draconic powers, increasing its strength and speed while Regice slept.

_"Still not going to get strong enough to damage Regice."_ Melany thought to herself. Gyarados continued to power up, stopping only when Regice's eyes lit up again as it woke up.

"Now, Gyarados! Attack with Hyper Beam!" Gyarados opened its mouth and fired a massive beam of energy at Regice, blasting it from above with Hyper Beam. The attack knocked Regice over and pinned it to the ground as the beam continued to pummel it. After several seconds the beam was finally spent, leaving Regice lying on the ground but still concious. There was hardly a sign that the attack even hit other than scorch marks on Regice's otherwise clear blue body.

"What?! No way!" Vito cried out in dismay.

"Even if Regice didn't have its defense boosted it probably could have taken that attack." Melany stated. "Regice, finish that Gyarados off now! Thunderbolt!" While still lying on the ground, Regice pointed its arms at Gyarados and fired off a bolt of electricity. Gyarados cried out, its body becoming stiff from the shock as the bolt struck it. It soon lost what strength it had left, its body gave out under it and it fell to the water with its head crashing down on the edge of the pool.

"It knows electric attacks too?! Damn it!" Vito growled in frustration as he recalled his Gyarados, then shot a furious glare at Melany. "Listen, you! I don't care how strong that thing this! I'm taking it out and winning this match! I've come too far, trained too hard to lose now! I've never lost a match! Ever! You hear me?!"

"This isn't some fairy tale." Melany shot back. "Just because you have a desire to win, doesn't mean you're going to suddenly gain some insight or unlock a pokemon's hidden power just to beat me. Even if it was a fairy tale, that never works for a jerk like you anyway."

"What did you just say?!" Vito demanded angrily. His hands were starting to shake and his left eye began twitching in his rage. "Even if I am, that doesn't matter! This is pokemon! Only the strongest win, and my pokemon are the strongest there is!"

"Your pokemon are strong, I'll give you that, but they're not the strongest. True strength comes from the bond between a trainer and their pokemon. When there's no bond, a pokemon can never realize its true potential." Melany, having been calm up to this point, clenched her fist and glared across the field at Vito. "All you care about is a pokemon's power..."

"I don't have to stand here and take this from you." Vito growled as he reached for a pokeball. "Dodrio, take her down!" Vito released his three headed bird pokemon from its pokeball. Before it even had an attack order it was charging across the battle towards Regice.

"Regice, take it down with Ice Beam."

"Dodrio, Double Edge!"

Dodrio continued to charge towards Regice, who had taken the chance to get on its feet during Melany and Vito's argument. Regice was able to attack first, however, because of the distance between them. A blue beam fired out from the tip of its right hand and struck Dodrio as it was jumping across the pool. Dodrio's body became completely encased in ice and dropped into the water below. The iced Dodrio floated to the surface of the pool, where Vito quickly recalled it.

"Shiftry, go! Finish this!" Vito called out desparately, sending out his Shiftry without missing a beat. This time, he sent out his pokemon on Melany's side of the field so Regice wouldn't have the chance to strike first.

"Shiftry, take it down with Brick Break!" Shiftry curled its leafy hand into a fist then jumped towards Regice, striking Regice as it came down on top of it. Regice didn't even move from the impact, leaving it and Shiftry standing next to each other.

"Regice, use Ice Beam again." Regice fired off another Ice Beam attack, hitting Shiftry at point-blank range and instantly freezing it in a block of ice. Since the attack instantly knocked Shiftry out the ice remained on it. Vito once again recalled his pokemon. Even though Shiftry was his last pokemon, he still didn't seem ready to quit, and was staring out at Regice as if considering his next move.

"The last pokemon goes down!" The announcer called out. "This match goes to Melany Stone!" The crowd remained mostly quiet aside from the odd cheer, most people gathered didn't know what to think about the battle. Melany recalled Regice and began to walk away until Vito called out to her.

"This isn't over!" Melany stopped, but didn't look back at him. "This isn't over, you hear me?! I'll get even stronger pokemon! Whatever it takes I'll beat you!" Melany shrugged but gave no response. She continued on her way out of the stadium.

* * *

_"Well he certainly took losing rather poorly..."_ Odari noted , referring of course to Vito.

"He comes from a family of strong trainers and apparently this is his first loss. I've probably left his pride completely shattered..." Melany replied with a shrug. She was alone in the corridor leading out of the stadium, so she thought nothing of speaking out loud to Odari. Or at least, she thought she was alone.

"Melany...who are you talking to?" Melany looked back and saw that May had snuck up on her. Melany froze, completely at a loss of words for a moment. May looked at her expectantly, holding a concerned Plusle in her arms.

"Just...thinking out loud..." Melany eventually replied, grinning sheepishly and rubbing the back of her head.

"Oh..." May decided against looking any further into it. "Umm...Anyway...Melany, that Minun you used...where'd you get it?"

"I caught it of course..." Melany replied with a shrug then continued on her way out of the stadium before May could ask anymore questions.

_"She caught it..."_ May thought over Melany's answer. _"So...was it just a coincidence it was so much like Alex's Minun...?" _May sighed in defeat then walked back into the stadium.

* * *

Author's Notes: Basic plan was for Melany to make a comeback against Vito with one pokemon taking down five of his, as Melany mentioned herself. As well as have Melany drop a bit of a hint for May regarding Minun. There was something else I was going to mention here I think but I can't remember. Couldn't have been too important then...


	67. Chapter 56: Mind Games!

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Fifty Six**

**Mind Games! - Brendan Vs. Jessica**

"Let the third battle commence!" The tournament's announcer called out, signalling the start of the battle.

"Torkoal, I choose you! Go!"

"Dusclops, start this off!"

Brendan and Jessica sent out their first pokemon respectively, Brendan starting off with Torkoal and Jessica starting with Dusclops as the third battle got underway. The two pokemon were released standing directly across from each other on the edge of the pool.

"Alright, Dusclops, its time to show how a real trainer battles." Jessica thought while adjusting her glasses to better focus on Torkoal. "Dusclops, start things off with Curse!"

A large, shadowy nail formed in front of Dusclops and then stabbed itself through the chest then vanished. A dark aura then surrounded Torkoal, caused by Dusclops using its own life force to place a curse on Torkoal.

_"A Curse attack? This girl doesn't joke around! Better make this quick!"_ Brendan thought to himself before ordering an attack. "Ok, Torkoal! Use Heat Wave!" Torkoal breathed out a stream of fire that began swirling around it as it gathered in strength. Once it had built up its attack it blasted Dusclops with a pillar of fire that completely engulfed it momentarily, then slowly decreased in strength until the attack was used up.

"Thats right, attack my Dusclops..." A glint of light shone through Jessica's glasses. "Dusclops, use Pain Split!" Dusclop's eyes flashed as it concentrated on its attack and a red aura surrounded the two pokemon. Both pokemon grimaced in pain as each pokemon's remaining life force was divided equally between them.

Both pokemon were looking a bit worn out after, as Dusclops was nearly down for the count after cutting its own life force and being attacked by Torkoal. Brendan gasped as he saw this, finally catching onto Jessica's strategy.

"I walked right into that!" He thought, drawing out Torkoal's pokeball. His pokemon didn't have much time left now, courtesy of the affects of a Curse from a ghost pokemon. "Torkoal, thats enough! Return!"

"Dusclops, now! Pursuit!" Dusclops vanished as Torkoal was disappearing into its pokeball, then suddenly reappeared along with Torkoal near the platform Brendan was on. Dusclops had smashed Torkoal out of its recall, hitting it into the ground and knocking it out with a powered-up Pursuit attack. Brendan grimaced at this and made another go at recalling Torkoal, this time without any interferance.

_"She got me again..."_ Brendan thought in dismay. _"Well I'm still taking out her Dusclops."_ Brendan placed Torkoal's pokeball on his belt. Torkoal's image on the scoreboard was faded out now as well.

"Aggron, go!" Brendan released his next pokemon behind Dusclops, since the ghost pokemon was standing so close to Brendan's platform now. When the towering seven foot tall steel armored pokemon appeared it quickly turned to face its foe.

"Aggron, start off with Substitute!"

"Dusclops, quickly! Curse!"

While Aggron was making its Substitute, Dusclops formed a shadowy pin to cut its life force again and put a curse on Aggron that would rapidly drain its strength. Using the technique a second time drained Dusclops remaining life force, forcing Jessica to recall it. Of course, she wasn't particularly worried as it was her intention all along. Dusclops managed to place the curse before Aggron used Substitute, effectively halving Aggron's ability to fight between the two techniques.

_"Pretty fast for a Dusclops...just sent Aggron out and already hurting.."_ Brendan thought to himself. Being an experienced trainer, he knew that Curse would effectively quarter a pokemon's remaining energy in the same amount of time it'd take it to launch a single attack. Using Substitute also uses up a quarter of the pokemon's life force to create an empty shell and hide itself.

"Breloom, your turn now! Go!" Jessica released her Breloom out onto Brendan's side of the battlefield, facing down Aggron's decoy. "Breloom, take out its Substitute with Sky Uppercut!"

"Aggron, hit it with a Focus Punch!" Breloom ran towards Aggron and jumped up, striking the substitute Aggron several times along the front of its body until it smashed the substitute in the jaw with its tiny hand. The substitute shattered, revealing Aggron hiding behind it. As soon as it had shattered the substitute Breloom was struck by a charged punch from Aggron, sending the grass pokemon flying through the air until landing hard and skidding to a stop at the edge of the pool.

_"Aggron's definitely not going to hold up much longer with that curse, better recall it."_ Brendan noted that Aggron seemed to be getting pretty exhausted and raised a pokeball to recall it.

"Aggron, thats enough for now! Return!" Brendan recalled Aggron and took a moment to think over which pokemon to send out next, eventually deciding on the one he felt had the biggest advantage against Breloom. "Masquerain, this one's your's!" Brendan called out as he held up the pokeball.

"Breloom, hit it with Spore!" Jessica commanded her pokemon before Masquerain was even released. Breloom quickly got back to its feet and began shaking its tail, and as Masquerain appeared hovering over the battlefield it was immediately showered by a cloud of spores released from Breloom's tail. It divebombed into the ground, falling fast asleep from contact with the spores.

_"I just can't win with this girl!"_ Brendan thought, gritting his teeth in frustration. _"Its like she's already planned out this entire battle somehow and I'm just being dragged along for the ride! All I can do now is hope Masquerain gets up in time to defeat Breloom..."_

"Now, lets weaken that Masquerain. Use Leech Seed, then follow up with Poison Powder!" Breloom turned around quickly and flicked its tail, launching a seed about an inch in diameter at the sleeping Masquerain. The seed sprouted small vines and latched onto Masquerain and began steadily draining its energy. Breloom then followed up by shaking its tail, peppering Masquerain with a purple powder that inflicted it with poison. Masquerain finally woke up after Breloom had successfully poisoned it.

"Masquerain, we need to stop that Breloom! Slow it down with Stun Spore!" Masquerain flapped its wings, releasing several spores towards Breloom that paralyzed its body on contact. Masquerain then continued flapping its wings to achieve lift and hover just over the ground.

"Good! Now follow up with a Gust attack!"

"Breloom, take Masquerain down! Thunderpunch!"

Masquerain began flapping its wings rapidly, kicking up a windstorm. Breloom cried out and briefly lost its footing as it was blasted by the gust of wind. It started to slowly push back against the attack to get towards Masquerain, bravely venturing forward until it reached its target. Its hand crackled with electricity and was followed by a swift electrically-charged punch straight up into Masquerain.

Combined with the continuous drain from the poison and Leech Seed, the Thunderpunch was more than Masquerain could take. It fell out of the air, landing on its back on the ground and staring up with a dazed expression on its face. Brendan recalled Masquerain and the scoreboard was updated with Masquerain's knockout. Two of Brendan's three revealed pokemon were now down for the count.

_"Man...I'm really off to a bad start."_ Brendan thought to himself before sending out another pokemon. _"She's taken down two of my pokemon and greatly weakened Aggron. I need to make a comeback somehow."_ Brendan looked down at Breloom, noticing how exhausted it seemed to be. _"Jessica doesn't seem to have much regard for her pokemon's well-being...she's practically sacrificing her pokemon to win..." _

Brendan sighed at the sight and reached for a pokeball, having finally decided on what pokemon to use next. "Manetric, your opponent's weakened! Go get 'em!" Brendan called out, releasing Manetric from its pokeball. The electric pokemon appeared on the field and growled menacingly as it prepared itself mentally for battle.

"Breloom, put it to sleep with Spore!" Breloom started to turn around but doubled over in pain and stopped as its body as suddenly gripped by paralysis.

_"I feel sorry for it..."_ Brendan thought briefly. "Manetric, use Crunch!" Manetric jumped at Breloom, biting it hard around the neck and bringing it down to the ground. Breloom cried out sharply but was silenced by the pressure around its throat, making it hard for Breloom to breathe. Breloom was barely even concious now, its will to fight was slowly slipping away.

"Now finish it! Spark!" Manetric released its hold on Breloom's neck long enough to charge electricity around its body, then quickly smashed its head against Breloom's to deliver the attack and instantly knock it out. Jessica recalled her Breloom, completely unfazed by her pokemon's defeat. Breloom was only her second pokemon revealed and defeated.

"Jessica, you don't seem to care for your pokemon much..." Brendan said to her. "You can't possibly hope to win by just continually sacrificing them needlessly."

"You're only half right." Jessica corrected him. "Pokemon are just that to me, pokemon. I don't really care to go through any trouble to befriend them, in fact I only have one pokemon I really care about at all. I am not, however, sacrificing them needlessly." Jessica smirked at Brendan. "I thought a professor's aide such as yourself would understand my strategic approach to battles, but I suppose I was wrong. Oh well."

_"She actually has a strategy to all this?"_ Brendan thought while reflecting on their previous matches. _"Well, yeah, I have definitely been falling into her schemes pokeball, line, and sinker. I don't see what kind of strategy she could have though that'd involve her pokemon being outright defeated."_

"Swampert, go! Take out that Manetric!" Jessica held up a pokeball and released her Swampert from its pokeball, releasing the five foot tall mud fish pokemon directly in front of Brendan's Manetric.

"Manetric, good job! Return for now!" Brendan recalled Manetric, knowing full well it stood little chance against a Swampert. "Shiftry, you can take this one! Go!' Brendan called out as he released Shiftry to battle Swampert. Jessica's Swampert was at a huge disadvantage against Shiftry, but still Jessica kept it out and instead focused her attention on the scoreboard.

_"So thats five of Brendan's pokemon..."_ Jessica thought to herself. _"He's known for using a Swampert as well, so now I know his full team. He has four pokemon remaining, but his Aggron is no threat. I'll let him have his victory against my Swampert but then switch to Ninjask and get ready to end this match."_

"Shiftry, start off with Sunny Day!" Shiftry crossed its leaf-tipped arms and focused, creating an orange glow around its body.

"Swampert, attack with Ice Punch!" Swampert quickly closed the short gap between itself and Shiftry, curling its left hand into a fist as it moved and forming a layer of ice around it. Swampert landed the punch just as Shiftry released an orange orb into the sky that burst to release a brilliant light that enhanced the heat and light from the sun. Shiftry staggered back, crying out as the ice shattered against it, but quickly regained its composure.

_"I don't get it, why doesn't she recall Swampert? Its both a water and ground type pokemon, even if it survives the Solar Beam it'll be just barely...and she definitely has to see that attack coming!"_ Brendan thought, still trying to figure out Jessica's strategy. "Shiftry, jump so it can't hit you and use Solar Beam!"

Shiftry crouched down then made a strong leap straight up, raising its hands above it and starting to focus the sun's energy as it jumped up several feet into the air. It had gathered enough energy as it reached the height of its jump and fired a Solarbeam attack straight down at Swampert. There was a flash of light as the attack hit its target and Swampert was knocked to the ground and pinned there under the beam.

When Shiftry had released all its gathered energy into the attack it finally landed in front of Swampert. Swampert was badly injured and its body was covered in scorch marks from the Solar Beam, but it was strill making an attempt to get back onto its feet and looked as though it still had a bit of fight left in it as well.

"Shiftry, finish this! Giga Drain!" Shiftry stretched out its arms towards Swampert and drew out what remained of the pokemon's energy. A green ribbon-like stream of energy flowed out of Swampert and into Shiftry's body, and Swampert collapsed back onto the ground as the last of its energy was drained. Jessica recalled her pokemon without any hint of dismay.

_"Jessica still doesn't look worried..."_ Brendan thought. _"Am I just walking into her trap? Did she want me to defeat her Swampert? Ugh! This is going to drive me nuts now!" _Brendan gritted his teeth and clenched his fist as frustration began to set in over Jessica's tactics.

_"Poor Brendan, he looks so frustrated. This will all be over soon though."_ Jessica thought with a smirk as she reached for another pokeball.

* * *

"That should be me out there kicking Jessica's butt!" May whined when she saw that Brendan was in the lead.

"May! You sound as if you want Brendan to lose!" Suzy accused her. Suzy, May, and Wally were sitting on the bench in the trainer's lounge watching the match on the screen there. Wally was sitting between the two girls with Suzy clinging onto his right arm. Wally had long given up trying to throw Suzy off him, deciding to just accept his fate until the tournament was over.

The three trainers were still the only ones in the lounge. Brad was still nowhere to be seen, and Melany and Vito both left after their match even though Melany would still have one more match that day against Wally. Although Suzy was officially eliminated she was staying to watch Wally's match.

"I don't want Brendan to lose!" May replied defensively. "I just wanted to be the one to beat Jessica. She doesn't like me, and I don't like her either! Her attitude bugs me..." May crossed her arms and stared daggers at the girl on the screen battling Brendan.

"Wouldn't beating the guy who beat Jessica be just as good?" Wally suggested.

"It just wouldn't be the same..." May replied, sighing in defeat. "Well maybe I can always challenge her to a match after the tournament or something..."

"Why would she hate you?" Suzy asked curiously. "I don't see why anyone would hate you May..."

"I think its because I messed up her plans to catch a legendary pokemon...a few times." May replied, smiling sheepishly. _"She'd probably hate me even more if she knew I caught that pokemon..."_

"Hmph. Well thats just silly." Suzy stated indignantly.

_"Yeah, it is silly..."_ May thought, looking back to the screen. _"But she went to extremes to try to catch it...and thats not how a trainer should act. If Raikou would only listen to me I could really show her up..."_

* * *

"Ninjask, time to really get this started! Go!" Jessica called out as she released the bug pokemon Ninjask onto her side of the battlefield. With her Ninjask's speed, though, Jessica knew it'd hardly matter which side she released it on.

_"Was that it then?"_ Brendan wondered. _"Is she hoping to overtake me with Ninjask's speed after beating my most defensive pokemon?"_ Brendan smirked to himself. _"Well if thats the case, she's forgetting about Swampert. Plus I still have Aggron. As injured as Aggron is it'll still take Ninjask's attacks like nothing."_

"Shiftry, attack her Ninjask with Solarbeam!" Brendan called out. With Shiftry's speed being increased by its Chlorophyll ability, Brendan was hoping to land an early attack on Ninjask. Shiftry quickly gathered up light energy from the sun into a sphere between its hands then fired a Solarbeam attack at Ninjask.

"Ninjask, block it with Protect!" Ninjask formed a transparent blue barrier around itself just before the beam hit. There was a brilliant flash of light as the beam struck the barrier, but Ninjask remained protected until the Solarbeam attack was out of energy.

"Didn't work..." Brendan grumbled to himself. "Shiftry, good enough! Return!" Brendan recalled Shiftry, placing its pokeball on his belt. "Aggron, your turn again! Go!" Brendan released Aggron from its pokeball again, sending it out on Jessica's side of the field to give it a better chance to hit Ninjask.

"Ninjask, take this one out! Dig!" Ninjask shot down into the ground, digging into it almost instantly and disappearing beneath the dirt.

_"Have to time this just right..."_ Brendan tried to picture Ninjask's movements underground in his mind, waiting for the right moment to give his order. He pictured Ninjask tunneling underground quickly, gaining speed from its Speed Boost ability. When he could picture Ninjask being just under Aggron, he was finally ready.

"Aggron, Protect now!" Aggron crossed its arms defensively, forming a protective blue bubble around itself. Only seconds later, Ninjask shot up from the ground under and attempted to strike Aggron. Aggron's shield blocked its attack however, forcing it to dig around the shield with its small claws to get out of the hole.

"Aggron, attack it now! Iron Tail!" Aggron turned around quickly as Ninjask emerged from the hole. Ninjask shot upwards in an attempt to avoid it, but Aggron was still able to hit it as it was rising up and smashed it like a baseball. Ninjask was sent spinning through the air but managed to right itself and regain controlled flight. It was a strong hit, but Ninjask still looked ready for more.

"Ninjask, now! Baton Pass!" A red pulse of energy shot out from Ninjask's body, taking the shape of a baton. The baton remained spinning in the air while Jessica recalled Ninjask then followed up by sending out Zangoose where it had just been. Zangoose caught the baton, which granted it the speed boosts that Ninjask had been building up.

_"A baton pass strategy?! Damn it! I should have seen that one coming!"_ Brendan thought, mentally slapping himself. He had been so caught up trying to figure out Jessica's strategy that he missed an obvious one. _"I need to force it back!"_

"Aggron, use Roar!"

"Zangoose, Taunt it!" Aggron reared its head back and took a deep breath, but before it could use its attack Jessica's Zangoose held up its right hand and waved its middle claw. Aggron immediately went berserk and growled defiantly, now wanting nothing more than to smash Zangoose one.

"Now, take it down with Brick Break!" Zangoose lowered its hand and clenched it into a fist, then jumped towards Aggron and smashed it just below its neck with a Brick Break attack. Aggron fell to its knees in pain and, for a moment, seemed as though it would get back up to fight. Its strength was completely drained though and it soon collapsed on its side. Brendan recalled Aggron and thought carefully about his next move.

_"Zangoose's speed is its biggest advantage right now..."_ Brendan thought. _"Shiftry can use Fake Out, and Manetric can use Quick Attack. A direct attack on Manetric might paralyze it, negating its speed increase, and Shiftry would probably get a chance for a follow up attack after."_ Brendan looked up to the sky over the battlefield. _"Sunny Day's effect is gone now...though I doubt it'd have helped anyway..."_

_"Ok then, I'll use Manetric first and make one more attempt to send Zangoose running."_ Brendan drew Manetric's pokeball from his belt. "Manetric, lets do this!" Brendan called out as he released Manetric from its pokeball, hoping to make another attempt to at least hinder Zangoose.

"Manetric, use Thunder Wave!"

"Zangoose, dodge it and use Swords Dance!"

Manetric fired off a pulse of electricity from its body in an attempt to paralyze Zangoose, but with its increased speed Zangoose moved to the side of the attack in one swift movement. A blue aura in the form of a translucent sword then surrounded Zangoose as it powered up, increasing its attack strength to go with its increased speed.

_"Crud! Swords Dance too?!"_ Brendan thought in annoyance. "Manetric! Send Zangoose packing! Roar!"

"This again?" Jessica asked, sounding as though she was bored. "Zangoose, Taunt..." Zangoose once again raised its middle claw, angering Brendan's Manetric to the point where it only wanted to attack Zangoose now.

"Taunted again!" Brendan growled in frustration. "Manetric, return!" Brendan recalled Manetric, much to the pokemon's dismay, then took Shiftry's pokeball from his belt. "Go! Shiftry!"

"Zangoose, use Swords Dance again!" While Brendan was switching to Shiftry, Jessica had her Zangoose power up even more. By the time Shiftry was standing on the field, Zangoose had already finished using the technique and removed any window it might have had for an easy attack.

"Shiftry, Fake Out!"

"Zangoose, use Detect and dodge it!"

Shiftry rushed towards Zangoose in the blink of an eye and thrust out its right arm towards it, but stopped short of landing the hit then brought its other hand over to strike Zangoose from the side. Zangoose saw this coming though and leaned its head back to avoid the attack, leaving Shiftry wide open.

"Now, Zangoose! Brick Break!" Zangoose snapped back towards Shiftry with a clenched fist and struck Shiftry in the stomach with immense force, sending Shiftry flying back into the wall of the stadium under Brendan's platform. Shiftry was stunned for a moment but began to slowly peel itself off the wall, grimacing as each movement seemed to cause it more pain.

"Finish it off, Zangoose. Quick Attack!" In a flash of movement Zangoose slammed into Shiftry with all its might, depleting what little strength Shiftry had remaining with its Quick Attack. Brendan recalled Shiftry in dismay, his plan to make a comeback with Fake Out had been foiled. The scoreboard now showed only two pokemon remaining for Brendan, one still unrevealed.

"Manetric, lets try this one more time! Go!" Brendan called out desparately as he released Manetric. All hope of pulling off a victory seemed to rest on his Manetric now.

"Manetric, use Thunder Wave!"

"Zangoose, hit it with Quick Attack before it can attack!"

Manetric's body bristled with static electricity, but before it could fire off its attack it was struck hard by a Quick Attack from Zangoose. Manetric was sent sprawling onto its side from the impact, but soon managed to get back to its feet. Zangoose, however, fell to its knees and grimanced after landing its attack. Though Manetric failed to use Thunder Wave in time, its static still managed to paralyze Zangoose.

"Right on! Now we're back in the game!" Brendan cried out, raising his fist in the air in his excitement. Manetric grinned and barked its agreement.

_"Seems luck favors Brendan."_ Jessica thought, giving a light shrug. _"Oh well, he still won't be winning the battle now."_

"Zangoose, finish this! Shadow Ball!"

"Manetric, attack Zangoose with Thunderbolt!"

Manetric's body crackled with electricity again as it prepared to attack. The electricity gathered and launched towards Zangoose in a single bolt. Zangoose cried out as the electricity struck it. Zangoose tried to get up, even while being electrocuted, but paralysis held it firmly in place and kept it from attacking. Despite being paralyzed though, Zangoose still had a lot of fight left in it.

_"Zangoose is slowed down now, but its still dangerous."_ Brendan thought to himself. _"Now might be a good time to use Roar."_

"Manetric, scare Zangoose back to its pokeball with Roar!"

_"I won't let you send Zangoose back that easily."_ Jessica thought with a smirk. "Zangoose, give it another Quick Attack!"

Before Manetric could use its attack, Zangoose struck it in a flash of movement with another Quick Attack. Manetric yelped in pain as it was struck and was knocked onto its side again. For a moment, Manetric seemed to be down and out, but as Brendan was holding up its pokeball to recall it Manetric opened its eyes.

Before even making an attempt to get back on its feet, Manetric opened its mouth and gave a loud, menacing Roar. Zangoose cried out in shock and was sent racing back towards Jessica to be recalled into its pokeball. Jessica quickly sent out her next pokemon as soon as Zangoose was recalled, releasing Ninjask from its pokeball again and sending it out on Brendan's side of the field.

"Alright, this one we can take down! Manetric, use Thunder Wave!" Manetric charged electricity and fired it off in a pulse at Ninjask. Jessica didn't seem to be at all worried though.

"Ninjask, Protect!" Ninjask quickly formed a blue translucent barrier around itself to block Manetric's attack without any effect at all from it, while likewise increasing its speed from its Speed Boost ability.

"Now, Ninjask! Fury Cutter!" Ninjask shot towards Manetric and delivered a single attack with its tiny claws. It was a weak attack, but Manetric was already weakened heavily by Zangoose and could no longer stand after just one blow. Manetric's legs gave out from under it and it fell forward. However, Ninjask also plowed into the ground after its attack. Manetric's Static ability once again inflicted paralysis on one of Jessica's pokemon.

"You put up a good fight Manetric. Thank you..." Brendan recalled Manetric, now down to his last pokemon.

_"Hmm...figures...no one can beat me in a straight up fight. Always has to come down to luck..."_ Jessica thought, recalling in her mind the only time her Zangoose ever lost a match...

* * *

_"Zangoose, finish it off! Shadow Ball!" Jessica called out to her Zangoose, who responded by starting to form a black ball of shadowstuff in its cupped claws. Its opponent was a Metang, and Metang's trainer was none other than Steven Stone himself. Zangoose threw the black ball at its already weakened opponent. The ball exploded on impact, kicking up a cloud of dust that concealed Metang from view entirely._

_"Like I said before, Steven. You didn't have a chance." Jessica called out smugly to her opponent. "Everything went just as I had calculated."_

_"Is that so?" Steven called back with a knowing smile. "But the battle isn't quite over yet, isn't it too early to declare victory?"_

_"Whats that supposed to..." Jessica soon got her answer. A figure appeared as the dust began to settle, and it was not the same one her Zangoose had attacked. A larger, more intimidating pokemon now stood in Metang's place in the form of a fully evolved Metagross._

_"I believe this calls for a lesson in humility. Metagross?" Metagross nodded its agreement and raised one of its mechanical forelegs. It then lifted the remaining three off the ground and hovered with all but one leg held out flat, the other raised as if ready to punch. Without Steven even giving an order, Metagross knew what to do._

_"I still intend to win this! My Zangoose is too powerful to be taken down! Even by your Metagross!" Jessica called out, clenching her fists in frustration. "Zangoose! Shadow Ball!"_

_Zangoose charged up another Shadow Ball attack and fired it at Metagross. At the same time, Metagross shot towards Zangoose with its foreleg held out to punch it. A burning aura surrounded Metagross body, emanating from its fist and giving it the look of a meteor travelling through Earth's atmosphere. _

_Zangoose's Shadow Ball deflected off the aura surrounding Metagross with little effect and dissipated in the air. Metagross then plowed into Zangoose with the full force of its Meteor Mash attack, sending Zangoose flying back until it impacted off the far wall of the stadium and fell to the ground. Zangoose stayed lying on the ground too, the attack's power more than it could take._

_"No...but thats impossible!" Jessica cried out in dismay, falling to her knees in defeat._

_"Impossibility is just another boundary for humans and pokemon to conquer together." Steven stated quietly. "Until you understand that, even if you win, your win will mean nothing..."_

* * *

_"He won that time because he got lucky..."_ Jessica narrowed her focus on Brendan with a glint of light shining through her glasses. _"This time...I came prepared to battle luck."_

"Its all your's now! Swampert, go!" Brendan finally released Swampert from its pokeball, sending it out as his last pokemon to battle Jessica's pokemon. Swampert stood proudly as it awaited its chance at battle.

"With two of your pokemon already paralyzed, my Swampert is ready to win it all!" Brendan declared to Jessica.

"Are you sure about that?" Jessica replied in a sinister tone. She recalled Ninjask without another word. "I brought a special pokemon for dealing with lucky trainers like you."

_"She does? What pokemon can fight luck?"_ Brendan wondered. He was soon going to find out.

"Go...Shedinja!" Jessica called out as she released Shedinja, the mysterious pokemon born from the empty shell of an evolved Ninjask. Brendan gasped in shock when Jessica's final pokemon was unveiled.

"I'm sure you know exactly what a Shedinja is, but I'll spell it out for the less informed..." Jessica adjusted her glasses before continuing on. "You see...Shedinja is a pokemon affected only by certain types of attacks, meaning no matter how lucky you are unless you have those attacks you can't hurt Shedinja period even though it would faint in only a single hit."

"A Shedinja? But...Swampert doesn't have any attacks that'll work against that..." As he came to the sad realization of what that meant for him, Brendan slowly reached out and pressed the red button on his panel. In bold, red letters the word 'forfeit' appeared diagnally over his picture on the scoreboard.

"Brendan Birch has forfeited the match!" The announcer declared, followed by a groan from the crowd.

"Good choice..." Jessica commented wryly. She recalled her Shedinja then departed from the stadium. Swampert looked up at its trainer remorsefully, blaming itself for Brendan being forced to forfeit the match.

"Its not your fault Swampert..." Brendan reassured his pokemon. "I played right into her hands, if I didn't forfeit you would have just been beaten up for nothing." Brendan smiled sadly at his pokemon. "No reason you should suffer for my mistakes..." Brendan recalled his Swampert, then left the battlefield as well.

* * *

"Damn it! I should have beaten her!" Brendan punched the wall of the corridor in a rage.

"Brendan?" Brendan heard May's voice call out to him and looked down the corridor to see May, Wally, and Suzy standing nearby.

"May...I really wanted to battle you in the second round...but I guess I screwed up..." Brendan pushed past the group and took off down the corridor.

"Brendan! Wait!" May called out after him but Brendan ignored her and kept going.

"He took that pretty badly..." Wally commented, blinking in confusion. "Wonder why he was so eager to battle you?"

"I don't know..." May admitted.

"May, your match is next!" Suzy reminded her. She moved behind May and started pushing her down the corridor. "Go already! We'll talk to Brendan, so just forget about it for now and go get ready for your match!"

"Ok already! Just stop pushing me!" Suzy stopped pushing May, letting her continue towards the battlefield on her own.

"Come on, Wallykins! Lets go find Brendan!" Suzy quickly grabbed Wally's arm and pulled him along the corridor with him to find Brendan.

"H-hey! I can walk too!" Suzy ignored Wally's plea and continued to drag him along with her, despite his struggling. The two of them eventually caught up with Brendan, finding him just outside the stadium.

"Brendan! Whats the deal with you ignoring May and running off like that?" Suzy asked him, letting go of Wally's arm.

"...Leave me alone." Brendan replied coldly without even looking at them.

"Hey! Just whats your deal? We're just trying to help!" Wally angrily demanded, surprising Suzy with his sudden change of attitude. "So what if you can't face May? There's no reason you can't battle her after the tournament!"

"You don't understand!" Brendan shot back. "I wanted to impress May in the tournament but now I just look like an idiot!"

"Well of course you're going to look like an idiot if you ignore her and act like a baby!" Brendan gasped at Wally's accusation and had no response. Seeing Brendan's silence, Wally took Suzy by the arm and lead her back towards the trainer's lounge. "Lets go Suzy, we wouldn't want to miss May's match because of this guy..."

"Wow...you were so cool Wally!" Suzy said to him as the two walked away, leaving Brendan to his thoughts.

_"He's right...I'm just making myself look even worse..."_ Brendan shook his head. _"Come on, Brendan! Get it together! I've lost my chance to impress May but the least I could do is watch her match and cheer her on!" _Brendan sighed and looked up at Wally and Suzy walking away from him.

"Hey! Wait up!" He called out after them, following them to the lounge.

* * *

_"For a professor's aide, he was sure easy enough to fool."_ Jessica, sitting alone in the trainers lounge, thought to herself as she typed away on her laptop. _"The son of Professor Birch, the daughter of a gym leader, and the sister of Steven Stone. When I win this tournament I'll be famous, even if they can't live up to their hype!"_

Jessica grinned to herself as she continued to type, adding data to a trainer profile for Brendan Birch from her previous match. She didn't notice an older, silver-haired trainer enter the lounge.

"Haven't changed at all I see." Steven said to her, finally getting her attention.

"Why would I change when I have a winning strategy?" Jessica shot back, closing her laptop. "With a Ninjask and a Shedinja on my team I've not only gotten two strong pokemon but I've eliminated the possibility of someone getting lucky like you did!"

"Lucky? Hmm...but can one truly remove the element of luck from pokemon battles in its entirety?" Steven smiled slightly as he contemplated this. "Even a pokemon such as your Shedinja is susceptable to poison, confusion, or a burn. Poison and burns are sometimes inflicted by attacking certain pokemon, and a Shedinja can injure and knock itself out in confusion."

"Even if thats true I'm still minimizing how much it affects me!"

"Perhaps..." Steven replied with a light shrug. "But if luck can so greatly affect your own strategy but does nothing to hinder your opponent, wouldn't the flaw be in your strategy rather than your opponent getting lucky?"

"My strategies are flawless!" Jessica shot back, standing up and shaking her fist angrily. "Its only luck or stronger pokemon that get in the way!"

"If thats what you believe, then I honestly don't think you have what it takes to win this year." Steven chuckled quietly. "Thats just my opinion though. In the end, I believe it will come down to one's choice of pokemon, their level of training, and the bond between the trainer and their pokemon."

"So you don't think I have any of those right?" Jessica asked him in a challenging tone.

"I think only appreciating your Zangoose at the expense of the rest of your pokemon is what will cost you." Steven replied. "Regardless, if you think I'm wrong, feel free to prove it in your upcoming matches." With that said, Steven turned around and started off out of the lounge.

_"Oh I'll prove you wrong alright..."_ Jessica thought to herself. _"Just you wait and see. With Zangoose at my side I can't lose!"_

* * *

Author's Notes: I can honestly say I like how Jessica turned out in terms of battle style, emphasizing the use of strategy. Originally it wasn't going to be anything special but I'm glad I changed it. Actually turned out a bit short for a 6 vs 6 pokemon battle though, probably helped by the fact that I didn't include any pre-battle dialogue.

Also, would just like to mention here that the views expressed by characters towards pokemon battling (or at least the more 'right' sounding views) are just what I picture would be considered the norm for the pokemon world based on comments from in-game characters.

Just pointing this out cause it might sound to some people as if I'm bashing competitive players, which I'm not. I'm personally half and half on the competitive/casual scale for pretty much any game I play. People should play how they want without trying to influence others, and that goes for both ends of the scale.

That seems like an odd disclaimer to have for some reason...


	68. Chapter 57: Beware The Little Guys!

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Fifty Seven**

**Beware the Little Guys - May Vs. Brad**

"Attention trainers: Two minutes remain until the start of the match." A voice announced over the stadium's speakers. Though May was already on the field, ready for the battle, her opponent Brad had yet to show up.

_"Whats with this guy?"_ May wondered at her opponent's absence. _"He better show up! It'll look bad if I win my first match because my opponent got disqualified!"_

Everyone continued to wait anxiously for Brad's arrival. Whispering could be heard throughout the stadium as the audience discussed his current absence from the battlefield.

"One minute remaining." The announcer declared while a timer showed up on the scoreboards and began counting down the remaining seconds.

_"Come on already! I don't want to win like this!"_ May thought impatiently. As if on cue, Brad could finally be seen entering from the other side of the stadium. As he came into view, May could see that his clothes were covered in dirt, what looked like burn marks, and had rips and tears on his shirt and pant legs.

"Brad?! What happened to you?" May asked him. This drew everyone's attention to Brad now.

"I was training with my pokemon." Brad replied quietly, raising his head to look across the field at May. "I will do whatever it takes to win this tournament...and I'll win it for Johto!"

_"For Johto?"_ May thought. _"Kinda patriotic isn't he?"_

"Hoenn has Devon...Kanto has Silph...but who does Johto have to host big tournaments like this?" Brad asked no one in particular. "No one! Thats who! Johto doesn't even get its own pokemon league, and thats why I'm here." Brad clenched his fist and shouted out to the crowd. "I'm going to win recognition for Johto!"

"Huh?" May thought for a moment and realized Brad was right, Johto shared a league with its neighbour Kanto. Silph was also known to host the odd tournament for interested individuals, but never in Johto. "Well if nothing else...I'm at least battling someone who has morals..." She thought, smiling to herself.

"All trainers are now present and accounted for!" The announcer called out throughout the stadium. "Trainers! Begin battle!"

"Alright! Heracross, go!" May held up a pokeball and released her Heracross to lead off the battle, releasing it onto her side of the field. Heracross stood proudly when it appeared, still wearing the blackbelt it had won.

"Cyndaquil, start us off with a bang!" Brad called out as he released a small mouse-like pokemon with flames rising out of its back. Cyndaquil raised its front paw and squeaked quietly.

_"Cyndaquil, where have I heard of that pokemon before?"_ May thought to herself, pausing for a moment and tapping her index finger against her chin. _"Wait...wasn't Cyndaquil the proposed fire pokemon for beginner trainers in Johto? They're not supposed to be available yet though..."_

"Heracross, attack Cyndaquil with Brick Break!" Heracross started charging across the stadium at May's command to get close enough to attack.

"Cyndaquil, lets take it down in one attack! Blast Burn!" Flames started to shoot up from Cyndaquil's back, forming into a condensed ball of fire just above it. The ball of flames continued to expand until it was bigger than Cyndaquil.

_"Blast Burn?! A Cyndaquil can really know such a powerful attack?!"_ May thought in disbelief.

As Heracross rounded the pool to get to Cyndaquil, Cyndaquil turned towards Heracross and unleashed the attack. The condensed flames suddenly expanded outwards, covering the field in a semi-sphere of fire almost instantly. Heracross stopped and put its arms out in front of itself defensively as the sphere continued to expand and engulfed Heracross.

After engulfing Heracross, the flames still continued to expand until the attack was used up entirely. The flames dissipated, leaving behind a large area of scorhed ground and a charred Heracross. Heracross was still standing after the attack, but looked like it was struggling to remain so.

_"For being so small, that Cyndaquil is really strong!"_ May thought in surprise. _"But I'm pretty sure Blast Burn is the same as Hyper Beam, so his Cyndaquil should have to rest now."_

"Heracross, change in plans! Use Focus Punch!" Heracross nodded and summoned up her remaining strength to continued towards Cyndaquil. Cyndaquil had to rest to regain its energy after the Blast Burn attack, leaving it unable to stop Heracross from attacking.

Heracross raised her fist back and began focusing her power into it as she closed the distance to Cyndaquil. When finally in range to attack, Heracross delivered the punch in the form of an uppercut that sent Cyndaquil flying upwards through the air and landing with a thud near the stadium wall. Cyndaquil was quick to roll back to its feet after the impact, surprising May again with its strength.

"Cyndaquil, end this! Swift!" The flames on Cyndaquil's back rose up as it prepared to attack. Several star-shaped energy rays fired out of the flames and struck Heracross head on. Heracross flinched as each star burst on contact, the final star knocking it on its back. Heracross stared up with a dazed expression on its face, prompting May to recall it.

_"Ok...I definitely can't underestimate this guy's pokemon anymore!"_ May thought to herself. _"Time to get serious!"_

"Plusle, your turn now! Go!" May released Plusle from its pokeball, on Brad's side of the field, to battle next. Plusle jumped up happily and raised two fingers in a 'V' when she appeared from her pokeball.

"Cyndaquil, take it down! Flamethrower!"

"Plusle, dodge it with Quick Attack!"

A blast of flames erupted in a cone from Cyndaquil's back towards Plusle and, for a moment, it appeared that Cyndaquil had hit its mark. The flames surrounded Plusle, but almost immediately Plusle reappeared to the side of the attack in a flash of movement and didn't seem like it was hit at all.

"Now! Another Quick Attack!" Plusle dashed towards Cyndaquil in a blur of movement, coming towards it at an angle to avoid the flames and strike it from the side. Cyndauil cried out and stumbled back from Plusle as it was struck, causing it to stop its attack as well. Cyndaquil raised its head and cried out after enduring Plusle's attack, its body briefly glowed a vibrant orange and the flames on its back rose higher

_"Looks like Cyndaquil's Blaze ability has kicked in."_ Brad thought to himself. "Cyndaquil, finish this one with a powered up Blast Burn!"

"Plusle, quick! Use Wish!" Plusle put her hands together and started mumbling quietly as she summoned forth the technique. Cyndaquil, meanwhile, began forming a condensed ball of flames from its back. The ball grew quickly and was even slightly larger than the attack it used on Heracross when it finally reached its full size.

The ball of flames exploded forth and quickly expanded, engulfing Plusle in the blink of an eye due to its proximity to Cyndaquil. The flames continued to move further on, keeping Plusle held within and even causing steam to rise as the attack expanded over the edge of the pool. Then the flames finally dissipated, revealing a badly scorched Plusle standing on burnt ground. Plusle was still standing, but looked very exhausted.

"Plusle, now! Finish it! Thunderbolt!" Sparks erupted from the red sacs on Plusle's cheeks followed by a blast of electricity firing out from each and forming into a single bolt. The Thunderbolt struck Cyndaquil head on and the fire pokemon cried out in pain as electricity coursed through its body. It fell forward as its legs gave out under it, collapsing onto its stomach and unconcious from the attack. Brad recalled his fallen pokemon from the battlefield.

After delivering the knock-out attack the air around Plusle shimmered and most of the scorch marks disappeared from its body. Plusle's wish had come true and restored Plusle's energy, restoring enough energy for Plusle to still be able to put up a fight against whatever pokemon it would face next.

"Wooper, I choose you! Go!" Brad called out as he released his Wooper, a short blue pokemon with a thick tail and large head that had what looked like two purple antennae on each side of its face, from its pokeball. Despite being a pokemon native to Johto, May didn't quite recognize it so she took out her pokedex to check.

"Wooper, the water fish pokemon." The pokedex read. "Wooper usually live in water but come out onto land seeking food occassionally. On land, they coat their bodies with a gooey, toxic film."

_"So its definitely a water type..."_ May thought. _"He wouldn't send out a water type against an electric type unless he was planning something, I should probably switch pokemon."_

"Plusle, thats enough for now! Return!" May recalled Plusle to its pokeball then switched for another one from her belt. "Beautifly, your turn now! Go!" In Plusle's place, May sent out the butterfly pokemon Beautifly to battle Wooper. May knew Wooper was a water type but knew little else about it, so she was counting on Beautifly's grass-type attacks to take it down.

"Wooper, take that butterfly down with Ice Punch!" Wooper raised its tail back and curled the end as if forming a fist, then started to slowly move forward towards Beautifly while forming ice on its tail.

"Beautifly, slow it down with Stun Spore!" Beautifly began flapping its wings while releasing spores, using the wind it created to send the spores towards Wooper. Wooper staggered for a moment as the spores hit it, but by then it was almost in range to attack.

Wooper crouched down then jumped upwards and flipped over in the air as it reached Beautifly, bringing its tail down hard on top of it and shattering the ice that had formed. Beautifly was sent plummeting to the ground and landed on its back. Wooper soon followed, landing on its feet in front of Beautifly but then losing its balance and falling on its back as well, its muscles couldn't support the sudden weight from the impact due to paralysis.

_"It landed an attack...but that shouldn't matter."_ May thought to herself. "Beautifly, Giga Drain!" Beautifly stood up on its small legs and spread out its wings, focusing on Wooper. Wooper cried out in pain as a green stream of energy burst from its body, absorbed from it and into Beautifly. Wooper grimaced in pain and struggled to get back on its feet after the attack, which had obviously caused it a great deal of pain.

_"That attack really seemed strong against Wooper..."_ May thought. A lightbulb suddenly turned on in her mind. _"Of course! It must be a ground type too! That'd be why he sent it out against Plusle, Wooper would be immune to its attacks!"_

"Beautifly, lets finish this! Use Giga Drain!" May called out excitedly now that she knew her opponent's weakness.

"Wooper, quick! Use Yawn!" Wooper slowly opened its mouth to release its attack, but all that came out was a pained cry as Beautifly drained its energy again. Wooper fell to its knees and was soon unconcious as the last of its energy was drained from it by Beautifly's Giga Drain attack. Brad recalled his pokemon and got ready with another pokeball.

"Onix, go! Finish what Wooper started!" Brad released his third pokemon from its pokeball, sending out a massive rock snake. The pokemon that appeared was easily over 25 feet long and reared up on the back half of its body to look down upon Beautifly. Beautifly flapped its wings and flew up so that it was level with Onix's head.

_"He's sending out Onix now? But why?"_ May wondered, looking over at the scoreboard. _"Right now I'm in the lead...and I have a pokemon with a draining grass attack, so why would he send out a rock and ground type like Onix? Even though Beautifly is just as weak to rock attacks as Onix is to grass, I still have the advantage overall..."_

"Beautifly, lets take this one down too! Giga Drain!"

"Onix, quick! Iron Tail!"

Beautifly spread out its wings and focused on using its Giga Drain attack. It was interrupted before it could even begin drawing away Onix's energy as Onix struck first, smashing Beautifly from the side with its metal-coated tail and sending it crashing into the ground hard. The metal coating on its tail disappeared shortly after delivering the attack.

"Whoa! That Onix is so fast!" May cried out in surprise.

"Thats why I didn't evolve my Onix." Brad stated calmly. "As a Steelix, its metal hide greatly reduces its speed in exchange for greater strength and endurance. My pokemon don't need to evolve to be strong..."

_"Thats right..."_ May thought. _"All of his pokemon so far have been unevolved, haven't they? Yet they're still so strong..." _May looked across the battlefield to her Beautifly, which was starting to pull itself off the ground and was soon hovering just a few feet up.

"Beautifly, quick! Use Stun Spore!" Beautifly began flapping its wings, creating a light wind and releasing spores from its body. The spores reached its intended target, landing on Onix's body and causing paralysis to run through it.

"Couldn't have dodged that anyway...not with Onix's size." Brad thought to himself with a look of determination in his eyes. "We'll still beat you! Onix, Rock Slide!"

"Beautifly, fly above it and use Giga Drain!" Beautifly flew up higher as Onix slammed its entire body against the ground, loosening large boulders and sending them rolling towards Beautifly. Beautifly was high enough up to avoid the attack and quickly began draining energy from Onix. Onix roared in pain from the damage the attack inflicted on it, while Beautifly was restored by the energy drained from Onix.

"Onix, cover the area in a Sandstorm!" Onix raised its head and let out a loud roar, blasting out sand from its body in all directions. The sand began to swirl around it and spread out, creating the effect of a sandstorm around the battlefield.

"Sandstorm? Is he trying to hide?" May wondered. "Beautifly, don't let the storm throw you off! Finish it with another Giga Drain!"

"Onix, avoid the attack with Dig!" Behind the screen of sand, Onix's rock body began spinning around. It struck the ground with its head then dug into it like a drill, disappearing underground. Although Beautifly managed to attack before Onix disappeared it still ended up missing completely, the constant pounding of the sandstorm made it hard to focus and bought Onix time enough to escape.

"Beautifly, watch for it!" Beautifly nodded and scanned the area, watching the ground for any sign of Onix surfacing.

"Onix, now! Rise up and use Rock Slide!" Onix burst out of the ground below Beautifly, cracking the ground around it and sending several large boulders flying up towards Beautifly. One of the boulders struck Beautifly directly from below and knocked it into several more until Beautifly was finally released from the barrage and landed on the ground near Onix.

Beautifly's body twitched in agony as it tried to pull itself off the ground. It eventually managed to spread its wings and looked like it was going to get back up, but the sandstorm blasting its body sapped its remaining strength and Beautifly collapsed again. This time it showed no sign of getting back up, so May finally recalled it.

_"Well I guess that makes it even again..."_ May thought to herself as she placed Beautifly's pokeball on her belt. _"I can't keep underestimating this guy though! So now I'll use the pokemon I should have sent out against Onix!"_

"Roselia, your turn now! Go!" May held up Roselia's pokeball and released the rose pokemon onto Brad's side of the field to combat his Onix. To the onlookers the scene almost looked absurd, with the tiny rose-like grass pokemon standing up against a huge rock snake. Roselia's small size made it hard to even see it in the midst of the sandstorm.

"Onix, good job! Return!" Brad held up Onix's pokeball and recalled it, removing its massive form from the field. "Pikachu, your up!" Holding another pokeball in his other hand, Brad released his fourth pokemon for the match. The yellow electric mouse pokemon Pikachu was released onto the battlefield as the sandstorm was finally dying down. Both pokemon looked like they were now ready to battle.

_"A Pikachu? Well at least I don't have to worry about what this one might be able to do..."_ May thought with a smirk. _"Everyone knows Pikachu!"_

"Roselia, lets start this off with Leech Seed!"

"Pikachu, disable Roselia with Thunder Wave!"

The two pokemon started off the battle with Roselia firing a small seed from its red rose while Pikachu attacked with a pulse of electricity. Both attacks found their target, the Leech Seed landed on top of Pikachu's head and sprouted vines to latch on while the electric pulse caused paralysis within Roselia's body.

_"Paralysis...well I can take care of that easily enough."_ May thought to herself. _"I think I can handle this Pikachu with Roselia paralyzed anyway, especially with Leech Seed on it."_

"Roselia, lets get it with Toxic now!" Roselia brought both its flowers together and fired a blob of purple goo from each of them at Pikachu. Pikachu saw it coming, however, and dodged to the side of the attack.

"Pikachu, strike back with Mega Kick!" Pikachu charged towards Roselia after its failed attempt to attack and jumped when it got close. Pikachu spun around in the air and brought its foot into contact with Roselia's head. The impact knocked Roselia back near the edge of the pool, but Pikachu didn't escape uninjured. After delivering the kick it grimaced in pain as poison started to flow through its body.

"Better switch out Pikachu, that poison puts it at a disadvantage and I might need it later." Brad thought, holding up Pikachu's pokeball. "Pikachu, good enough for now! Return!"

"Roselia, now's our chance! Aromatherapy!" While Brad was recalling Pikachu, Roselia stood up and held both its flower-hands above its head. A strange fragrance filled the air around Roselia, the unique smell having the effect of curing Roselia's paralysis to leave it ready to battle Brad's next pokemon.

_"Damn...I was counting on that paralysis to help bring it down."_ Brad thought to himself. _"Well no point holding back now, that Roselia's status effects could prove troublesome."_

"Onix, your turn again! Go!" Brad released Onix from its pokeball, once again creating a face off between the massive Onix and the miniscule Roselia.

_"Onix? Against Roselia? Just whats he planning?"_ May wondered.

"Onix, take that Roselia down! Explosion!" Onix's massive body began to glow as it built up energy within, preparing to explode.

"No! Roselia, quick! Use Giga Drain!" Roselia quickly pointed its flowers at Onix and drew out energy from it. Onix managed to withstand the attack for a moment, looking as if it would successfully explode, but just before it could Roselia managed to drain the last of its energy. The ground shook slightly as Onix's massive body collapsed onto it.

"Well it was a bit of a gamble anyway, and Onix put up a good fight..." Brad recalled his Onix and prepared to send out his next pokemon. "Dratini, lets do this!" Brad held the pokeball high as he released Dratini, sending out the serpent-like dragon into the pool of water at the center of the field.

_"Dratini...that one's a dragon type."_ May thought to herself. _"I'll switch pokemon for this one. Pelipper is probably the better choice to fight a dragon pokemon right now. I should just be thankful his pokemon aren't evolved though. They're tough, I bet if that Dratini was fully evolved I wouldn't have much of a chance!"_

"Roselia, you can take a break for now!" Roselia nodded to May and was recalled into its pokeball. May then wasted no time sending out her next pokemon, this time onto her side of the field. "Pelipper, go!" May released the water-bird pokemon from its pokeball, its picture appearing on the scoreboard as May's fifth pokemon revealed.

* * *

"Man, whats with this guy's pokemon?" Brendan asked no one in particular. "Except for his Pikachu none of them are from around here, and none of them are evolved but they're still plenty strong."

"Well I guess its like he said i guess, his pokemon don't need to be strong." Wally suggested with a shrug. "Could be that his pokemon are all afraid to change..."

"Thats possible I suppose." Brendan said, nodding slightly. "Though we don't look into evolution as much as other researchers, my father and I do know pokemon tend to change when they evolve and not just physically. Its kinda the same way humans change as they're growing up, except a lot more sudden."

"Well thats what happened to my Slaking!" Suzy said, pouting and clutching Wally's arm tightly. "First it was a lazy Slakoth, then it evolved into an energetic and maybe even a bit crazy Vigoroth, and then it evolved again into a lazy and arrogant Slaking! I didn't want it to evolve again!"

"I don't think we'll ever know everything about evolution, or even pokemon themselves..." Brendan added with a frustrated sigh and looked up at the screen. "Well I hope May can pull through, if his other pokemon are anything to judge by then that Dratini will be tough."

"Well of course May can pull through!" Suzy said to Brendan.

"Yeah! Just watch, May's going to kick Brad's butt!" Wally added, raising his free hand enthusiastically.

"I hope you're right..." Brendan thought to himself, having some doubts about whether or not May could win with her current pokemon.

_"Can't they keep it down?"_ Jessica thought angrily, still resigned to her corner of the lounge and entering data for Brad on her laptop. _"My work would be so much easier if they'd just stay quiet. My next match will obviously be against Brad so I need all the data I can get. May doesn't stand a chance at getting to the next round."_

* * *

"Dratini, paralyze it with Thunder Wave!"

"Pelipper, Protect then Stockpile!"

Dratini raised its head up out of the water and fired a pulse of electricity from the center of its forehead. The attack was met by a barrier surrounding Pelipper and had no affect on it. After the danger had passed, Pelipper let down its barrier and opened its mouth to gather energy in its large beak.

"Dratini, bring it down before it can store anymore power! Dragonbreath!" Dratini swam closer to the edge of the pool nearest Pelipper then opened its mouth and released a blast of blue flames. Pelipper staggered backwards as the flames found their mark and almost dropped to the ground but managed to catch itself and resume hovering just before crashing.

"Pelipper, strike back with Steel Wing!" Pelipper flew across the field, spreading its wings out to glide towards its target. Pelipper's wings took on a metallic appearance just before passing by Dratini and striking it with its wings held out stiffly. It continued across the pool as Dratini fell back into the water from the impact, stopping and turning around once it reached the other side.

"Now, Pelipper! Stockpile again!" Pelipper opened its mouth again and gathered more energy. The bottom of its beak began to bulge slightly as it added to the energy already stored there.

_"Damn it! I need to end this!"_ Brad thought desparately. "Dratini, Hyper Beam!"

"Pelipper, Protect and use Stockpile again!"

Dratini fired off a powerful beam of energy at Pelipper, but the water bird got its barrier up in time to protect itself from the attack. The energy from the beam was diverted around the barrier, leaving Pelipper completely untouched until Dratini ended its attack. Pelipper then dropped the barrier and opened its mouth, its beak beginning to bulge further as it stockpiled even more energy.

"Now, Pelipper! Fly above it and use Spit Up!" Pelipper flapped its wings and flew up directly above the pool. It then opened its mouth and discharged the stockpiled energy in a massive blast straight downwards.

"Dratini, use Hyper Beam again!" Dratini aimed up and fired another Hyper Beam attack straight up into the oncoming energy in an attempt to stop it. The wave of energy bearing down on Dratini easily pushed back against the Hyper Beam and soon the entire pool was engulfed by it. Steam rose up as the water was evaporated by the immense energy, leaving the pool completely empty when the energy dissipated.

"After an attack there's no way that Dratini is still standing!" May thought, glancing down into the pool. She recoiled in shock at what she saw though. Rising out of the empty pool was a new pokemon that looked a lot like Dratini, only now twice as long as it. The newly evolved pokemon rose up then settled its body down on the edge of the pool.

"No way! It survived that!?" May gasped in surprise. The evolved Dragonair was gasping for breath, obviously drained from resisting the attack, but was still in the match.

"So Dratini decided to evolve to win..." Brad noted quietly. "If thats the case, then we can't afford to lose now! Dragonair, Outrage!" A fire lit up in Dragonair's eyes, matched by a fiery draconic aura surrounding its body. Summoning up all its power it launched itself towards Pelipper to attack.

"Pelipper, Protect!" Pelipper held its wings out straight and formed a transparent blue barrier around itself. Dragonair flipped around in the air, smashing its tail against Pelipper's barrier. Energy sparked from the impact and Dragonair continued to press on its attack, looking as though it would break through before it was finally forced to back off. It continued to float in the air, just under Pelipper.

Dragonair didn't stay off the attack for long though and quickly flipped around to smash the barrier with its tail again. This time, Pelipper's protection shattered outright and Pelipper received the full impact from the attack as Dragonair's long tail smashed it from above. Pelipper was sent rocketing downward and crashed into the bottom of the empty pool. Dragonair floated down to ground and its aura dissipated, leaving it with a dazed expression.

"Pelipper!" May called out to her pokemon. Pelipper slowly peeled itself up off the bottom of the pool and glared up at Dragonair. Dragonair didn't really register Pelipper's glare though, due to being in a state of confusion.

"Pelipper, finish this quick! Steel Wing!"

"Dragonair, take it down! Dragon Breath!"

Dragonair breathed out a stream of blue flames, but was completely off target. However, because of the angle Pelipper was attacking from, Pelipper still ended up flying through it towards the end of the attack. Pelipper managed to strike Dragonair with its wings as it flew by, but also received a glancing blow from its Dragonbreath attack. Dragonair collapsed, and Pelipper crashed into the ground behind it. Both pokemon were out, prompting their trainers to recall them.

_"Well that draw leaves him with two pokemon and me with three."_ May thought to herself. _"I'll send Roselia out again, if he uses that last pokemon of his I can use status affecting techniques to wear it down and prevent him from making a comeback."_

"I bet you think you have this won now, don't you?" Brad asked May. May blinked at the question but didn't respond, waiting instead to see what he was getting at. "But I don't intend to lose to any Hoenner! My pokemon will pull through for me and bring me to the top!"

"Well that doesn't mean anything to me." May replied, smiling knowingly. "You say you won't lose to a 'Hoenner', but that doesn't matter. I'm May Maple, born in Goldenrod City and daughter of Norman Maple!"

"What?! You're from Johto too?!" Brad cried out in shock. _"Damn it, what are the chances of that?"_ He wondered to himself, clenching his fist. "Well don't think just becuase you're from Johto means I won't win, because I'm not going to give up that easily!"

"Then this battle's still on! Roselia, go!" May called out, holding up Roselia's pokeball and releasing the rose pokemon for another round of battle.

"Natu, this is where we make our stand! Go!" Brad released his next pokemon as well, sending out a bird pokemon that was even smaller than Roselia. It had green feathers on its body, which seemed to consist only of a head and a pair of tiny wings and feet.

_"Natu...Natu...there's supposed to be something mystic about that pokemon right?"_ May wondered, thinking back to her encounters with them in Johto. _"I remember seeing them in the wild before, they're always on the ground looking for food because they can't fly. It evolves in Xatu, a pokemon that can predict the future..."_

"Natu, attack with Psychic!"

"Roselia, Ingrain!"

A blue aura surrounded Roselia as Natu focused its psychic powers on it. It couldn't lift Roselia off the ground, though, as Roselia managed to dig in its roots to keep itself anchored against the attack. Roselia cried out as the force of the attack weighed down on it, but it managed to stand its ground.

"Now, Roselia! Use Grasswhistle!" Roselia began making a strange, low-pitched whistling. Natu's eyes slowly shut, sending it into a deep sleep.

"Good, now use Leech Seed!" Roselia pointed its red rose arm at Natu and launched a seed at it. The seed found its mark, landing on top of Natu and sprouting vines to latch onto it and start draining energy. Just after the seed landed, Natu's eyes shot open.

"Awake already?" May wondered aloud, somewhat surprised that it only slept for such a short time.

"My Natu always wakes up early!" Brad replied with a smirk. "Now, Natu! Use Psychic again!" Natu focused on Roselia, causing a blue aura to surround it as Natu focused its psychic energies around it. Roselia cried out in pain but was again able to withstand the attack thanks to the combination of Leech Seed and Ingrain.

"Roselia, Grasswhistle! Put it to sleep again!"

"Natu, Future Sight!"

Roselia made a whistling noise, once again putting Natu to sleep with the strange tune. It was too early for either trainer to tell if Natu had managed to use its Future Sight technique before falling asleep.

"Now, Roselia! Toxic!" Roselia pointed its blue rose at Natu this time and fired a blob of purple sludge, covering Natu entirely with the toxic goo. Natu opened its eyes and woke up, then quickly shook the goo off itself. It was too late to prevent the poison from taking effect though.

_"Well no point holding back now since its already poisoned."_ Brad thought to himself. "Natu, Teleport and use Drill Peck!"

"Roselia, Grasswhistle again!"

Natu vanished in the blink of an eye and reappeared behind Roselia. Before Roselia could put it to sleep with its whistling a vacuum of air began swirling around Natu's small beak. It then stabbed at Roselia from behind, drilling at its back with a Drill Peck attack. Roselia cried out in pain and fell over, withdrawing its roots from the ground as it was knocked unconcious. May returned it to its pokeball.

_"Roselia lost, but at least its leaving Natu in pretty rough shape."_ May thought to herself, reaching for another pokeball. "Ok, Plusle! Finish this up!" May called out as she released Plusle from its pokeball. Plusle raised its arms happily as she appeared, almost as if calling down the white beam of energy that sudden engulfed it out of nowhere. Natu's Future Sight attack was successful in striking Plusle rather than Roselia.

"Well that was well-timed." Brad commented with a smirk. Plusle growled and shook off the impact from the blast. "Natu, thats enough for now! Return!" Brad recalled his Natu, choosing to save it for whatever pokemon May might have left.

"Pikachu, this one's all your's! Go!" Brad called out, sending his Pikachu again. Pikachu and Natu were the only two pokemon remaining on the scoreboard for Brad, and both were already poisoned from earlier encounters. Still, his Pikachu put up a tough appearance as it faced down Plusle on Brad's side of the battlefield.

_"His Pikachu is already poisoned from before, so lets try slowing it down first!"_ May thought. "Plusle, paralyze it with Thunder Wave!"

"Pikachu, jump and come down on it with Focus Punch!" Brad's Pikachu leapt straight up into the air, avoiding the wave of electricity Plusle fired at it. Pikachu raised its fist back in the air and gathered energy to it, then came down towards Plusle with the attack. Plusle took a short hop back, narrowly avoiding the attack as Pikachu slammed its fist into the ground hard enough to create small fissures around the impact.

"Plusle, now! Use Thunderbolt!"

"Pikachu, counter with Thunderbolt!"

Both pokemon charged electricity and fired a bolt straight at each other. The bolts collided between them and both pokemon continued to pour energy into their attacks, seemingly at a stalemate. The electricity began to build up and expand until it suddenly exploded outwards, knocking both pokemon back and nearly sending Plusle into the pool.

_"Plusle doesn't have many attacks that are effective against another electric type..."_ May thought to herself. _"I still have one attack I could try, but its a bit of a gamble..."_

"Pikachu, take it down! Mega Kick!" Brad's Pikachu mustered up its remaining strength, starting to grow exhausted from the poison, and ran towards Plusle. It stopped suddenly and spun around on one foot to deliver a powerful kick with the other that sent Plusle flying back into the far edge of the empty pool. Plusle cried out as it bounced off the side and fell to the bottom.

"Plusle, use Metronome!" Plusle stood up and held up one finger on each hand, then waved them back and forth three times. Once it used its Metronome technique electricity sparked out all around it and it suddenly took off through the air towards Pikachu standing at the top of the pool.

Plusle smashed into Pikachu with an all-out tackle creating a blast of electricity upon impact. The impact knocked Plusle to the ground and sent Pikachu rolling back from the impact. Both pokemon were slow to get up after, the impact had hurt both pokemon enough that they were both looking exhausted now.

_"We need to end this quick!"_ Brad thought desparately. "Pikachu use Quick Attack!"

"Plusle, finish it with your own Quick Attack!"

Both pokemon shot towards each other in a blur of movement, striking each other as they passed by and coming to a stop where the other had been standing. Both pokemon remained on their feet for several tense seconds after making the attack, but in the end they simulatenously collapsed from exhaustion and were recalled.

"Another draw, looks like this one's coming down to the wire." Brad commented as he recalled his Pikachu. "You're pretty tough, I'll give you that."

"You're not so bad yourself, but lets see if you can keep it up with your final pokemon already at a disadvantage." May smiled to herself. _"Its been a good match, but I think my last pokemon is perfect to end this."_

"Go, Natu!"

"Go, Magcargo!"

Both trainers called out their final pokemon, Brad sending out his already poisoned Natu onto the field while May released the molten lava snail Magcargo. The two pokemon were released onto their respective sides of the field instead of both being on the same side.

"Natu, attack with Psychic!"

"Magcargo, use Amnesia!"

Natu hopped across the field and around the pool, its eyes glowing as it moved closer to Magcargo. As soon as it was in range a blue glow surrounded Magcargo as Natu focused its psychic power on the fire pokemon. Magcargo groaned in pain, but by the time Natu had attacked Magcargo already made use of its Amnesia technique to reduce the impact it would have.

"Magcargo, now! Use Yawn!" Magcargo let out a yawn, breathing out a cloud of gas. The gas enveloped Natu and caused it to become drowsy, though its movements remained unhindered.

_"Sleep again...even with its Early Bird ability, being put to sleep will mean time my Natu can't fight but is still being weakened by poison."_ Brad thought to himself. _"My best bet is to use Wish...but even then, can I still make a comeback? Or have I already lost?"_

"Natu, use Wish!" Brad's Natu closed its eyes and began focusing on its Wish. Its eyes remained closed as it fell asleep while concentrating, but still had time to pull off the attack.

"Magcargo, now! Move closer to Natu!" As May had instructed, Magcargo began moving towards Natu about as fast as could be expected for a snail pokemon. While Magcargo was on the move, Natu's body began to shimmer. Its wish had come true, and its energy was restored.

_"That healing won't mean much in the long run since the poison is getting stronger as the battle goes on, but at least Natu will still be able to fight back when it wakes up."_ Brad watched Magcargo crawling towards Natu then looked up at May while contemplating the battle.

_"Only problem is, whats her next move? She ordered Magcargo to move closer, so she must be planning to use a short ranged attack. I can only think of one attack that'd fit for a Magcargo, and thats Overheat."_ Brad clenched his fists. _"That must be it then, and with that poison draining Natu's strength there's no way it'll be able to take a full powered Overheat! Come on, Natu! Wake up!"_

"Magcargo, now! Overheat!" Magcargo stopped in its tracks, still several feet away from the sleeping Natu. Natu finally woke up and opened its eyes, seeing Magcargo before it with an orange glow as heat began to build up in Magcargo's body.

"Natu, quick! Teleport!" A blast of flames suddenly erupted out from Magcargo in all directions, surrounding Natu entirely and concealing it from view within the flames. Natu soon appeared just outside the radius of the blast courtesy of its Teleport technique, but it was clear from the burns on its body that it didn't escape unharmed.

"Natu, use Wish again!" Natu closed its eyes and began to make its Wish, but it was too late. The poison in its body had grown too strong. Natu's body began to waver then the pokemon finally rolled over on its side, falling unconcious. Brad recalled his Natu, seemingly at a loss for words at his defeat.

"Match over! This battle goes to May!" The crowd erupted into applause and cheering at May's victory and Magcargo smiled as it basked in the glory of its own victory. Brad looked around the stadium and chuckled quietly to himself before turning towards the exit behind him.

_"Well if I had to lose...at least it was to someone from Johto..."_ He thought to himself as he made his exit from the field.

* * *

Wally, Brendan, and Suzy all applauded May as she arrived back in the trainer's lounge.

"Way to go, May! Looks like you're going on to the second round!" Wally congratulated her.

"Thanks, guys." May blushed at the praise. May looked to Brendan and remembered what he said earlier. "Brendan, you said you wanted to battle me, right? So how about a match when this is all over?"

"You're on!" Brendan replied enthusiastically. "You should worry about your next match though, afterall..." Brendan looked back over his shoulder. Following his gaze, May saw Jessica sitting in the corner and frowned.

_"Right...I'll be battling Jessica in the next round then..."_ May realized. _"I won't lose to someone like her! This time, Jessica, I'll be the winner!"_

"I bet it'll be Wally and May in the final match!" Suzy declared to the group. "Right Wally?"

"Umm...I don't know..." Wally replied, rubbing the back of his head. "I mean, I'm up against Melany. You all saw that ice pokemon she used in the last match..."

"Legendary pokemon or not you're going to beat her!" Suzy shot back defiantly.

"Don't worry about it too much, Wally." Brendan said, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Just give it your best and even if you lose you won't have any regrets!"

"Thats somehow not very reassuring coming from you..." Wally thought, remembering how Brendan took his own defeat. "Well, I'm up next then! Wish me luck, guys!"

May, Brendan, and Suzy all wished Wally good luck as he took off out of the trainers lounge, heading off to his next match.

"Ladies and gentlemen..." The announcer's voice blared out through the stadium's speakers. "The first round of battles are over! The semi-final bouts begin now!"

* * *

Author: Probably would have had this finished a bit sooner, but I was nearly done and had to redo the battles with Cyndaquil. Mainly because I had a Charmander in there. Of course I may have had this finished even sooner if I didn't go on an anime-binge since I had the week off. Watched three anime, two 25-episode animes and one 12-episode anime, from start to finish.

Also, and I should have noted this earlier in the series, but you've probably noticed I often have pokemon inflicted with two or more status like poison and sleep. Outside of gameplay I don't see why a pokemon couldn't be afflicted with multiple status effects. I stick to the gameplay a fair bit in terms of how different attacks work, but this is one point I diverge a bit on. Pokemon actually moving around is another, but that should be obvious anyway...


	69. Chapter 58: Steely Resolve!

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Fifty Eight**

**Steely Resolve! - Melany Vs. Wally**

"Hariyama, you're up first! Go!"

"Rhydon, go!"

Wally and Melany called out their respective pokemon to the battlefield. Wally sent out Hariyama while Melany sent out the rock-type Rhydon, a bad match-up to start with.

"Hariyama, use Earthquake!"

"Rhydon, block it with your own Earthquake!"

Both pokemon moved one foot forward and slammed it into the ground to create an Earthquake, sending shockwaves through the ground towards each other. The shockwaves met in the middle of the field and caused the ground to spike up in the middle of the field and create a rocky wall on either side of the pool, making it difficult for either pokemon to get across.

_"Rhydon won't be able to attack Hariyama easily, now's my chance!"_ Wally thought. "Hariyama, use Belly Drum!" Hariyama pounded its chest like a drum, injuring itself but summoning a tremendous strength from within to maximize its attack power.

_"Well that could have gone better..."_ Melany thought as she held up Rhydon's pokeball. "Rhydon, return." The pokeball opened up and Rhydon was drawn back inside. Melany placed the pokeball on her belt and took another in hand. _"May, I hope you're paying attention here."_

"Swellow, you're next!" Melany released the pokemon from its pokeball, sending out a green feathered Swellow to battle. The bird pokemon appeared above the rocky wall separating the field and perched on top of it.

"Swellow, use Agility!" Swellow closed its eyes and relaxed its muscles, focusing on increasing its speed.

_"This could be bad! Even though Hariyama is at full power I might not be able to hit her pokemon!"_ Wally thought in dismay. "Hariyama, Focus Punch!" In an attempt to take advantage of Swellow's inaction, Wally ordered Hariyama to use Focus Punch. Hariyama charged towards Swellow, the ground shaking with each thunderous step.

"Swellow, dodge it with Quick Attack!" Hariyama brought its fist towards Swellow as Melany called out to her pokemon, ready to deliver a powerful Focus Punch. Suddenly, Swellow shot forward and turned over on its side in the air to fly past Hariyama just as it was delivering the punch.

_"Whoa! That Swellow is really fast now!"_ Wally thought in surprise. _"I don't think Hariyama can hit it...but I don't want to waste Hariyama's Belly Drum either. Being forced to back off so soon after using it just sucks. I'll just have to give it a shot though..."_

"Swellow, now! Strike back with Aerial Ace!" Swellow leveled off then shot upwards, flipping in the air to come down towards Hariyama.

"Hariyama, Detect then use Seismic Toss!" Swellow shot down towards Hariyama, disappearing briefly as it increased its speed further to attack. When it reappeared, it had missed its target entirely. Hariyama sidestepped the attack with Detect and was now reaching out to grab Swellow.

"Swellow, quick! Double Team!" Hariyama closed its hand on Swellow's wing, but Swellow disappeared. Hariyama had grabbed one of the fake images Swellow had created almost instantly, leaving four more still circling Hariyama. "Now, use Quick Attack!" All but one of the images vanished and Swellow shot at Hariyama with incredible speed, striking it and flying by in the blink of an eye.

"Definitely too fast for Hariyama!" Wally thought in dismay. "Hariyama, thats enough for now! Return!" Wally recalled Hariyama to its pokeball, regretfully forcing it to lose its power boost.

"Altaria, you're up now! Go!" Wally held up another pokeball and released his own flying pokemon, Altaria, to confront Swellow. Swellow circled in the air, waiting for its next command, while Altaria perched on the ground.

"Altaria, start off with Sing!" Altaria opened its beak and began to sing out in a melodic lullaby in an attempt to put Swellow to sleep. _"If I can put her Swellow to sleep I can make a comeback with Dragon Dance!"_ Wally thought as Altaria performed the attack.

"Swellow, use Fly!" Swellow dropped down slightly in its flight then shot straight up into the air, flying up out of range of Altaria's Sing attack to prevent itself from falling asleep.

_"Ok, that still gives me something to work with at least."_ Wally thought to himself. "Altaria, use Dragon Dance!" A fiery orange aura surrounded Altaria as it summoned draconic strength, increasing its speed and power. While Altaria was focusing its power, Swellow shot down from above and smashed into Altaria as it pulled out of its dive. Altaria just barely had enough time to use the technique before Swellow smashed it into the ground.

"Altaria, go after it! Take Down!"

"Swellow, Mirror Move!"

Altaria took off from the ground and flew towards Swellow, meanwhile Swellow made a sharp vertical u-turn to come back around towards Altaria and set both pokemon on a collision course. Altaria was using its Take Down technique, and Swellow was using Mirror Move to copy it. The two pokemon eventually collided head-on and both were knocked to the ground from the impact.

"Altaria, use Steel Wing!"

"Swellow, Mirror Move! Block it!"

Altaria and Swellow both picked themselves up but Swellow remained on the ground as Altaria flew towards it to attack. Both pokemon's wings took on a metallic appearance. Altaria made a pass by Swellow to strike with its left wing, but Swellow raised its own wing to block the attack.

_"She's deliberately matching me blow for blow!"_ Wally suddenly realized. _"Well lets see her match this!"_

"Altaria, climb and use Aerial Ace!" Altaria took off straight upwards, away from Swellow, to gain a bit of altitude for its Aerial Ace attack.

"Swellow, Aerial Ace!" Swellow flapped its wings and flew up after Altaria, both pokemon were now fighting to gain altitude over the other.

_"She's using Aerial Ace too? But doesn't she realize that Swellow can't match Altaria's Aerial Ace now?"_ Wally wondered to himself. _"Melany doesn't seem like the type to go into battle without some kind of a strategy, so just what is she thinking?"_

Swellow and Altaria suddenly diverged away from each other in the air, then turned around and flew straight on a collision course again. Both pokemon seemed to disappear as they increased their speed for the attack, reappearing just as they passed by each other.

Swellow passed under Altaria and both pokemon struck each other with their beaks as they flew by. The force of the attack sent Swellow spiralling down towards the ground, while Altaria staggered in the air but managed to remain flying despite its injuries.

"Altaria, use Aerial Ace again!" Altaria turned back towards Swellow and dove straight down, following Swellow's descent. Melany watched closely as Altaria gained on Swellow to time her next attack, waiting until Altaria was just about ready to make its attack.

"Swellow, now! Quick Attack!" Swellow flipped around to regain flight then turned back upwards and shot into the air in a blur of movement as Altaria disappeared into its dive. Swellow passed by Altaria with its Qucik Attack, evading Altaria's Aeiral Ace and giving it the altitude advantage.

"Now finish it off! Aerial Ace!" Melany called out another attack to Swellow. Swellow sharply turned in the air again to dive down towards Altaria, who was only now realizing it missed its target. Swellow shot down towards it from behind, vanishing as it increased its speed and reappearing again as it struck Altaria from behind. Altaria cried out and crashed into the ground below. There was no movement from Altaria after, so Wally finally recalled it.

"Well, looks like you got the first knock out Melany." Wally commented as he got ready to send out his next pokemon.

"Its too early in the match for that to mean anything." Melany replied, a slight smile forming on her lips. "So I hope you're not thinking of throwing in the towel already..."

"No way! Not a chance!" Wally shot back, smiling in spite of the accusation. "This battle is definitely still on! Roselia, go!" Wally held up the pokeball he had prepared and sent out Roselia onto the field. "Roselia, take Swellow down with Magical Leaf!"

"Swellow, use Endeavour!" Swellow let out a loud shriek as a red aura surrounded it, using its current injuries to power its attack. Swellow flew towards Roselia with renewed strength while Roselia fired a pair of magical leaves towards Swellow. The leaves made contact with Swellow but had little effect as its own attack shredded them.

_"No way! Was this what she was planning all along?"_ Wally wondered as he realized Melany's strategy. Swellow smashed into Roselia, sending the small rose pokemon crashing into the wall under Wally and leaving it as weak as Swellow was after its fight with Altaria. _"Swellow's nearly out as it is, so if she uses Endeavour...then follows up with..."_

"Swellow, finish it! Quick Attack!" Melany's command finished Wally's train of thought. The red aura faded from around Swellow and it turned towards Roselia for another attack, but suddenly dropped down into the ground and collapsed as its remaining strength suddenly left it. During its attack on Roselia, Swellow had become poisoned and the poison sapped the last of its strength. Melany recalled Swellow from the battlefield.

"Phew...that was close..." Wally breathed a sigh of relief. He had almost lost another pokemon after just sending it out into the battle.

"Darn...almost pulled it off too..." Melany said to herself, smiling sheepishly. "I think I can actually sympathize with Jessica a bit, that lucky break for Wally kinda ruined my plan. At least I wasn't banking on it entirely..."

_"You know what would be a really good idea? Using Registeel."_ Odari suggested bitterly. _"You've already seen five of his pokemon in his last battle, and you're already sure Registeel can take his sixth. With his Hariyama as weak as it is, he doesn't have a single pokemon that can stop it now..."_

_"Yeah, but that wouldn't be any fun at all, would it?"_ Melany replied while drawing another pokeball. "Ok, Azumarill! Your turn now! Go!" Melany released Azumarill from its pokeball, sending it out onto her own side of the battlefield to distance it from Roselia.

_"Well, at least I tried."_ Odari sighed audibly in defeat. _"I'd just like to remind you though that the fate of the world depends on you winning this match..."_

_"The fate of the world?"_ Melany thought, rolling her eyes. _"I think you're stretching it just a bit there..."_

_"A water type? Why would she use a water type against a grass type?" _Wally wondered. _"That would just give me the chance to restore Roselia with an effective Giga Drain attack..."_

"Azumarill, Rollout and circle to gain speed!" Azumarill curled up into a ball and began rolling around in a circle, picking up speed as it rolled to increase the power of its attack.

_"So thats it! She's using the distance from Roselia to stall for time so Azumarill can attack with a stronger Rollout attack!"_ Wally realized, but he wasn't overly worried about it. _"My Roselia should be fast enough to get to it and slow it down with Stun Spore."_

"Roselia, go! Slow it down with a Stun Spore!" Roselia took off across the field at full speed, moving very quickly for such a small pokemon. Roselia easily jumped over the rock wall dividing the field and sprayed a cloud of spores from both flowers as it jumped over the wall.

"Azumarill, now! Attack!" Azumarill turned towards Roselia and rolled towards it like a bowling ball. Azumarill went through the spore cloud but remained completely unaffected, it was spinning so fast that the spores were simply diverted around it.

Azumarill continued unhindered and smashed into Roselia, knocking it back over to Wally's side of the field. When Roselia fell back onto the field it was clearly unconcious, forcing Wally to recall it. Both trainers had three pokemon revealed on the scoreboard, and Wally had two of his pokemon KO'd to Melany's one.

_"Was she planning that somehow?"_ Wally wondered as he drew another pokeball. _"I need to . Her Azumarill beat Roselia, but even with Rollout gaining strength it won't do much to Magneton."_

"Magneton, go!" Wally called out, releasing the electric pokemon Magneton from its pokeball.

"Azumarill, keep on the attack!" Azumarill circled around to gain speed then jumped into the air to clear the rocky barrier and continued on towards Magneton.

"Magneton, get ready to counter with Spark!" Magneton charged electricity around its body, ready to knock Azumarill back with its Spark attack when Azumarill would finally strike it.

"Azumarill, jump up and Focus Punch!" Azumarill jumped up into the air on an angle when it was about half-way towards Magneton. It uncurled its body and raised its fist back, gathering power for its attack. Azumarill then came straight down towards Magneton to deliver the punch, getting shocked by Magneton's Spark in the process.

The impact from Azumarill's Focus Punch smashed Magneton back into the wall of the stadium, carrying as much power as Suzy's Slaking did when it used Focus Punch in Wally's earlier match. Azumarill fell to its knees and winced as the sparks ran their course on its body while Magneton pulled itself off the wall, looking fairly exhausted but still in the fight.

"Magneton, paralyze it with Thunder Wave!" Magneton pointed its three magnets at Azumarill and fired a pulse of electricity. Azumarill cried out and collapsed as paralysis ran through its body. It tried to get back up but its body became fully paralyzed, keeping it pinned to the ground.

"Good! Now, Metal Sound!" Magneton's body squeezed tightly against itself and began making a terribly screeching noise like metal scraping against metal. Wally covered his ears so he wouldn't hear it, and Azumarill was forced to do likewise.

"Follow up with Thundershock!" Magneton was able to hear Wally over its own screeching to know what attack to use next. It stopped the screeching noise and fired a blast of electricity from its magnets. Azumarill cried out in pain as more electricity ran through its body, but quickly bolted back onto its feet after enduring the attack.

"Azumarill, quick! Finish it with Water Gun!" Azumarill opened its mouth and sprayed a small but powerful stream of water at Magneton, pushing it back a bit until the water trickled away and was no longer able to reach Magneton. Unfortunately, the attack didn't finish Magneton off as Melany had intended.

"Magneton, use Tri Attack!" Wally knew better than to use another electric attack after his Magneton was wet. Magneton pointed all three of its magnets at Azumarill and fired a separate beam from each; one blue, one red, and one yellow. The beams collided to form a single, swirling energy beam as it struck Azumarill. The force of the attack was more than Azumarill could take and finally it collapsed.

_"Almost had it too..."_ Melany thought as she recalled Azumarill then reached for another pokeball. "Ok, Camerupt! Go!" May released the fire pokemon from its pokeball, sending it out near the edge of the pool on Wally's side of the field.

_"Camerupt is a fire and ground type, so that means it can use either attack on Magneton."_ Wally thought to himself. _"If it uses a ground type attack I'll have Magneton try to dodge it then Mimic the attack. Camerupt is weak to ground-type attacks, so if Magneton can Mimic a ground attack from it I can at least cause some damage..."_

"Camerupt, use Ember!" Camerupt opened its mouth and spat out a single, small fireball at Magneton. The fireball hit Magneton, instantly knocking it out and sending it crashing to the ground. Wally recalled his pokemon in dismay.

_"Maybe she remembered it had Mimic..."_ Wally reasoned. _"Ok, think. I've only got three pokemon left now. Hariyama won't be able to take much punishment and I bet Melany is saving that legendary pokemon of her's for last. Delcatty should be able to last against Camerupt long enough to use Wish, worst case scenario I can fight back with Water Pulse."_

"Delcatty, your turn now! Go!" The cat-like pokemon was released from its pokeball, purring happily as it appeared on the field and ready to battle.

"Camerupt, attack with Earthquake!"

"Delcatty, put it to sleep with Sing!"

While Delcatty began singing a soothing lullaby in a feline tone, Camerupt raised its front legs and slammed the ground hard to cause an Earthquake. After initiating the attack, Camerupt immediately fell asleep. The Earthquake still continued on though, rocking the ground under Delcatty. The ground ruptured and split, knocking Delcatty off its feet briefly.

"Use Wish!" Delcatty got back to its feet and closed its eyes to make a Wish. "Good! Now return!" Wally recalled Delcatty and took Hariyama's pokeball in hand again to release it to receive the benefit of Delcatty's Wish.

"Camerupt, Return!" Melany likewise recalled her pokemon and took another pokeball in hand, knowing exactly what Wally was intending to do.

"Hariyama, go!"

"Rhydon, go!"

Mirroring the beginning of their match, Wally and Melany simultaneously released their pokemon from their pokeballs and both onto Melany's side of the field. The horned rock pokemon and muscular fighting pokemon appeared on the battlefield and looked ready to battle each other again. Almost as soon as it appeared, Hariyama's body shimmered as it received the benefit of Delcatty's Wish.

_"She must have known I was planning to switch to Hariyama..."_ Wally thought to himself. _"Then why did she switch to Rhydon? Hariyama has an advantage against it, but Rhydon can't learn any attacks effective against a fighting type..."_

"Rhydon, start with Scary Face!" Rhydon put one foot forward, leaning towards Hariyama with an evil glint in its eye. To Hariyama, the fighting pokemon started to look bigger and more intimidating and caused it to become more hesitant to approach it.

"Hariyama, attack with Arm Thrust!" Hariyama shook it off, but was still slow to approach Rhydon. Rhydon held up its arms defensively as Hariyama began pummeling it with repeated open-palm strikes. After four strikes, Rhydon grabbed both of Hariyama's hands to stop it.

"Rhydon, use Horn Attack!" Rhydon tilted its head forward then brought its horn up into Hariyama's chin while releasing its grip on the fighting pokemon. Hariyama staggered back from the attack.

"Now! Take Down!" Rhydon charged into Hariyama, slamming into it with a full body tackle and knocking it off its feet. Hariyama grunted as it fell to the ground, but Rhydon's rocky body was uninjured from the impact.

_"Her Rhydon is tougher than I thought..."_ Wally realized. _"Its strong and it took those Arm Thrusts like nothing...I'll either have to set it up for a Focus Punch or to get off a Belly Drum."_

"Hariyama, use Seismic Toss!" Hariyama got back to its feet and grabbed Rhydon's arms. Hariyama then started spinning around, lifting the heavy rock pokemon off the ground and tossing it towards the pool. Rhydon skidded to a stop just before going over the edge into the water.

"Now, Hariyama! Use Earthquake!"

"Rhydon, get up and counter with Earthquake!"

The ground shook as both pokemon slammed their foot into it to cause an Earthquake. Hariyama's attack came fairly close to Rhydon before Rhydon's own Earthquake met it, creating a wall between them that left Rhydon with only a few feet in front of it. The shockwave from their Earthquakes also caused the previously formed wall to shatter, removing the barrier in the middle of the field.

_"That wall should buy me some time."_ Wally thought with a smirk. _"By the time Rhydon gets through, Hariyama will be ready for it!"_

"Hariyama, use Belly Drum!" Wally called out to it. Hariyama pounded its chest, weakening itself quite a bit after the pounding it took from Rhydon. The technique maximized Hariyama's attack strength but left it barely able to take a hit.

_"Just as I thought, Wally took advantage of the barrier to use Belly Drum again."_ Melany thought to herself. _"What he doesn't realize is the barrier helps me just as much as it does him..."_

"Hariyama, jump the barrier and use Focus Punch!" Hariyama leapt high into the air, raising its fist back to gather strength for its attack.

"Thats as close as you'll get! Rhydon, Rock Blast!" Rhydon raised its arms up to point at Hariyama and fired a pair of rocks from the palm of its hands. The rocks bounced off Hariyama's body with seemingly little effect, but it was enough to disrupt its Focus Punch. Hariyama came short of its target as well and landed on top of the wall, crushing it beneath its weight.

"Now! Take Down!" Rhydon charged towards Hariyama, throwing itself into its opponent and knocking it off the wall. Hariyama hit the ground on the other side and was knocked out, prompting Wally to recall it.

_"We gave it our best..."_ Wally whispered to Hariyama's pokeball before placing it on his belt. _"I thought for sure Hariyama would be able to attack first, I didn't count on her Rhydon using a ranged attack..."_

"Ok, Delcatty! This one's up to you now! Go!" Wally called out, releasing Delcatty from its pokeball.

"Rhydon, good job! Return!" Melany recalled Rhydon and took another pokeball in hand to switch it with. "Camerupt, your turn again! Go!" Melany released Camerupt from its pokeball, sending it out on Wally's side of the field. Camerupt was still asleep from Delcatty's Sing attack earlier.

_"She recalled Rhydon...she probably knows Delcatty can use Ice Beam."_ Wally thought to himself, a slight smirk crossing his lips. _"But she doesn't know everything my Delcatty can do!"_

"Delcatty, lets finish this one quick! Water Pulse!" Delcatty mewed happily then opened its mouth and fired out several blue rings. The rings hit Camerupt, splashing like water against it. Camerupt growled in pain and woke with a start, shaking off Delcatty's Water Pulse.

_"Water Pulse...I was expecting an Ice Beam.Tthat doesn't leave Camerupt much room to fight back."_ Melany thought to herself. "Camerupt, use Flamethrower!"

"Delcatty, use Faint Attack!" Melany's Camerupt spewed a stream of flames at Delcatty, engulfing it completely. Camerupt's attack was cut off sooner than usual though. Camerupt reeled back as if something had struck it, then Delcatty appeared standing behind it.

"Camerupt, quick! Use Earthquake!"

"Delcatty, Water Pulse again!"

Camerupt slammed the ground with its hind legs while Delcatty fired a water-like pulse of energy at Camerupt. Camerupt collapsed shortly after being struck by Delcatty's attack, but it had still managed to get off its Earthquake attack. The ground around Delcatty cracked up and bounced Delcatty around, leaving her lying on her side when it finally ceased. Melany recalled Camerupt, but Delcatty was soon back on its feet.

_"Well, I'll admit his Delcatty caught me off guard..."_ Melany thought to herself. _"I still have three pokemon left to his two though, and one of mine is Registeel. I'll let Magneton have a go next then..."_

"Magneton, I choose you! Go!" Melany called out, releasing her Magneton onto Wally's side of the field with Delcatty.

_"Ok, his Delcatty has already taken some pretty serious damage."_ Melany thought. _"He'll probably try to use Sing, then follow up with a Wish. I'll use Metal Sound to prevent him from using Sing, then finish Delcatty off with Thunderbolt."_

"Delcatty, put Magneton to sleep! Sing!"

"Magneton, use Metal Sound!"

Delcatty opened its mouth to sing, but its voice was quickly drowned out by the grating sound of metal scraping against metal. Delcatty dropped to the ground and put her paws over her ears in an attempt to block out the sound.

"Now, Magneton! Use Thunderbolt!" Magneton stopped its attack and quickly charged up electricity. Sparks erupted from the tips of its magnets then fired out in a bolt at Delcatty. Delcatty cried out in pain as the bolt struck it and electricity coursed through its body, then collapsed onto the ground as it fell unconcious. Wally recalled his Delcatty and was starting to feel pretty desparate now.

_"All I have left is Gardevoir..."_ He thought. _"Maybe I should just forfeit...Gardevoir couldn't possibly win against Melany's three remaining pokemon, especially not if she has that ice thing with her."_ Wally looked across the field at Magneton and suddenly a thought struck him.

_"Wait a minute! My Gardevoir can use Calm Mind!"_ Wally realized, smiling inwardly as he began to formulate a plan. _"If I start off using Calm Mind against Magneton it eventually won't be able to hurt Gardevoir, even if it manages to attack. I could easily finish off Rhydon after that as well, leaving Gardevoir already powered up to fight Regice. If Regice survives an attack to power up, I'll stop it with Disable!"_

"Gardevoir, go!" Wally called out as he released his final pokemon, Gardevoir, from its pokeball. Gardevoir could sense Wally's barely-contained excitement stemming from his plan and knew that, even though she was his only pokemon remaining, they still had a chance.

"Magneton, slow it down with Thunder Wave!" Magneton focused its magnets on Gardevoir and fired a pulse of electricity in an attempt to paralyze it.

"Gardevoir, Teleport and use Calm Mind!" Gardevoir disappeared just before Magneton's attack would have hit it, teleporting to the other side of the field near Melany. Gardevoir then closed her eyes and focused, concentrating to increase her mental abilities.

"Magneton, Lock On!" Magneton turned around towards Gardevoir and floated up slightly to see it over the rock wall still remaining on the other side of the pool. A red bullseye appeared on Gardevoir's forehead as Magneton took aim at her.

"Now, Magneton! Use Thunder!"

"Gardevoir, Teleport and put it to sleep with Hypnosis!"

Wally's Gardevoir once again disappeared just as a lightning bolt streaked down from the sky towards it. Gardevoir reappeared directly in front of Magneton, but the lightning bolt suddenly struck Gardevoir from behind as its course altered to unerringly strike its intended target. Gardevoir cried out as the electricity went through her body, and even Magneton felt a bit of the jolt from being so close.

_"Right! I can't escape a locked-on attack, even if Gardevoir uses Teleport."_ Wally thought, remembering how Melany used the same technique on Vito's Alakazam. "Gardevoir, quick! Try Hypnosis again!"

Gardevoir stood up straight and looked into Magneton's eyes. Using hypnotic, psychic energy waves Gardevoir soon had Magneton sleeping peacefully before it could launch another attack.

_"Great...and I can't recall Magneton either."_ Melany thought in dismay. _"Gardevoir's Trace ability copies Magneton's Magnet Pull ability, meaning its stuck out there..."_

"Alright! Now use Calm Mind!" Gardevoir closed her eyes again and began concentrating, using its Calm Mind technique while Melany's Magneton was unable to interrupt it. Gardevoir continued to use the technique while Magneton slept peacefully. Because Magneton was facing away from Wally, Melany was the first to notice when it finally opened its eyes again.

"Magneton, use Tri Attack!" Melany called out, snapping Gardevoir out of its meditation. Magneton pointed its three magnets inwards and fired three separate beams that combined into a single, swirling beam of fire, ice, and electricity. The beam hit Gardevoir at nearly point-blank range, knocking her to the ground.

_"Didn't get to power up as much as I would have liked to..."_ Wally thought to himself. _"I shouldn't take anymore chances though, physical attacks will still hurt Gardevoir a lot and if she gets paralyzed or something I'll really be done for."_

"Gardevoir, use Hidden Power!" Gardevoir floated back to her feet then closed her eyes and focused her power inwards, creating four large red spheres around her. She fired the spheres one after the other, and Magneton recoiled as each sphere struck it. After the fourth hit its mark, Magneton fell to the ground unconcious. With Magneton knocked out, Melany finally recalled it.

_"Fire-type Hidden Power..."_ Melany thought to herself, recognizing the red color of the attack. _"Lets see if I can't slow it down with Rhydon first then. I'm confident Registeel can take at least one Hidden Power..."_

"Rhydon, your turn again! Go!" Melany called out, releasing Rhydon onto Wally's side of the battlefield and facing Gardevoir. "Rhydon, use Scary Face!" Rhydon narrowed its eyes and glared at Gardevoir. To Gardevoir, Rhydon began to appear more intimidating and sent a shiver down her spine.

"Gardevoir, use Psychic!" Gardevoir hesitated a moment before closing her eyes and focusing her psychic powers on Rhydon. A blue aura surrounded Rhydon and quickly lifted it off the ground. Gardevoir then flipped Rhydon over and slammed it head-first into the ground and releasing Rhydon from her power.

Rhydon remained standing on its head for a brief moment, then fell over onto its back. The rock pokemon was already unconcious after a single attack, prompting Melany to recall it. She hadn't been expecting much else from Rhydon though.

_"Ok, this is it then."_ Melany thought, drawing her final pokeball. "Registeel...go!" Melany released her final pokemon from its pokeball, this time on her side of the field. As the steel golem appeared on the battlefield it received a similar response from the crowd that Regice had gotten in Melany's previous battle. The similarity to Regice was obvious, but still no one knew what Registeel was.

"Regi...steel?" Wally murmured in shock. _"I thought she'd have Regice...but this pokemon is obviously similar to it, and definitely a steel type. So a fire-type hidden power should still work on it!"_

"Registeel, use Lock-On!" Registeel's eyes flashed as it registered the command and focused its sights on Gardevoir. A red bullseye soon appeared on the psychic pokemon's forehead.

_"Lock-On?! I thought for sure she'd try to power up its defense!"_ Wally thought in surprise. "Gardevoir, take it down quick! Hidden Power!"

Gardevoir focused on its inner power once more, forming four red spheres of energy around it. It fired the spheres at Registeel, causing the steel golem to stagger back as they struck it one after the other. As the last sphere struck it, Registeel was knocked off its feet.

"Did we get it?" Wally wondered aloud. It was hard for him to tell what kind of effect Gardevoir's attack had on Registeel, especially from where he was watching from.

"Registeel, end this now! Hyper Beam!" Registeel suddenly sat up and brought its clawed hands together in front of it. From its hands, Registeel fired its Hyper Beam attack at Gardevoir. The beam of energy shot out from its hands, soaring across the battlefield and locked onto Gardevoir courtesy of Lock-On.

"Well we're still not going down that easily!" Wally called out in determination. "Gardevoir, Teleport in front of Registeel!"

Gardevoir disappeared, using Teleport to move across the field and appear next to Registeel just before the Hyper Beam could hit her in a last ditch effort to try to win the match. The beam, of course, automatically redirected to follow Gardevoir. It made a complete u-turn to turn back on the two pokemon.

Neither pokemon was able to move before the beam reached its target and smashed both Registeel and Gardevoir simultaneously. The impact created a small explosion that kicked up a cloud of dust, temporarily concealing the effects of the attack from view. When the dust settled, both pokemon appeared to be knocked out.

"Is it a draw?" Wally wondered aloud. "Oh wait...that doesn't happen in tournaments does it?"

"In the event that both trainer's remaining pokemon are knocked out simultaneously, the first pokemon to get back up is the winner." A voice sounding more authorative than the regular announcer answered Wally's question.

"It doesn't make any difference." Melany stated calmly. "Even after taking that Hidden Power, its own Hyper Beam would barely dent Registeel." As if on cue, Registeel raised one of its clawed hands and dug into the ground, pulling itself into an upright position.

"Thats it then!" The regular announcer declared. "After a tense battle, this match is over! Melany Stone moves on to the final round!"

"Well...we did our best anyway." Wally said quietly as he recalled his Gardevoir. He smiled to himself as he held Gardevoir's pokeball in his hand. "Besides...there's no shame in losing to a legendary pokemon, right?" Melany likewise recalled her Registeel and both trainers left the field.

* * *

_"That was closer than it should have been."_ Odari scolded Melany. _"If you just used Registeel when I said you could have easily powered it up and won the match like you did against Vito."_

_"You just don't understand." _Melany replied casually, offering no further explanation.

_"You're right, I don't understand."_ Odari shot back. _"I don't understand how such a backwards civilization incapable of keeping their priorities straight could even still exist let alone be as advanced as it is."_

_"And I don't understand how you can base your opinion on civilization solely on me, or how your civilization managed to survive so long without destroying itself or just outright collapse. So we're even."_

Melany had been paying little attention to her surroundings while arguing with Odari, and in particular she didn't see anything in front of her because her gaze was cast down at the floor. So she was completely caught off guard when she was roughly grabbed by the collar of her shirt by May.

"You...where did you get that Swellow?!" May angrily demanded.

_"Well congratulations. She definitely noticed."_ Odari said to Melany, the girl's snickering echoing through her mind.

"I...caught it..." Melany tried to reply in the same way she did when May was inquiring about Minun, but May's grip on her shirt was almost choking her. May let go of her after hearing her answer, but May's rage didn't subside any.

"Just...just who are you?!" May asked her next, though she felt she already knew the answer.

"Melany Stone." Melany replied, though altering her voice slightly to sound more male. May immediately recognized Melany's voice and looked as though she was on the verge of tears.

"Why did you..." Before May could finish her question, Melany placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm not even sure anymore...even if I explained it to you, it'd hardly make sense." Melany replied quietly. "I suppose you hate me now..."

"I..." May didn't know how to respond, or even how she felt about it. She could hardly think straight.

"If you want to get back at me for lying to you for so long, don't you think the best way would be to beat me in the finals?" Melany suggested to her. "What I'm saying is...if you want to resolve this, you're going to have to win your next match." May looked down at the floor, thinking about what Melany said.

"I'll beat Jessica then..." May suddenly looked up at Melany, glaring at her. "Then you're next..." May pushed past Melany, continuing on into the arena.

_"Why couldn't life be more like pokemon battles?"_ Melany wondered, hanging her head in defeat. _"My plans always work in battle...but always backfire for everything else..."_

_"So now what are you going to do?"_ Odari asked her curiously.

_"I...I don't know...I have to fix this somehow though. I want May to get over 'Alex'"_ Melany looked back over her shoulder at May. _"But I don't want to lose a friend..."_

* * *

Author's Notes: I really need to stop getting caught up in random anime series. This chapter was definitely a photo finish...

Well, cats finally out of the bag, and May's not taking it too well. I'll admit, trying to work out the character's relative reactions in this scenario isn't being too easy. It'll probably make May's match against Jessica interesting though since I'm picturing May being uncharacteristically cold throughout the match. I'll need to put some thought into this one...


	70. Chapter 59: No Such Luck

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Fifty Nine**

**No Such Luck - May Vs. Jessica**

"Why don't you just save yourself the embarassment and give up, May?" Jessica taunted her from across the field. "You were lucky enough to get this far, but your luck ends here."

Jessica looked to May, expecting some sort of comeback from her, but May remained quiet. She had a look of determination on her face that hadn't faded since stepping onto the trainer's platform.

"Tch...be that way then." Jessica commented with a slight shrug. "Just as long as you don't cry when you lose..."

On the field below, a Sandslash was with its trainer finishing up flattening out the field. The rock wall left behind by Wally and Melany's battle had already been brought down, leaving Sandslash to fill in the remaining fissures from the quakes that created the wall. Most of the work was already done by other ground types, so as soon as Sandslash was finished it left the field with its trainer.

"Trainers, begin battle!" The announcer called out. Jessica and May each drew a pokeball to send out their first pokemon.

"Dusclops, you're up first!" Jessica called out, releasing the cyclops ghost pokemon from its pokeball to start off the battle.

"Cradily, go!" May called out her pokemon with less enthusiasm than she usually had, sending out the ancient sea lilly pokemon onto the battlefield. Each pokemon was situated on its respective side of the field to start off the match.

"Dusclops, you know the drill. Start this off with Curse!" Dusclops nodded and began its attack, forming a large shadowy pin in front of it and then stabbing itself. A dark aura then appeared around Cradily, the result of Dusclops cutting its own life force in half to place a curse on it.

_"Like I didn't expect her to do that."_ May thought to herself. "Cradily, use Ingrain!" Cradily held itself firmly against the ground then sprouted roots from the base of its body, anchoring itself in and draining nutrients from the soil to replenish its energy.

_"She's stupider than I thought."_ Jessica thought, snickering to herself. _"Now she can't even recall her pokemon, its completely helpless!"_

"Dusclops, lets take this a step further! Use Will-o-Wisp!" Dusclops leaned forward and moved across the ground as if it were hovering, moving right over the pool to cross the field and get in range to attack Cradily. It then held out its hand towards Cradily and released a ghostly flame. The flame caused no damage when it struck Cradily's neck but instantly inflicted a burn.

"Cradily, now! Use Toxic!" With Dusclops closer to Cradily, May decided to have it use Toxic. Cradily spat out a purple blob of poison at the ghost pokemon. The poisonous substance splattered onto Dusclops' body and instantly sank in, inflicting it with a powerful poison.

_"Well I wasn't expecting that one."_ Jessica thought to herself. _"Still, there's no way her Cradily is going to survive longer than Dusclops now anyway. Between Curse and the burn, its time will be very short."_

"Cradily, use Recover!" Cradily focused its power and its body shimmered as a restorative energy flowed through it, temporarily bringing it back to full strength despite continuing to suffer under the burn and the curse.

"Well two can play at that game. Dusclops, use Pain Split!" Dusclops concentrated and a red aura surrounded both pokemon, spreading each pokemon's remaining life force equally between the two of them. Jessica thought for sure she still had the match-up won. As Dusclops health became worse from the poison, it would drain more of Cradily's lifeforce with Pain Split.

"Cradily, use Confuse Ray!" Cradily tilted its head towards Dusclops. Its eyes flashed and a white beam fired out from its eyes, moving straight outwards to hit Dusclops in the face. The ray pierced straight through to Dusclops' mind, using strange energies to inflict confusion on it.

"Damn it...now she's really starting to annoy me..." Jessica grumbled. "Dusclops, use Fire Punch!" Dusclops raised its fist, but then punched itself in the face out of confusion. _"Figures...she's already getting lucky..."_ Jessica thought angrily at seeing her Dusclops already succumbing to the confusion.

"Cradily, use Recover again!" Cradily's body shimmered again as it used Recover. Restorative energies flowed through its body to restore the damage inflicted on it by the curse and burn. Jessica's Dusclops was starting to look as though it was barely hanging on while Cradily was still ready for more.

"Dusclops, use Pain Split!"

"Cradily, Protect!"

A red aura surrounded Dusclops and Cradily as the ghost pokemon managed to concentrate enough to use its attack. The aura around Cradily didn't last long enough to have any effect though as Dusclops' attack was soon blocked out by a protective barrier formed around the grass pokemon. Shortly after, Dusclops lost its remaining strength and collapsed to the ground.

"You just got lucky." Jessica grumbled, recalling her Dusclops and getting ready to send out her next pokemon. "Swampert, finish it off!" Jessica called out as she released Swampert, sending it out onto May's side of the battlefield so it would be in range to attack to start off.

"This should be quick, I doubt her Cradily can take much more abuse even with Recover." Jessica thought before calling out her attack. "Swampert, use Earthquake!"

Swampert curled both its hands into fists and slammed the ground, using its Earthquake technique to cause the ground to shatter and erupt around Cradily. The cracking ground separated it from its roots, cutting Cradily off from the little healing it was receiving from it.

"Cradily, use Toxic!" May knew Cradily wasn't going to last much longer, so in a last ditch effort to hinder Jessica's pokemon she had Cradily use Toxic. Cradily fired out the blob of poison just before its neck seemed to lose the strength to support its large head and dropped to the ground. The toxic substance still hit its target, inflicting Swampert with a poison that would steadily increase in strength.

_"I'm still ahead in this."_ May thought as she recalled Cradily. _"When Brendan battled Jessica, he lost Torkoal and had Aggron severely crippled. I've reversed that though."_ May smirked to herself. _"Jessica's using the same strategies she used against Brendan, but I'm ready for them."_

"Bellossom, your next! Go!" May held up Bellossom's pokeball and released the grass pokemon from within, sending it out to battle against Jessica's Swampert. Though Bellossom had a clear advantage in type, May had a feeling Jessica wouldn't recall Swampert.

_"Typical, now she's falling back on type alignments. Here I thought she might actually be using her head for a change..."_ Jessica thought as she smirked to herself. _"Swampert's useless to me anyway, so I'll just leave Swampert out so I'll get a free chance to get in a better pokemon."_

"Swampert, use Ice Punch!" Swampert moved towards Bellossom while raising its fist back, coating it in a thin sheet of ice. Swampert brought its fist into the small grass pokemon once it was in range, shattering the ice and knocking Bellossom back several feet.

"Bellossom, use Magical Leaf!" Bellossom quickly jumped back onto its feet then hopped up and spun around, firing out several sharp leaves from its body. Swampert groaned in pain and nearly collapsed as the sharp leaves slashed across its body. After just one attack, combined with the poison coursing through its body, Swampert already looked like it was worn out.

"Now finish it with Absorb!" Using its relatively weak draining attack, Bellossom drew out Swampert's remaining energy. A small, green stream of energy flowed between the two pokemon followed by Swampert collapsing to the ground as it no longer had the strength to stand up. Jessica quickly recalled it and was already set to send out her next pokemon.

"Breloom, your turn now! Go!" Jessica's next pokemon to face off against May was her own grass-type, Breloom. Breloom made a few quick jabs at the air when it appeared, signalling that it was ready to fight.

"Bellossom, thats enough for now. Return!" May recalled Bellossom back into its pokeball, taking a second pokeball in hand as she did to send out another pokemon without missing a beat. "Wynaut, go!" The pokemon sent out in Bellossom's place was none other than Wynaut, who appeared happy to be in battle at first but growled fiercely when it saw Jessica on the other side of the field.

_"She hasn't even evolved that thing? What a waste..."_ Jessica thought with a smirk. _"This would be the perfect time to let Zangoose get an easy power boost and swamp her team...but first I need to deal with that pesky shadow tag ability. Putting it to sleep should work, if not I'll just have to finish it off..."_

"Breloom, use Spore and put Wynaut to sleep!" Breloom brought its tail around towards Wynaut and shook it, releasing spores from the end. When the spores made contact with Wynaut it instantly fell asleep and fell over on its side.

"Good! Now return!" Jessica held up Breloom's pokeball to recall it. Jessica's plan seemed to work, as she was able to recall it while Wynaut was sleeping.

"Ok, Zangoose! Lets end this!" Jessica called out smugly as she released her Zangoose onto May's side of the battlefield. "Zangoose, start with Swords Dance and maximize your power!" Zangoose crossed its arms and focused its power, creating a blue aura around it in the shape of a sword as it increased its strength.

_"I thought you'd do something like that."_ May thought to herself. _"I've already planned out how to counter the strategies you used against Brendan, and I know you're not expecting me to actually be able to use Wynaut 'properly'."_ May clenched her fist, keeping her rage bottled up inside her.

_"I didn't need any extra motivation to beat you. You've humiliated me, my pokemon, one of my friends, and showed you don't care about any pokemon but your Zangoose."_ May looked down at Wynaut and noticed it was starting to wake up. _"I WILL beat you Jessica...starting right now!"_

"Wynaut, use Encore!" Wynaut quickly got back to its feet and started clapping its floppy arms together. A burst of applause echoed around it, and despite already being at full strength when Wynaut woke up Zangoose continued to use its Swords Dance technique.

"Wynaut, return!" With Wynaut's job done, May recalled it to send out another pokemon to finish off Zangoose.

"Bellossom, go! Use slow it down with Stun Spore!" May sent out Bellossom again, and as soon as the grass pokemon appeared it spun around and released a cloud of spores towards Zangoose. Zangoose nearly collapsed, putting out its hand to catch itself as the spores inflicted paralysis on it. Despite this, Zangoose continued attempting to use Swords Dance.

"Damn it..." Jessica muttered. She held up Zangoose's pokeball, debating whether or not to recall it. _"Maybe she's more dangerous than I gave her credit for...but all Zangoose needs now is one good hit. Even paralyzed I can still make use of Quick Attack as soon as Encore wears off."_

"Bellossom, follow up with Sunny Day!" Bellossom raised its tiny arms up and sent a burst of energy into the sky above the battlefield. The energy burst and spread outwards, intensifying the sun's energy and making the battlefield feel hotter than it actually was.

"Now! Solar Beam!" Bellossom leaned forward, pointing the flowers on its head at Zangoose. Light could briefly be seen filtering into the flowers followed by twin beams of energy firing out and combining into a single, larger beam.

Zangoose cried out in shock as the beam slammed into it, pushing it all the way back across the pool before finally releasing all its energy in a burst of light. Zangoose slowly got back on its feet after enduring the attack. By now it had finally shaken off the Encore and looked like it was pretty upset as well.

"Zangoose, time to strike back! Quick Attack!" Zangoose nodded and began circling around the pool, first having to get in range to use its attack. This left it open for another attack from Bellossom.

"Bellossom, Mimic and use Quick Attack!" Bellossom concentrated for a moment and copied Zangoose's technique. It then ran forward, its movements faster than normal due to the effect of its chlorophyll ability. When it was close enough to Zangoose it took off in a flash of movement, striking Zangoose as Bellossom moved by it. It was a weak hit but enough to distract Zangoose temporarily as it clutched its side in pain.

"Now finish it off with another Solar Beam!" Bellossom skidded to a stop and spun around while lowering its head towards Zangoose and fired another Solar Beam attack at it. Zangoose was turning around to use its Quick Attack technique when the beam struck it, pushing it all the way back to the wall of the stadium before finally dispersing in a flash of light. Zangoose fell to the ground after, knocked out by the attack.

"Looks like your Zangoose has another loss on its record." May taunted Jessica. Jessica glared at her coldly while she recalled Zangoose.

"If you think you're getting away with that then you're sadly mistaken." Jessica replied through gritted teeth. The confidence she had at the start of the match was all but gone now. "Ninjask, go!" Jessica released Ninjask from its pokeball next, hoping to take advantage of its speed and type to take down May's Bellossom.

"Bellossom, use Sleep Powder!"

"Ninjask, Protect!"

Bellossom released a burst of powder from its flowers, aiming the burst at Ninjask in an attempt to put it to sleep. The powder never reached its target as Ninjask created a protective barrier around itself, blocking the powder from reaching it. This bought Ninjask time to increase its speed with Speed Boost, and at the same time the sun faded and reduced Bellossom's speed to normal.

"Ninjask, use Swords Dance!" Ninjask focused its power, creating a blue aura around itself as it used Swords Dance to increase its strength.

"Bellossom, paralyze it with Stun Spore!" Bellossom released a cloud of spores from the flowers on its head, sending them drifting towards Ninjask. Ninjask easily avoided the technique, however, by quickly moving out of the path of the spores.

"Ninjask, finish this now! Silver Wind!" Ninjask created gusts of wind with the flapping of its wings while releasing a silvery dust from its body. The wind swirled around Bellossom, carrying the dust with it. Bellossom cried out as the dust and wind blasted against her. When the wind finally ceased, Bellossom nearly dropped. She was already pretty exhausted after just one attack.

_"At this rate Bellossom's going to be defeated without even landing a hit on Ninjask..."_ May thought to herself. _"Well, we still have one technique we can try courtesy of Zangoose."_

"Bellossom, use Quick Attack!"

"Ninjask, Fury Cutter!"

Bellossom dashed towards Ninjask, jumping up and disappearing in a brief burst of speed as it got closer. Bellossom reappeared as it landed on the other side of Ninjask. Ninjask didn't seem to move at all during Bellossom's attack, but when Bellossom landed she instantly fainted. Both pokemon had struck each other simultaneously.

_"Well its something anyway...but I really wanted to get it asleep or paralyzed..."_ May thought regarding Bellossom's final attack, recalling the grass pokemon to its pokeball then getting ready to send out her next pokemon. "Altaria, go!" After recalling Bellossom, May sent out Altaria to take on Ninjask. She was confident that Altaria would be able to take on Ninjask one way or another.

"Ninjask, hit Altaria with a Slash attack!" Ninjask quickly crossed the field towards Altaria, almost too fast to follow as it streaked across the field and slashed Altaria with its claws in one lightning movement. Altaria cried out as she was struck by the high-speed attack, but managed to shake it off.

"Altaria, Perish Song!" Altaria cried out in a dark, dramatic tone that carried a somewhat mystical effect to it. The tune lingered in both Altaria and Ninjask's minds, ensuring both pokemon would instantly collapse after a short time if they remained on the field.

"That still won't help you any." Jessica informed May, raising her hand to adjust her glasses slightly. "Altaria won't last that long anyway, leaving me free to recall Ninjask after. Ninjask, use Slash!" Ninjask raised its claw and quickly raked it across the side of Altaria's body in another flyby attack, quickly distancing itself from Altaria after the attack.

"Altaria, thats good enough for now. Return!" May held up Altaria's pokeball and recalled Altaria before the Perish Song could take effect.

_"May's actually using some semblance of a strategy today, I better switch too incase she sends out Wynaut."_ Jessica thought to herself, recalling her Ninjask without a word.

"Flygon, your turn now! Go!" May called out another dragon pokemon, sending out her Flygon next. Flygon appeared hovering over the battlefield and narrowed its eyes in a glare when it spotted Jessica on the other side of the field, remembering how she tricked it into evolving.

_"Flygon? Clearly I give her too much credit..."_ Jessica thought with a slight smirk. "Ok then, Breloom! Take it down!" Jessica sent out Breloom onto May's side of the battlefield again to go up against Flygon.

"Breloom, lets start by putting Flygon to sleep! Spore!"

"Flygon, block it with a Sandstorm!"

Breloom began wagging its tail, releasing a cloud of spores towards Flygon. Flygon, meanwhile, began flapping its wings and sending out a blast of sand in all directions. The sand soon covered the battlefield in the area around Breloom and Flygon. The sandstorm also blasted away the spores, keeping them from making contact with Flygon and dispersing them into the swirling sand.

"Now use Fire Punch, Flygon!" Flygon dove down and flew close to the ground as it approached Breloom, raising its relatively small right hand back and engulfing it in flames. Flygon came to a stop as it delivered the fiery punch, knocking Breloom back with a punch that ended in a fiery burst as the flames dispersed on contact.

"Breloom, strike back with Sky Uppercut!" Breloom quickly recovered from the attack and jumped up, curling its hand into a fist and striking Flygon in the jaw. Flygon growled and staggered back from the impact. It spread its wings out to hold itself in place and stand firm against Breloom's attack.

_"This isn't looking too good for Breloom..."_ Jessica thought to herself. _"But Ninjask likely wouldn't fair much better at this point, and the sandstorm would mean Shedinja would be knocked out as soon as I released it. For now I'll just have to keep at it with Breloom and hope to inflict enough damage to finish it off with Ninjask."_

"Flygon, use Fire Punch again!" Flygon raised its fist, engulfing it in flames for another strike at Breloom. Flygon brought its fist down on top of Breloom's head, hitting it hard and knocking Breloom onto its back in a fiery burst. Flygon also winced in pain at the impact as Breloom's Effect Spore took effect and Flygon felt poison running through its fist and into its body.

"Looks like your Breloom poisoned Flygon." May commented, smiling mischeviously at Jessica. "You really got lucky there didn't you?"

"Shut up! I don't need luck to beat you!" Jessica shot back. "Breloom, get up and hit that Flygon with Giga Drain!"

"Flygon, finish it off with another Fire Punch!"

Breloom used its tail to push itself back onto its feet while holding its arms out to gather energy from Flygon. Flygon managed to shrug off the attack though, ignoring the energy drain to strike Breloom from above with yet another Fire Punch attack before Breloom could drain much of its energy. The final punch was more than Breloom could take and was finally knocked out, forcing Jessica to recall it.

_"Ok, so Breloom didn't do much damage afterall, but it did poison it."_ Jessica thought to herself. _"The sandstorm is about to end too, so Ninjask can just wait out the poison and try to power up so it can finish off the rest of her pokemon with Slash."_

"Ninjask, go!" Jessica released her Ninjask from its pokeball, sending it out on her side of the field to distance it from Flygon. As predicted, the sandstorm died down as well, allowing Ninjask to stall without being worn down by the sand.

_"She's down to two pokemon now."_ May thought to herself. _"I'll keep Flygon out for now. She'll probably try to use Swords Dance at some point, but Altaria can easily take another hit anyway which will let her use Perish Song. After using Perish Song I'll keep Altaria in play to force Jessica's hand. If she switches pokemon, Altaria will finish Shedinja with a single Peck. If she doesn't, Wynaut's Shadow Tag will guarantee one of her pokemon gets KO'd."_

"Flygon, set up another Sandstorm!"

"Ninjask, use Swords Dance!"

Flygon flung its wings out and sent a blast of sand swirling around itself. The swirling sand quickly spread out until the entire battlefield was barely visible under the cloak of sand. Ninjask, meanwhile, took the time to power up with Swords Dance. A blue aura surrounded it as it began to draw upon its inner strength.

"Now, Ninjask! Attack with Slash!" Ninjask flew across the field towards Flygon, holding out both claws as it prepared to strike.

"Flygon, Dragonbreath! Aim it at the ground!" Flygon aimed down and spewed out a stream of blue flames from its mouth. When the flames struck the ground they began to rise upward, creating a short wall of flames directly in Ninjask's path. Ninjask flew through the flames to strike Flygon, knocking Flygon to the ground while taking a bit of damage from the Dragonbreath itself.

"Flygon, Screech!" Flygon quickly stood up and held its wings straight back, pressing them against each other. Flygon began rubbing its wings together, creating a horrible screeching noise. The screeching stalled Ninjask, preventing it from attacking.

"Now, follow it up with Fire Punch!"

"Ninjask, counter with Metal Claw!"

Ninjask raised one of its claws back, seemingly gaining a metallic coating as it prepared to attack. Flygon raised its fist back as well, coating it in flames. Both pokemon attacked simultaneously, Ninjask's claw meeting Flygon's fist. Ninjask and Flygon pushed their attacks against each other for a moment before Ninjask backed off and then flew past Flygon's fist to strike it directly in the face.

Flygon recoiled from the impact but flapped its wings to catch itself before hitting the ground. It moved forward to continue its attack against Ninjask but ended up collapsing face first into the ground instead as the poison finally sapped its remaining strength. May recalled Flygon as soon as it had hit the ground.

_"Ok, I only need to get through three more pokemon."_ Jessica thought to herself, looking up at the scoreboard to see Wynaut, Altaria, and one unrevealed pokemon remaining on May's team. _"I can do this! Ninjask just needs to stay out there and weather the Sandstorm so Shedinja won't have to. If Ninjask takes out her Altaria I'm sure Shedinja can handle the rest."_

"Altaria, go!" May released Altaria from its pokeball again, provoking a grin from Jessica.

"Ninjask, end this quick! Slash!" Ninjask pierced through the sandstorm, crossing the field to strike May's Altaria with its claw. Ninjask raked its claw across the side of Altaria's body, flying by Altaria as it attacked. Altaria was sent spiralling downward and crashed into the ground. Jessica thought for sure she had defeated it, but Altaria weakly began to lift its head weakly.

_"Sorry Altaria...I'll make this up to you, I promise!"_ May thought in remorse before issuing her next command. "Altaria, Perish Song!" Altaria raised its head towards the sky and sang out in a dark tone, inflicting a curse upon itself and Ninjask that would eventually activate and knock them both unconcious.

Altaria wouldn't even survive that long, however. Though the sandstorm was finally dying down, resisting the remaining blasts of sand drained its strength. Altaria collapsed back onto the ground as it fell unconcious. May recalled Altaria and paused for a moment, silently thanking her pokemon.

_"Perish Song...I can just switch out later anyway."_ Jessica thought to herself with a shrug. Just as May was releasing her pokemon, however, it suddenly dawned on Jessica what May was planning. _"NO! She sacrificed her Altaria to trap me with Wynaut!"_ Jessica was starting to sweat now, realizing she was going to lose Ninjask now regardless of what she does. Since May's pokemon was just KO'd, Jessica couldn't switch until after May sent out her next pokemon.

"Wynaut, your turn again! Go!" May called out, releasing Wynaut from its pokeball. As soon as Wynaut appeared on the field it focused its Shadow Tag ability on Ninjask. While it wasn't preventing it from moving entirely, as Wynaut would have to allow Ninjask to move due to the tournament rules, it would prevent Ninjask from being recalled.

"You think you've won just because you have me trapped now, don't you?" Jessica asked May, trying to sound confident. "I can still defeat your Wynaut before Perish Song activates! Ninjask, Slash!"

_"In more ways than one..."_ May thought in response to Jessica. "Wynaut, use Counter!"

Ninjask quickly dove down and struck Wynaut with one quick strike from its claws. Wynaut easily endured the attack, bending back with it. Wynaut then snapped forward, bringing its tail around to strike Ninjask with twice the force Ninjask's attack had on Wynaut. The impact smashed Ninjask into the dirt and sent it skidding across the ground. Ninjask's legs twitched when it finally came to a stop, but it made no attempt to get back up.

"That was a pretty stupid move, Jessica." May grinned and taunted Jessica. "Whats wrong? Is the pressure starting to get to you?"

"Why you...! Ugh!" Jessica grunted in frustration and recalled her Ninjask. Wynaut mimicked May's grin as best it could, not actually having teeth, as its opponent was recalled. Wynaut's grin was soon replaced with a look of surprise just before its body started to glow.

"Don't tell me her Wynaut is going to evolve now too?!" Jessica thought in frustration.

Sure enough, Wynaut was doing just that. Wynaut's arms remained roughly in the same place as its body grew to about three feet higher and became more bulky, resembling an inflatable punching bag. The glowing soon faded, revealing the evolved Wobbuffet. Wobbuffet gave a salute and called out loudly when its evolution was complete.

"You still haven't beaten me yet, May! I still have one pokemon!" Jessica continued to press on, despite being at an obvious disadvantage. "Shedinja, go! Finish this match!" Jessica called out, releasing the empty golden shell onto May's side of the field with Wobbuffet. The strange creature floated a few feet off the ground, despite having no real means of flight.

"Your last pokemon is one that can't even survive a single attack." May casually informed Jessica. "Wobbuffet, good job! You deserve a rest!" May recalled Wobbuffet to its pokeball. She placed it on her belt and took the pokeball containing her only unrevealed pokemon in hand.

"Swalot, lets end this! Go!" May called out as she released the poison pokemon Swalot from its pokeball.

"Swalot, take Shedinja down with Toxic!"

"Shedinja, use Double Team!"

Swalot opened its mouth wide and spat up a blob of poison at Shedinja. Shedinja was too fast for it though, splitting into multiple images of itself and evading the attack with a fake image. The fake image struck by the poison disappeared, leaving Shedinja with four fake images of itself.

"Now, Shedinja, use Spite!" Shedinja focused briefly, forming a ghostly purple and red aura around Swalot. The aura then faded with seemingly no effect.

"In case you're not aware, Spite limits how often your pokemon can use the last technique it used on my pokemon." Jessica explained to May, adjusting her glasses slightly. "All I need to do is evade your Toxic attack and use Spite until your Swalot is unable to use Toxic anymore. Then there's nothing you'll be able to do to stop Shedinja."

"I suppose you'd be right there." May replied with a shrug. "Except...Swalot also knows Poison Gas, which will work just as well. Not that it matters, since the next attack won't miss. Swalot, use Yawn!"

Swalot opened its mouth wide and breathed out a white gas. The gas filled the area around itself, catching all the images of Shedinja inside it. Jessica's eyes went wide in fear, realizing her pokemon was about to fall asleep.

"Shedinja, quick! Use..." Jessica paused for a moment to go over her options. "Confuse Ray!" All the images of Shedinja vanished as it fired a white beam, piercing into Swalot's mind with the ray to inflict confusion on it.

"You really must be desparate if you're relying on Confuse Ray." May commented to Jessica. Shortly after its attack, all the fake images of Shedinja disappeared. Though Shedinja was now asleep, it didn't show any signs of it. It was even still floating.

"Swalot, now! Use Toxic!" Swalot managed to overcome the confusion long enough to attack on its first attempt, opening its mouth and spitting out a blob of poison at Shedinja. The poison immediately took effect on Shedinja. Its body fell to the ground, making a hollow sound as it landed. Jessica looked on in shock as her final pokemon was defeated.

"Match over! Victory goes to May!" The announcer called out. "May goes on to face Melany tomorrow in the final match!" The crowd burst into applause at May's performance, cheering for her. May turned and left the stadium without another word.

_"This...this can't be happening..."_ Jessica thought in disbelief, collapsing to her knees. _"I lost...to her?! This isn't possible!"_ Jessica looked across the field, catching a glimpse of May as she left the stadium. _"This isn't over, May! I won't be made a fool of like this! Not by you, not by Steven, not by anyone!"_

* * *

"Don't you dare think that just because you beat Wally means you're better!" Suzy scolded Melany while Wally stood behind her, looking embarassed. Brendan was nearby as well, keeping his distance from the group to avoid getting involved. They ran into Melany in the corridor after May's battle and Suzy was particularly upset about Wally's defeat. "If you didn't have that steel...thing you wouldn't have won!"

"I won't argue with you..." Melany replied with a light shrug. "Even if it mattered I'm sure you've blinded yourself to logic by now anyway." Melany smiled sweetly, but that only further enraged Suzy.

"Maybe you're right, maybe Wally would have won if I didn't have Registeel. Maybe it wouldn't have made any difference. Who knows?" Melany shrugged then looked past Suzy, turning her attention to Wally. "Either way, Wally, you're a skilled trainer and were definitely a challenging opponent..."

"Really?" Wally blinked in surprise then rubbed the back of his neck in embarassment. "Thanks Melany..."

_"Only because you didn't use Registeel earlier in the match."_ A familiar voice in Melany's head corrected her.

_"I don't recall thinking about asking for your opinion."_ Melany shot back.

_"You might want to start then."_ Odari replied.

"Don't listen to her, Wally! You're way better than she is!" Suzy turned around and yelled at him.

"What are you guys doing?" May asked, finally arriving from the battlefield. She didn't notice Melany at first because her attention was on Wally and Suzy.

"MAY!" Suzy ran to May and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Wally could have beaten Melany if she didn't have Registeel! You agree with me, right? RIGHT?!"

"Umm...well..." May looked down the corridor and finally spotted Melany. May narrowed her eyes at her and pushed past Suzy.

"Melany, there's time now..." May said to her coldly. Suddenly everyone was silent, their attention on Melany and May. There was an obvious tension in the air.

"You're right...but not here." Melany replied, nodding in agreement.

"Whats the matter? Don't want anyone else to know?" May asked her, her expression unflinching. Everyone looked at Melany intently now that May had aroused their curiosity.

"Not at all..." Melany replied, a smile crossing her lips. "I just thought everyone might be hungry after a hard day battling."

* * *

No one, not even Suzy or May, objected to being treated to dinner by Melany. They all stopped by a local fast food restaurant and ordered their food, which Melany paid for. Wally and Suzy sat together at one table while Brendan, May, and Melany sat together at another. The atmosphere between May and Melany changed little with the change in location. Melany still had yet give the explanation May was waiting for, and her stalling was starting to bother May.

"You know, I never understood why cheeseburgers were so popular..." That final, casual comment by Melany was enough to drive May over the edge.

"JUST TELL ME ALREADY!" May cried out in frustration and stood up from her seat, drawing the attention of everyone else in the restaurant. Realizing her mistake, May promptly sat back down and hung her head in shame.

"I guess some things never change..." Melany commented with a sigh.

"Huh...you two seem to know each other well..." Brendan commented while observing the two.

"Well of course, I was Alex." Melany stated casually, so much so that it took a moment for everyone to catch on.

"YOU'RE ALEX?!" Wally, Suzy, and Brendan cried out in unison. It was their turn to sit back down in embarassment after drawing the attention of everyone else around.

_"Maybe I should have chosen a less public location..."_ Melany thought in dismay. "I guess I should start from the beginning, huh?" Melany asked, and everyone nodded their agreement.

"Well, I guess it all started nearly three years ago. Even back then, I was a well-known archaeologist, but didn't really have any respect among other archaeologists because I literally stumbled across everything. When I actually managed to find artifacts relating to Kyogre and Groudon without tripping over something I started to focus exclusively on that in an attempt to earn respect. After a while it seemed to work as two other archaeologists, Archie and Maxie, took an interest in my work."

_"Archie and Maxie? So thats why that picture was there..."_ May thought, remembering the picture in the Team Aqua hideout.

"It turned out, though, that they were only interested in Kyogre and Groudon. In particular, they were interested in finding out how to awaken and control them. I felt personally responsible, so I decided I would have to stop them myself. The logical way to do that, at least to me, seemed to be using pokemon."

"Well that makes sense...sorta." Brendan commented. "But why disguise yourself as a boy?"

"I was about to get to that..." Melany responded quickly. "Anyway, I was worried what my family would do if I went off alone after Team Magma and Team Aqua like that. It was something I was sure Maxie or Archie would use against me if they found out. It didn't occur to me at all that, as a trainer, it wouldn't really matter. I ended up trying to disguise myself in what seemed the simplest and most effective way...as a boy."

"Why? Because you're flat?" Suzy taunted Melany. Wally shot her a look, but Suzy didn't notice. Suzy had a feeling that might get to her, and at that point she was more than willing to poke fun at her. Melany's hand curled into a fist and shook as she fought the urge to hit Suzy.

_"Why did you invite her exactly?"_ Odari asked Melany.

_"She would have invited herself anyway..."_ Melany replied, her frustration evident even in her thoughts.

"Moving along..." Melany muttered in an effort to get her story back on track. "I spent two years studying pokemon, getting to know every species known to live in the Hoenn region as well as any useful or relevant information on them for battling. I made arrangements to get a fake id from Birch that would allow me to continue being a trainer when I was done, then ran away from home to start my training career as Alex. I'm sure you know where the story goes from there, May..."

"Too well..." May replied with a hint of resentment. "Even given all that, just why couldn't you at least tell me?"

"I was just being stupid really..." Melany replied with a shrug. "I thought if I told you then somehow it'd get around. I didn't see the harm in keeping it a secret anyway. By the time I did realize there was a problem, telling you would have just made more problems..."

"You mean..." May paused for a moment then cast her gaze downward, unable to finish what she was saying.

"I didn't think 'Alex' was anything special, really. Though maybe my opinion was a bit biased in that respect, since I wasn't interested in guys to begin with..."

"So Alex was a girl all along..." Wally uttered quietly, then thought further on the matter. _"So then...Danny and those other two...were beaten by a girl? And then Danny beat a girl? And Detective Dirk..."_ Wally shuddered. _"I shouldn't think about this too hard..."_

_"If Alex doesn't actually exist, then maybe I still have a chance!"_ Brendan thought, grinning to himself. He caught himself though and glanced over at May. May still looked pretty downcast over the whole thing. _"...Poor May, though. She's taking this pretty hard."_

"May, I know battling is probably the last thing on your mind, but you have to win tomorrow." May looked up suddenly, shocked to hear Melany say that. Everyone else was equally surprised to hear

"You...but why would you want me to beat you?" May asked her.

"I can't say, but you'll find out. Don't think I won't be giving it my best just because I need you to win though. I'll be using all my best pokemon, and I won't hold back anything." Melany replied sternly. May paused for a moment to take this in, still in shock over her statement. She eventually mustered up the courage to respond though.

"Like I told you earlier, Melany, I WILL beat you..." May stated calmly, though the excitement was starting to build in her voice. "But not because you want me to. I'll beat you, because you're the one I've been trying to beat all this time but couldn't. It doesn't matter what you throw at me, I'll still beat you no matter what it takes!"

"Good! Then its settled. I'll be looking forward to our battle..." Melany turned to get up out of her chair, but Suzy was already standing over her and grinning maliciously. "Err...yes?"

"So you say you're not interested in guys, huh?" Suzy snickered while looking down at her. "So do you like HER then? Or are you just jealous of her because you're flat?" Suzy never pointed out who she was referring to, but it was pretty obvious.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Melany replied quickly, her face starting to turn read. "Now if you'll excuse me..." Melany quickly got up from her seat and pushed past Suzy, leaving the restaurant.

"Suzy, that was kinda mean..." Wally commented, watching Melany leave.

"Oh I'm never going to let her live this down, its just too good to pass up!" Suzy said, ingoring Wally's complaint.

"I don't get it..." May said quietly, looking over at Suzy. "Come to think of it...I don't get any of this. I think that just left me with more questions than answers..." May gave a disheartened sigh and got up from her table, moving to leave the restaurant as well.

"Huh? May? Wait up!" Brendan said as he quickly got up as well. The four of them left the restaurant together. None of them noticed the man in the form-fitting black suit sitting in a nearby booth.

"So...thats the whole story then..." Doctor Z commented to himself, having overheard the conversation. Reaching up, he removed his helmet and placed it on the table. It was none other than Detective Dirk.

"I spent so much time jumping to conclusions...I didn't see the truth staring me in the face from the beginning." Dirk commented quietly to himself. "Well...I suppose tomorrow's match will be one for the ages then..."

* * *

Author's Notes: Originally Doctor Z was going to be revealed after the preliminaries by an offhand comment from Melany about 'Detective Dork', followed by Dirk giving his usual correction. This gives him some well-deserved closure though.

Ran into a rather interesting problem during May's battle with Jessica; May was going to win too easy. At one point it actually looked like May would win it with four pokemon remaining. I was able to reasonably cut that down to two pokemon remaining though.

Thats about all to say here really. Mood's been set for the final match, all thats left is to go through with it!


	71. Chapter 60: Grand Finale!

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Sixty**

**Grand Finale! - May Vs. Melany**

"Wow! Just look at all the people out there!" Wally exclaimed, the screen in the trainer's lounge was panning around the stadium to show the crowd gathered. "I don't think there's an empty seat in the stadium!"

"Yeah, looks like May and Melany are attracting a lot of attention." Brendan said in agreement.

It was the day of the final match of the tournament, which had come down to Melany and May in the final round. May and Melany were both already taking their places on the trainer's platforms in the stadium to start the match.

"Hmph...well I hope May kicks Melany's butt!" Suzy stated indignantly. "She's going to get what she deserves for beating you, Wally!"

_"Why does she deserve anything for beating me anyway?"_ Wally wondered, but he dared not ask Suzy that.

"What I don't get though...is why SHE's here!" Brendan shot a look over to the corner of the room, where Jessica was as she had been for the entire tournament. "You don't strike me as the type to stick around for no reason, Jessica."

"Hmm?" Jessica looked up from her laptop and gave a shrug. "I'm gathering data on their pokemon of course. I'm also looking forward to seeing May lose. She may have beaten me, but she doesn't stand a chance against Melany's legendary pokemon."

_"Legendary pokemon..."_ Brendan repeated in his mind, turning his attention back to the screen. _"Melany said May had to beat her, but she wasn't going to hold back...I wonder what pokemon they will use?"_

* * *

"This is it, folks! We've seen many intense battles yesterday and it all amounts to this final match between May Maple and Melany Stone! This will be a match to remember as two top trainers duke it out to become this year's champion!"

The cheers from the audience after the announcer's opening statement could easily be heard from anywhere in the city. Melany and May stood facing each other on opposite sides of the battlefield. Both trainers were ready to get the battle underway.

"So, think you'll finally beat me May?" Melany asked her before the announcer started the match.

"You already have my answer." May replied stiffly, looking pretty determined.

"Trainers! Begin match!" The announcer called out, signalling the start of the match.

"Blaziken, go!" May called out, releasing her fully evolved starting pokemon from its pokeball. Blaziken gave a determined cry as it appeared on the field, slamming its fists together.

"Metagross, go!" Melany released her recently evolved steel pokemon Metagross from its pokeball. Metagross' four legs fit the ground hard, its claws digging into the dirt.

"Metagross, start off with Earthquake!" Metagross raised its two front legs and slammed them into the ground, sending a shockwave around the pool towards Blaziken on the other side of the field. The shockwave caused the ground around Blaziken to shift uncontrollably, cracking and breaking up under Blaziken's feet.

"Blaziken, jump!" Blaziken jumped straight up shortly after the attack began, managing to evade half the effect by taking to the air. When it landed further ahead, the ground had finally settled.

"Now jump towards Metagross and use Flamethrower!" Blaziken took off running towards the pool and jumped into the air, leaping across the pool in a single bound and coming down towards Metagross.

"Metagross, Meteor Mash!" Metagross lifted off from the ground and flew up towards Blaziken, heading straight into a cone of fire bearing down on it. Metagross momentarily disappeared under the flames, but the flames were soon split around its body as it held one clawed leg forward and a fiery fist surrounded it.

Metagross continued to push on through the flames until its Meteor Mash connected with Blaziken's chest. Blaziken was knocked back towards May's side of the field in an arc, managing to land on its feet even as it slid across the ground several feet. Metagross soon followed, landing just in front of the pool and cracking the ground from the impact.

"Blaziken, use Blaze Kick!" Blaziken jumped towards Metagross again, too close for Metagross to react this time. Blaziken came down towards Metagross in a flaming drop kick, its foot connecting directly with Metagross' face. Blaziken then flipped back off Metagross' face, leaving several feet of space between itself and Metagross. Metagross hardly flinched from the attack.

_"That thing can really take a lot of punishment..."_ May thought, surprised to see it shrugging off Blaziken's attack. _"Then again, it seems kinda robotic, like those golems. Maybe it just doesn't show pain..."_

"Metagross, use Psychic!" Metagross' eyes flashed, focusing its psychic powers on Blaziken. A blue aura surrounded Blaziken, slowly lifting it off the ground. Blaziken squawked in pain as Metagross crushed it with it's psychic power. Metagross then threw Blaziken back into the wall of the stadium.

"Blaziken! Are you ok?" May called down to her pokemon. Blaziken lifted itself up and nodded to May, slamming its fists together. A red aura surrounded it briefly and flames erupted from its wrists as Blaziken's Blaze ability activated. May breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ok...lets take that thing down then! Fire Punch!" Blaziken raised its fist back, surrounding it in a large fireball then charging at Metagross.

"Metagross, Meteor Mash!" Metagross raised up off the ground and held one leg out towards the charging Blaziken. Metagross took off towards Blaziken like a meteor streaking across the sky.

The pokemon's attacks collided and sent off a blast of heat in all directions as Blaziken's fist connected with Metagross' clawed limb. Both pokemon continued to push against each other, pouring their energy into the attack. The flames around Blaziken's fist and the aura around Metagross continued to build up until both pokemon were surrounded entirely in flames.

The showdown finally came to a close as an explosion erupted outwards from the point of impact, blasting both pokemon back. Blaziken slammed against the wall of the stadium then fell to the ground, while Metagross smashed the ground and slid back towards the pool. Neither pokemon got back up after the attack, ending the heated battle in a draw.

"Well I guess that answers that old question..." Melany commented offhandedly as she recalled Metagross.

_"Even with a type advantage, that pokemon pushed Blaziken to the edge."_ May thought as she recalled Blaziken, looking at Blaziken's pokeball deep in thought. _"I guess now we know what kind of power she was holding back..." _The two trainers simultaneously placed their pokeballs back on their belt and prepared to send out their next pokemon.

"Sceptile, go!"

"Ludicolo, go!"

Melany and May simultaneously released their pokemon, Melany sending out the grass lizard Sceptile and May sending out Ludicolo onto their respective sides of the field. May quickly realized she was at a disadvantage, lacking any attacks that were effective against Sceptile while Sceptile could hit with normally-effective grass attacks.

_"I'm in a bad spot here, but there has to be something Ludicolo can do, right?"_ May thought to herself. _"I'll see what I can do with Uproar then, but I'll let Melany have the first move to put Sceptile in range."_

"Sceptile, use Sunny Day!" Sceptile growled and raised its head towards the sky, its body glowing briefly before sending up a ball of energy into the sky. The energy exploded and spread above the battlefield, enhancing the effect of the sun's rays.

_"She's using Sunny Day?"_ May thought, blinking in surprise. _"But then that means..."_ May's eyes widened in shock and she realized she needed to do something quick. "Ludicolo, use Rain Dance!"

"Sceptile, hit it before it has the chance! Solar Beam!" Sceptile raised its head back, gathering energy through its tail and into its mouth while Ludicolo started dancing around on the other side of the field. Sceptile was able to fire the beam just as the sunlight was starting to fade above them.

The solar energy beam slammed into Ludicolo, pushing it back several feet before exploding in a burst of light and knocking Ludicolo to the ground. The attack interrupted Ludicolo's dancing before the rain could begin, but the sunlight was no longer being intensified either.

"Ludicolo, thats enough for now! Return!" May called out, already recalling Ludicolo due to the disadvantage she faced against Melany's Sceptile. May then reached for another pokemon's pokeball, already knowing who to send out to combat.

"Castform, you can take this one! Go!" May held up the pokeball and released the small, cloud-like pokemon Castform onto the field. _"With Castform out, I can take away Melany's weather advantage."_

_"Castform? Looks like May's trying to use the weather to her advantage now..."_ Melany thought to herself. _"Still, I think I can get at least one good Solar Beam in on while May changes the weather. That'd give me time to recall Sceptile before Castform can counter with a fire attack. I'll wait until she changes the weather then, since I know she will..."_

"Castform, use S..." May paused before finishing her command, taking a moment to think over her strategy. _"Wait...Melany's waiting for me to do something, isn't she?"_ May wondered, noticing that Melany wasn't taking any action. _"She must be waiting for me to change the weather first for some reason...maybe she plans to try Solar Beam again. Well, lets see how she handles this!"_

"Castform, Hail!" May called out with a smirk. Castform closed its eyes and focused on its technique. Snow began to swirl around it, then grew outwards and became more intense until the entire field was covered in a hail storm. Sceptile winced and held up its arms defensively as the hail began to strike it. Castform's body changed as well, taking on an appearance like a small whirlwind.

_"She...saw through my plan?"_ Melany thought in surprise. _"Well I definitely didn't see that one coming...so much for getting off another attack."_

"Sceptile, return!" Melany held up Sceptile's pokeball and recalled it, pulling Sceptile out of the hail storm and into the safety of its pokeball. May placed the pokeball on her belt, but didn't reach for another one. Instead, she took her pokenav in hand and held it up like she would a pokeball.

"You're not the only one with a pokemon capable of changing its type, May." Melany said to her, holding up her pokenav for May to see. "You're about to find out just what makes my pokenav so special too."

"What makes your pokenav special?" May repeatedly quietly. She gasped in shock when she realized what that meant. "Wait! You don't mean..."

"Porygon, time to reveal yourself! Upload!" Melany held her pokenav out towards the field. A beam shot out from the pokenav's screen, forming into a two dimensional image hovering in the air. The image then popped up to form into a polygonal-looking pokemon called Porygon. The pokemon's body resembled a blocky-looking duck.

"So it was really a Porygon doing all that?" May took out her pokedex to scan the new pokemon.

"Porygon, the virtual pokemon." The pokedex read out. "It is capable of reverting itself entirely back to program data in order to enter cyberspace. A Porygon is copy-protected so it cannot be duplicated."

_"She said it can change types too...I better be careful."_ May thought, putting her pokedex away. "Ok, Castform! Get closer to it and use Weatherball!"

"Porygon, use Conversion! Ice Type!" Porygon's body flashed briefly while the pink parts of its body changed to a light blue, changing it to an ice type. In its ice form, the driving hail no longer seemed to bother it.

While Porygon changed its type, Castform floated quickly across the field while forming a ball of ice in front of it. When Castform was close enough to attack it spun around and launched the ball of ice at Porygon. The ice shattered on impact, causing Porygon to stagger back, but in its ice form Porygon was able to endure it easily.

_"It changed to an ice type?"_ May thought in surprise. _"Why wouldn't it change into a fire type instead? Unless there's a limit to what types it can change to..."_

"Porygon, use Thunderbolt!"

"Castform, counter with Thunderbolt!"

Both pokemon launched a bolt of electricity at each other. The bolts met in the middle and pushed against each other, building up into a ball of electricity until blasting off in all directions vanishing into the air harmlessly.

_"Thats not going to work either then..."_ May thought. _"Ok then, lets try changing the weather again!"_

"Castform, use Sunny Day!" Castform's body glowed as it prepared its technique, then Castform fired a ball of energy up into the sky. The energy ball exploded and spread across the sky over the battlefield, enhancing the effect of the sun's rays. Castform's body shifted to its fire form, taking the shape of a sun.

"Porygon, Conversion! Electric Type!" Porygon's body flashed as it changed type again, the part of its body that had changed to blue turning yellow now as it became an electric type pokemon.

_"An electric type? Why an electric type?"_ May wondered. She wasn't going to wait to find out though. "Castform, use Weatherball!"

Castform quickly began forming a swirling ball of fire in front of it then launched at Porygon. The ball of fire looked as though it were rolling into the air until it finally struck Porygon and exploded in a blast of flames, knocking it to the ground. Porygon quickly floated back up to face Castform though, ready to launch its counter attack.

"Porygon, use Thunderbolt!" Porygon's body sparked with electricity as it charged up its attack then fired out a bolt of electricity at Castform. Castform's body was small enough that the bolt passed through and around it, and Castform cried out in pain as it was continuously shocked until the electricity finally dispersed into the air.

_"If thats the best she can do, then Castform should be able to beat it."_ May thought with a smirk. "Castform, use Weatherball again!"

"Porygon, use Conversion 2!" While Castform was forming a ball of fire to attack with, Porygon changed types again. Its body flashed and its yellow head and body changed to a dark blue, its new type wasn't readily apparent as Melany hadn't instructed it on what type to change to.

Castform finally launched its attack at Porygon, sending the large ball of fire rolling through the air. The fireball struck Porygon and exploded in a fiery burst, knocking Porygon to the ground again. Porygon took a moment to gather its strength before floating back into the air.

"That was close..." Melany thought with a sigh of relief. "Doesn't look like Porygon would have been able to take another hit...that Castform is pretty tough, but by the look of things I have it where I want it now."

"Porygon, use Recover!" Porygon's body shimmered as it focused its power into restoring its energy. Porygon seemed much more lively after, flipping its body around in the air while its feet remained still.

_"So it knows Recover, but it looks like her Porygon's a water type now."_ May thought to herself. She glanced up to the sky, noting that the sun was still shining intensely due to Sunny Day. _"Well we already have an answer for water types anyway!"_

"This time changing your pokemon's type won't help you at all! Castform, use Solar Beam!" Castform's body glowed briefly as it gathered sunlight. It then fired out the charged light into a beam of energy as wide as Castform itself was. The beam struck Porygon and exploded in a flash of light, but the supposedly water-type pokemon endured the attack almost effortlessly.

"A little bit of trivia for you, ordinary blue is water. Dark blue is the dragon type." Melany explained to a surprised May. "Porygon, now! Use Recover again!" Porygon's body shimmered with a soft glow as it gathered energy to restore itself again, recovering to nearly full strength.

"A dragon type? Then I can just use ice attacks..." May said to herself. The sunlight began to die down at that point and Castform reverted back to its normal type form.

_"Wait a minute...if I use a weather effect to change Castform's type again, I'll just be leaving it open to an attack or give her Porygon a chance to change types again..."_ May thought, frowning slightly. _"Then her Porygon can get in another attack while shrugging off the best Castform can even throw at it. Porygon will wear Castform down first...I need a different plan!"_

"Castform, change of plans! You can rest for now!" May called out, recalling Castform into its pokeball. "Ok, Gardevoir! Your turn now! Go!" May held up Gardevoir's pokeball and released her psychic pokemon onto Melany's side of the field.

"Porygon, use Conversion! Psychic!" Porygon's body flashed again, changing its color back to a shade of pink. Though it looked almost normal now, it was actually a psychic type now.

"Psychic type now...well thats ok, my Gardevoir has an answer for that! Gardevoir, use Shadow Ball!" Gardevoir held her hands out in front of her and began forming a black ball of shadowstuff. She hurled the ball at Porygon and managed to land a good hit, striking Porygon head on. Porygon seemed to shrug it off easily enough though, as Gardevoir's attack had little power behind it.

"Porygon, Conversion 2!" Porygon's body flashed as it changed its type yet again, this time its pink body changed to black as it became a dark type pokemon.

_"Dark type...so now psychic and ghost attacks won't be very useful."_ May thought, a slight smirk forming on her lips. _"Well its a good thing I still have one more attack I can use against it. But first things first!"_

"Gardevoir, use Calm Mind!" Gardevoir closed her eyes and focused, relaxing and meditating to increase her power.

_"Whats she doing?"_ Melany wondered. _"Her Gardevoir obviously learned a new trick but Calm Mind won't make it any stronger, and she can't hit Porygon at all with Psychic. Or maybe she doesn't realize that somehow?"_

"Porygon, use Sharpen!" Porygon focused briefly to perform its technique, causing its body to become slightly brighter and sharper in contrast as if it were becoming more 'real'.

_"Sharpen...? I don't even know what that does, but I'll keep using Calm Mind for now."_ May thought to herself, decidedly taking a chance. "Gardevoir, keep using Calm Mind!" Gardevoir nodded slightly, keeping her eyes closed and continuing to meditate.

_"Well if she's going to keep using Calm Mind, I'll keep using Sharpen."_ Melany thought to herself. _"Then I'll switch and use Agility. With the increased attack and speed I should be able to cause some major damage to her team."_

"Porygon, keep going with Sharpen!" Porygon's image shimmered again, growing in contrast and brightness as it became even more clearly visible.

_"She's using Sharpen again...so it must be some kind of power-up technique!"_ May realized, smiling to herself. _"So I'll let Gardevoir power up a little longer too then attack with Thunderbolt! Unless Sharpen is boosting Porygon's defenses, I should be able to take it down in one hit!" _May let Gardevoir power up a moment longer before calling out her attack.

"Gardevoir, now! Use Thunderbolt!" Gardevoir opened her eyes and her body sparked with electricity. She reached out her hand towards Porygon and fired a large bolt of lightning. Porygon had little time to react, being in the middle of using Sharpen, and was struck by the full power of the attack. Electricity shot through Porygon's body and sent it crashing to the ground, knocking it out in a single attack just as May had planned.

_"So she had another ace up her sleeve afterall..."_ Melany thought, taking out a pokeball and recalling Porygon. It was the first time Porygon was in its pokeball since she received it, but she couldn't have it return to her pokenav while it was unconcious. Porygon needed to be concious so it could do that on its own.

_"Well, good thing I've still got a certain psychic pokemon."_ Melany thought to herself, holding a pokeball in hand. "Alakazam, go!" Melany released Alakazam from the pokeball, sending out the psychic pokemon onto the battlefield. Alakazam smirked when she saw her opponent was her old friend Gardevoir.

"Alakazam, we have some catching up to do! Calm Mind!" Melany thought while allowing Alakazam to read her mind. Alakazam nodded and closed her eyes, meditating to raise her power. May quickly caught on to what she was doing.

"That old technique again? Gardevoir, use Thunderbolt!" Gardevoir raised her hand towards Alakazam and fired a blast of electricity. The electricity struck Alakazam and flowed through the psychic pokemon's body, but Alakazam was able to endure the powerful blast and continued meditating even as it fell onto its back.

_"Her Alakazam is just going to keep using Calm Mind! I need to stop it somehow or it'll just wear Gardevoir down eventually..."_ May thought it over for a moment and soon came up with a solution. "Gardevoir, use Imprison!"

Gardevoir concentrated and a purple aura surrounded itself and Alakazam as it focused on its attack. Alakazam's eyes snapped open as a red 'X' appeared around it and Alakazam found every technique it shared in common with Gardevoir being blocked off from it, including Calm Mind.

_"Well at least we got a bit of power..."_ Melany thought to herself. She started going over Alakazam's available techniques in her mind, determining what techniques Alakazam and Gardevoir had in common. Alakazam wasn't left with much, but it still had one technique that gave it a clear advantage over Gardevoir.

"Alakazam, use Shock Wave!" Alakazam floated to its feet and crossed its two spoons over each other, forming an 'X', then fired out a wave of electricity in all directions. The blast knocked Gardevoir off her feet and disrupted her concentration momentarily.

After launching its attack, Alakazam followed it up by holding its spoons out and concentrating. Its body shimmered as energy flowed through it, restoring her strength by using Recover. Melany had instructed Alakazam mentally to use Recover immediately following its Shock Wave attack.

_"Alakazam, now! Use Disable to keep it from using Calm Mind!"_ Melany commanded Alakazam mentally, but Alakazam turned to her and shook her head. _"You can't use it? Is it because of Imprison?"_ Alakazam nodded affirmatively. _"But then..."_

"Gardevoir, use Disable!" Gardevoir had floated back to her feet after Alakazam's Shock Wave attack and quickly focused its psychic powers on Alakazam, using her Disable technique to block out Alakazam's Recover technique and take away the only advantage Alakazam had over it.

_"She knows Disable too?!"_ Melany thought in surprise, realizing only too late. _"Looks like we have no choice now..."_ Melany looked to Alakazam, and Alakazam nodded in agreement. _"Alakazam, use Shock Wave!"_

Alakazam turned back to Gardevoir and brought her spoons together again to fire off another blast of electricity in all directions, hitting Gardevoir with the blast and knocking her back again. Gardevoir managed to stay on her feet this time though she was briefly knocked off balance.

"You can't do anything against Gardevoir now!" May called out smugly. "Now Gardevoir can keep powering up until its maxed out its power, just like you did with your Regis, while you can't do anything about it! Gardevoir, Calm Mind!" Gardevoir closed her eyes and focused, using Calm Mind to increase her power again with the intention of maximizing her abilities.

"We'll see about that. Alakazam, Shock Wave and don't let up!" Alakazam continually blasted out electricity from its spoons, sending out wave after wave with each attack having slightly less effect on Gardevoir. The first attack stunned Gardevoir briefly, but as her power increased further she was able to meditate through the assault until her power was at its maximum.

"Gardevoir, now! Finish Alakazam off with Thunderbolt!" Gardevoir's body sparked with electricity which then fired out in one massive bolt. Alakazam crossed its arms defensively as the electricity surrounded it completely, repeatedly shocking it until the attack finally subsided. Smoke rose from Alakazam's body, but it was still standing after enduring the attack.

"Alakazam, one more time! Shock Wave!" Alakazam sent out another blast of electricity, struggling to do whatever damage it could to Gardevoir. The wave of electricity passed over Gardevoir, but the attack seemed wasted. Gardevoir barely even flinched, though she was still looking quite exhausted by this point for having endured so much.

"Gardevoir, use Thunderbolt again! This one should do it!" Gardevoir held out both hands towards Alakazam this time and fired off another blast of electricity. Alakazam tried to defend itself again, but the power of the blast knocked her off her feet and shocked her into unconciousness. With Alakazam defeated, Melany returned her to her pokeball.

"So Melany, how does it feel to be on the other end of a hopeless situation?" May asked her tauntingly, feeling as though she were delivering some karmic justice for Melany's previous battles.

"Hopeless situation? Please, Wally's Gardevoir had me more worried than your's does." Melany replied, waving her hand dismissively. _"Though, come to think of it, this only ever happens with Gardevoirs..."_

"Anyway, I could explain why your strategy is flawed, but I'll just demonstrate it for you instead." Melany took a pokeball from her belt to call out her next pokemon. "Sceptile, your turn again! Go!" Melany released her grass-type Sceptile out on the battlefield. Sceptile appeared in its usual stance, kneeling on one knee with its arms crossed.

"Sceptile, activate Leaf Blade and charge!" Sceptile swung at the air with its arms, forming the leaves on its forearms into sharp glowing-green blades. Sceptile then took off charging towards Gardevoir.

"'Charge'? Thats your big plan?" May asked, blinking in surprise. "I expected more from you somehow. Gardevoir, take it down in one attack! Psychic!" A blue glow emanated from Gardevoir's eyes and a similar aura began to surround Sceptile as Gardevoir focused her psychic powers on it.

"Sceptile, avoid the attack with Detect!" Sceptile focused for a moment then flung its arms outwards. The blue aura around it suddenly dispersed, freeing Sceptile of the attack.

"Now, use Quick Attack to strike with Leaf Blade!" Sceptile suddenly shot forward in a blur of movement, passing by Gardevoir with seemingly no affect and coming to a stop with its arm outstretched just behind her. Gardevoir seemed fine at first, but then collapsed without warning as Sceptile's attack finally registered.

"No! Gardevoir!" May cried out in dismay at seeing her fully powered Gardevoir fall so easily. She reluctantly recalled it to its pokeball.

"Even the weakest of attacks can add up when you have no way of recovering from them, May." Melany explained to her. "Thats just one of the reasons why your Gardevoir fell so easily."

"Hey! My Gardevoir still took down two of your pokemon!" May shot back furiously. "I wouldn't call that 'easy' if I were you or else my next pokemon is going to end this battle on its own!" May took another pokeball from her belt, this one a purple pokeball which Melany recognized immediately.

_"She has a master ball?!"_ Melany thought in absolute shock of the revelation. _"What kind of pokemon would she catch in it though? Did she use it on Raikou?"_

"Salamence, I choose you! Go!" May held up the master ball and released her pokemon. A beam shot out from the ball onto the field and a dragon pokemon began to form on the field. When the Salamence fully materialzed it gave a loud, menacing roar and cast a glare towards Sceptile. Sceptile took up a fighter's stance in preparation for what looked like a tough battle.

_"She managed to catch a Salamence?"_ Melany thought, blinking repeatedly to make sure she wasn't seeing things. "A Salamence might actually give me a run for my money. Its a pokemon as strong overall as my Metagross, and Metagross is stronger than the Regis..."

_"I'm willing to debate that little fact."_ Odari chimed in, having been silent up until then. _"There is no way that thing is stronger than my golems, and neither is your Metagross!"_

_"Yeah, you keep thinking that..."_ Melany replied dryly.

"You seem surprised, weren't expecting me to have a Salamence were you?" May said to Melany, smiling to herself.

"I have to admit, I never would have thought you would catch a Salamence." Melany replied in an amused tone. "It'll be interesting to see how you handle such a pokemon though. Sceptile, use Leech Seed!" Sceptile quickly spun around, flinging its tail forward to launch a seed at Salamence.

"Salamence, burn it with Ember!" Salamence opened its mouth and shot out a small fireball. The fireball met with the seed and burnt it to a crisp almost instantly, blocking it from reaching Sceptile.

"Now, use Dragonbreath!"

"Sceptile, dodge it and use Sunny Day!"

Salamence flapped its wings and took off towards Sceptile. When Salamence was close enough to attack it fired its Dragonbreath attack down at Sceptile, but the nimble grass pokemon swiftly evaded the attack. Salamence flew past Sceptile and started to bank to turn back around towards it.

Once Salamence had passed by it, Sceptile began gathering energy then fired it up into the sky. The energy burst and spread across the battle field, once again enhancing the sunlight and making the field below feel warmer.

_"With that Sunny Day in effect, Salamence's Ember attack will be stronger..."_ May thought to herself. "Salamence, use Ember!" Salamence came back around towards Sceptile and fired off an ember attack,

"Sceptile, jump and use Solar Beam!" Sceptile jumped up just in time to avoid being hit by Salamence's Ember attack, leaping straight up to put itself above Salamence. When Sceptile reached the apex of its jump it opened its mouth and fired a massive beam of energy at the dragon pokemon. The beam struck Salamence head on and sent it into a brief spin towards the ground, but Salamence quickly caught itself and took off towards the now falling Sceptile.

"Salamence, now! Iron Tail!" Salamence gave one final flap of its wings to propel itself above Sceptile while its tail began to take on a metallic appearance. Salamence's attack was timed perfectly, bringing its tail down on top of Sceptile and smashing the grass pokemon into the ground. Sceptile hit the ground with such a tremendous force that the ground cracked slightly under the impact.

"Don't let up! Hit it with Ember, now!" Salamence began flapping its wings to continue hovering in the air over Sceptile then fired an Ember attack straight down at it while Sceptile was struggling to get back to its feet. The fireball hit Sceptile on the top of its head, creating a small burst of flames that singed it and knocked it back into the ground. Sceptile quickly got back up after this attack though and briefly glowed green as its Overgrow ability activated.

_"Sceptile's taking quite a beating out there...but with that power boost it might be able to stun Salamence long enough with a Solar Beam to follow up with Leech Seed. I should be able to get the upper hand from there."_ Melany thought to herself for a moment, formulating her plan to turn the tide of the battle.

"Sceptile, Solar Beam!" Sceptile opened its mouth and aimed upwards. It quickly gathered the sunlight needed to power its attack, courtesy of Sunny Day, then fired a large, yellow beam of energy straight up at Salamence.

"Salamence, quick! Protect!" Salamence spread out its wings, focusing energy around it to block Sceptile's attack. The Solar Beam attack struck its target from below, creating a flash of light that briefly blocked everyone's view of Salamence. When the light faded, though, Salamence was still in its spot with a blue barrier around it. Salamence had just barely used the technique in time.

"Now! Finish Sceptile off with a Dragon Claw attack!" Salamence dove down towards Sceptile to attack. A red glow began to emanate from its front-right leg as it raised it back, preparing to make a diving strike.

_"Well so much for that idea..."_ Melany thought, noting the Sunny Day starting to die down as well. "Sceptile, dodge and strike back with Leaf Blade!" Sceptile quickly jumped to the side, evading Salamence's attack and causing the dragon pokemon to strike the ground instead. Salamence was forced down to the ground as it pulled its claw free, meanwhile Sceptile was coming back towards it with its arm raised back to strike.

"Salamence, now's your chance! Dragon Claw!" Salamence nodded and held out its claw, ready to strike with Dragon Claw. Sceptile landed its attack first, but Salamence barely flinched as the Leaf Blade raked across the side of its body. Sceptile's grass attacks just weren't very effective against it.

Salamence quickly struck back, turning and swiping at Sceptile with its claws. Sceptile staggered back as Salamence raked across the front of its body, then fell onto its back as its remaining strength left it. Sceptile was knocked out by Salamence's attack, forcing Melany to recall it and leaving her with two pokemon against May's four.

_"Thats four down..."_ May thought to herself, glancing over at the scoreboard. _"One more to go, and then she'll probably use one of those legendary pokemon. Since she used Registeel and Regice already, I'm betting she'll use Regirock as her final pokemon. I'm sure whatever pokemon she sends out before then can be taken down by Salamence since she didn't switch out Sceptile."_

"Looks like we're getting to the end of the line now." Melany said with a smirk, taking out a pokeball. "Of course, its going to be all uphill for you from this point on, May. As you've probably figured out, I usually use my legendary pokemon last."

"I'll be ready for it!" May called back confidently. "I already know what pokemon you'll be using last, so my Salamence just needs to take down your next pokemon. My Castform and Ludicolo will have no trouble against your Regirock!"

"Regirock? Funny you should mention that..." Melany pressed the button on the front of the pokeball she was holding. The pokeball opened up and fired a red beam out onto the field, which then began to materialize into a six foot tall rock pokemon with a humanoid appearance. Melany said nothing at this point, leaving a shocked May to draw her own conclusions.

_"But if she's using Regirock now...then what is she using last?!"_ May wondered, then quickly shook her head. _"Nevermind that! I need to take this down first!"_ May paused for a moment to think over her strategy, smiling to herself as she figured out a plan of attack and decided to keep Salamence in.

"Salamence, lets take this one down too! Start off with Iron Tail!" Salamence flapped its wings and took off towards Regirock, its tail already becoming metallic in preparation to attack. Salamence spun around as it dropped to the ground in front of Regirock, bringing its tail around to smash the rock pokemon. Regirock staggered back a step from the strike, but as powerful as Salamence was Regirock endured the hit easily.

_"She sounds pretty confident."_ Melany thought, a slight smile crossing her lips. _"Well, I guess she has every right to be confident. If it wasn't for my legendary pokemon she would almost certainly have me pinned now, but she has no idea what I have in store for her."_

"Regirock, use Iron Defense!" Regirock's eyes flashed, registering the command. Its body briefly turned metallic as the already strong rocks that formed its body hardened even more to increase Regirock's durability.

"Salamence, keep attacking with Iron Tail! We'll wear it down eventually!" Salamence quickly brought its tail back around to strike Regirock again with the metallic attack. Again, Regirock only staggered slightly from the hit and shrugged it off fairly easily.

_"All I have to do is keep up the attack while Melany focuses on Regirock's defense."_ May thought to herself. _"Then I'll be ready to finish it off!"_

_"She's seriously leaving Salamence out at this point?"_ Melany wondered. _"What is she planning? Salamence's physical attacks will just get weaker and weaker, and its special attacks won't be strong enough to make up for it..."_

"Regirock, start using Curse and keep it up!"

"Salamence, keep using Iron Tail!"

A dark aura began to surround Regirock as it used it to power up, increasing its physical strength and defenses. All the while, Salamence continued beating on Regirock with its iron-clad tail with each attack having less and less effect. This continued until Melany decided Regirock wasn't going to be able to take much more punishment from Salamence.

"Regirock, use Rest." Regirock's eyes faded just as Salamence landed another blow from its tail. What little damage Salamence had managed to cause with its last attack was instantly negated as Regirock was restored to its full strength.

"Now's our chance! Salamence, Hydro Pump!" Salamence backed off and turned to face Regirock. The dragon pokemon then opened out and released a large, powerful stream of water and knocking the sleeping Regirock off its feet. Regirock's powered up defenses did nothing to defend it against the Hydro Pump attack.

_"So thats it then...she had powerful water attack all along, she was just waiting for me to use Rest."_ Melany thought to herself with a slight smirk. _"Not bad, May! You might be able win this afterall..."_

"Keep it up, Salamence! We'll knock it out before it can wake up!" Salamence reared its head back and released another blast of water, holding the attack for several seconds. A large, high-pressure stream of water continued to pound Regirock until Salamence ran out of steam again and had to take a quick breather.

"One more time! Hydro Pump!" Salamence took a deep breath then blasted Regirock with yet another stream of water. As Salamence was blasting it, Regirock began to slowly climb back to its feet.

_"Regirock is up...but it won't survive another attack."_ Melany thought to herself. _"Most of its attacks at this point will be too slow to hit without using Lock-On first, which will give Salamence a chance to finish it off first. I could probably use Rest again, but that wouldn't help the problem at all. There's still one more attack I can use though..."_

"Regirock, time to go out with a bang! Explosion!" Regirock rose to its feet at Melany's command, its body starting to glow as it built up energy for its Explosion. By this point, Salamence had finally stopped its Hydro Pump attack and was ready to fire off another. May had other plans, though, as she had realized how dangerous the situation was.

"Salamence, quick! Get out of there!" Salamence flapped its wings and took off away from Regirock just as a massive blast of energy was released from it. Salamence flew as fast as it could, trying to keep ahead of the blast, but in the end it caught up with it.

Salamence briefly disappeared into the blast radius momentarily, soon emerging again as its own momentum carried it out of the attack. The explosion had already taken its effect, though, and Salamence crashed into the ground as it was no longer flying under its own power. It made an attempt to get back to its feet but collapsed again as the brief exposure to Regirock's powered up attack was enough to knock it out.

With Regirock having spent all of its power on a single attack, it collapsed as well. Both trainers recalled their fallen pokemon.

"Looks like you're down to your last pokemon, Melany." May said to her. "You may have brought down my Salamence with that attack, but you sacrificed your strongest pokemon to do it. I think this battle is over."

_"You're wrong, May."_ Melany thought, drawing her final pokeball. _"This battle is far from over..."_

* * *

"May's definitely got her beat! Melany only has one pokemon left, May has three, and Melany already used her only legendary pokemon!" Wally declared enthusiastically.

"I have to disagree." Jessica interrupted him. "She always saves her legendary pokemon until last, therefore she wouldn't use it now unless she had a stronger pokemon in reserve."

"Yeah right!" Suzy shot back in an annoyed tone. "How could anyone have a pokemon stronger than a legendary pokemon?"

"No...she's right..." Brendan said in a quiet tone.

"What?! Don't tell me you're siding with her! Melany couldn't possibly have any pokemon that strong!" Suzy angrily said to Brendan. Her expression soon changed to one of curiosity as she noticed Brendan was staring at the screen with a nervous expression.

"She has two..."

* * *

Author's Notes: Tried to create the feel of a 'dramatic cliffhanger' at the end there, battle will resume next chapter of course along with the tournament closure and the resolution of at least a few plots that have been running for a little while and possibly give an idea of where things are going from here. As for this chapter, here's hoping it looks good given the premise. The battle is certainly going to end on a high note if nothing else.


	72. Chapter 61: Full Circle

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Sixty One**

**Full Circle**

"Castform, you can finish this! Go!" May called out as she released Castform from its pokeball, sending it out to battle against Melany's final pokemon. Melany, on the other hand, hadn't even moved to release the pokemon in her pokeball.

_"Whats she doing...?"_ May wondered, looking across the field at Melany. "Hey! If you still plan to battle then send out your pokemon already!" She called out to her.

"I fully intend to continue this battle..." Melany replied casually. "I just wanted to say something first. May, why do you think I sent out Regirock when I did?"

_"Thats right...she usually saves Regirock for last."_ May thought to herself. _"Then does she...?"_

"Its because I have another legendary pokemon with me." Melany said, interrupting May's thoughts. "You put up a good battle so far, May, and I can tell you've become much stronger since the last time I saw you, but that all means nothing now..."

Melany held the pokeball out in front of her and pressed the button. The pokeball opened up, firing out a red beam towards the pool. The beam slowly materialized into a large, blue, whale-like pokemon. Rain clouds began to form overhead, releasing a downpour onto the battlefield and changing May's Castform into a water type. May and Castform both looked on in shock as they recognized the pokemon now floating on the top of the pool.

"May, if you want to win this tournament, you need to defeat Kyogre!" Upon Melany's declaration, Kyogre let out a roar that echoed throughout the stadium. Surprised shrieks and screams rang out from the audience. The report of the events at

"K-kyogre...but..." May mumbled in fear. She could still remember when she and Castform battled against Kyogre. It was a losing battle until Raikou showed up, and even though she caught Raikou herself she still didn't have its help this time.

"I can't believe Kyogre will actually listen to you! How do you expect me to beat it?!" May yelled in frustration.

"Kyogre listens to me...because I have this..." Melany reached into her pocket and took out the sapphire, holding it up for May to see. "Kyogre will obey whoever holds the sapphire, and right now...thats me. Don't worry, I have no intention of using its power. The battle will be tough enough on you as it is..."

_"Like that helps me any!"_ May thought. _"Having to battle Kyogre is bad enough, but now I have to battle it while its taking commands from a skilled trainer?"_

"MAY!" May heard someone call out to her and looked behind her. Angela was standing at the very edge of the stadium. "You can beat that monster, May! I know you can!"

"Angela...?" May blinked in surprise. She had forgotten Angela was there. The girl was in Sootopolis the day Kyogre and Groudon were battling it out over the Cave of Origins. Angela was soon joined by Brendan, Wally, and Suzy as they came outside to cheer her on in her battle against Kyogre.

"Come on, May! You're not going to quit now, are you?" Brendan asked her.

"Wh-what?! No way!" May shot back defensively. "I never said I wasn't going to battle it! I just don't know if I can win..."

"May! Melany had to beat Kyogre to catch it, right?" Wally said to her. "Well you've been beating Melany so far! So if she can beat Kyogre, so can you! So stop saying you can't do it and win this tournament already!"

"You're the only one who can beat her now and someone needs to teach her a lesson for beating my Wally!" Suzy added.

"Thanks guys..." May rubbed the back of her head. "I guess I never thought of it that way..." May turned back to the battlefield, ready to start the battle now. "Ok, Melany! If you want me to beat Kyogre to win this match, then thats exactly what I'm going to do!"

"Thats the spirit!" Melany replied, smiling widely. "So lets get this battle started already! Kyogre, use Calm Mind!"

"Finally. These humans were starting to annoy me..." Kyogre thought to itself before closing its eyes and relaxing its mind, increasing its power.

"Castform, use Thunderbolt!" Castform happily complied, its body sparking as it gathered electricity to attack and then fired it at Kyogre in a single bolt. Kyogre cried out in pain as the bolt struck it and electricity ran through its body, but Kyogre was able to shrug off the attack and keep meditating.

_"No good, looks like I'll need something stronger..."_ May thought, taking a quick glance up at the sky. _"Those clouds...they're only over the stadium. Every other time Kyogre's around it changes the weather completely, this is more like the effect of Rain Dance. So maybe, like Rain Dance, Sunny Day will be able to cancel it out!"_

"Castform, try using Sunny Day!" Castform looked back at May hesitantly for a moment before nervously starting to gather energy in its body. It then released that energy straight up in a ball, which exploded in the sky and dispersed the clouds to make way for the intensified sunlight. May's tactic seemed to work, and the Sunny Day effect caused Castform to change to its fire form.

_"Looks like May noticed Kyogre's not using its full power..."_ Melany thought to herself. _"Of course, I had to seal Kyogre's power in the sapphire if I was going to use it here..."_

_"You're just lucky Haruka was willing to help us with that."_ Odari added. _"Though quite frankly I don't see why you couldn't do this somewhere nice and secluded..."_

_"Now where would the fun in that be?"_ Melany thought in response, smiling to herself. "Kyogre, attack with Hydro Pump now!"

"Castform, counter that Hydro Pump with Solar Beam!" Both pokemon fired off their respective attacks, Kyogre opening its mouth and firing a large stream of water at Castform while Castform fired a beam of charged sun energy at Kyogre.

The two attacks collided and Castform's Solar Beam punched a hole through Kyogre's Hydro Pump, evaporating its way through. The remainder of Kyogre's attack made it past the Solar Beam to hit Castform, while Kyogre ended up literally swallowing a Solar Beam attack. Both pokemon were knocked back by the respective attacks. Even with Sunny Day in effect, Castform still found itself quite weak after taking a Hydro Pump. Kyogre also felt quite a bit of pain as Castform had managed to hit a particularly vulnerable point.

_"That Solar Beam might be trouble, even for Kyogre. Just to be safe we should change the weather back..."_ Melany thought to herself. "Kyogre, start up the rain again!"

Without even any sign of having to concentrate Kyogre used its power. The clouds quickly moved in again, blocking out the sunlight and starting another downpour. Castform changed back into its water form almost instantly.

"Well I'm not worried..." May thought with a knowing smirk. "Even Kyogre must have felt THAT attack, so lets follow it up!"

"Castform, use Thunderbolt now!"

"Kyogre, deflect it with Thunder!"

Castform fired a bolt of electricity at Kyogre while another, larger lightning bolt raced down from the clouds on a path to intercept it. Kyogre's Thunder curved into the oncoming Thunderbolt and the two attacks continued to build up against each other into a ball of electricity. With Kyogre's much stronger attack, however, the ball of electricity soon shot towards Castform.

"No way!" May cried out in disbelief. The combined electricity from both attacks now raced towards Castform, Kyogre's Thunder dragging Castform's Thunderbolt with it. Castform cried out in pain as the combined lightning bolt struck its body and completely concealed it from view while the electricity flowed through its body. When the attack finally discharged, a charred and unconcious Castform fell to the ground.

_"Ok then...I guess electric attacks won't work..."_ May thought as she recalled Castform. _"That practically rules out Manetric entirely, and he's my last pokemon. Looks like its all up to Ludicolo then..."_

"Ludicolo, your turn now! Go!" May held up Ludicolo's pokeball and released it out onto the battlefield, near the edge of the pool. Ludicolo started dancing around when it felt the rain against its body, but stopped and stared in shock when it spotted Kyogre out in the pool. Ludicolo's jaw nearly hit the ground.

"-Mother...-" Ludicolo whimpered.

"-You again...-" Kyogre grumbled in annoyance. "-Lets see if you can dodge all my attacks this time you annoying...thing.-"

"Ludicolo, get into the water and use Mega Drain!" Ludicolo quickly regained its composure and dove into the pool with Kyogre. Ludicolo then held out its hands towards Kyogre while floating in the water. A green stream of energy flowed out of Kyogre and into Ludicolo, causing Kyogre to growl in pain as Ludicolo absorbed its energy.

"Kyogre, back against the wall of the pool and use Rest!" Kyogre floated back until its tail was pressed against the edge of the pool, though it didn't understand what Melany's intention was by having it do so. Kyogre then closed its eyes and fell fast asleep, fully restoring its health.

_"Thats right...I forgot Kyogre knew Rest."_ May thought to herself. _"Thats going to make this even more difficult than it already is! How am I going to beat Kyogre if it can just sleep off any damage I do to it?"_ May thought for a moment and managed to come up with an idea.

"Ludicolo, use Uproar!" Ludicolo began shouting and splashing around in the pool to create an Uproar. The noise Ludicolo was making woke up a startled Kyogre.

_"Uproar...guess Rest is out of the question then."_ Melany thought, contemplating the situation. _"If Kyogre tries to use Rest, Ludicolo will use Uproar and wake it up before it can heal. At least I was able to use Rest once though, Kyogre really needed it after that Solar Beam..."_

"Kyogre, use Calm Mind!" Kyogre closed its eyes and began to focus. It took some time for Kyogre to gain full concentration, though, because of the racket Ludicolo was making.

_"Well if it didn't have Rest I would have this match won."_ May thought to herself. _"So if I keep it from using Rest and hit it with attacks not weakened by Calm Mind I might be able to bring it down. I'll keep using Uproar then, that should wear it down eventually."_

"Ludicolo, keep it up with Uproar!"

"Kyogre, keep using Calm Mind!"

Kyogre continued to use Calm Mind while Ludicolo was using Uproar. As the two pokemon continued their attacks, being urged on by their trainers, Kyogre began to weaken slightly from the constant outbursts from Ludicolo. Despite this, Kyogre still had plenty of fight left in it by the time it was fully powered.

"Kyogre, now! Take Ludicolo down with Ice Beam!"

"Ludicolo, quick! Dodge it and use Mega Drain!"

Kyogre fired a blue energy beam at Ludicolo, but Ludicolo swiftly dove under the water's surface to avoid it. The Ice Beam froze a large area of the water where Ludicolo was, creating a small iceberg. While still under the water, Ludicolo struck Kyogre with a Mega Drain attack. Kyogre hardly even seemed affected by it.

_"Kyogre's still holding strong..."_ May thought to herself. _"I might have underestimated it a bit with Uproar, but I know I can keep up the attack just by dodging Kyogre's attacks. Just like the last time Ludicolo fought it!"_

"Kyogre, use Thunder and aim for the water!" Kyogre called down a pillar of electricity from the clouds above. With a flash of light, the electricity struck the pool and both Kyogre and Ludicolo were given a strong shock as the electricity went through the water. When the electricity finally dispersed, it left a weakened but still conscious Kyogre at the top of the pool.

"What?! Why would you have Kyogre hurt itself?!" May cried out in confusion.

"I needed to make sure your Ludicolo couldn't dodge it, and Kyogre could take its own attack anyway." Melany replied calmly. "Your Ludicolo on the other hand..." Melany left her statement hanging as Ludicolo's unconcious body floated to the surface of the pool. May was stunned for a moment before finally recalling it.

_"I'm down to Manetric now...but can Manetric pull this off? I don't know if any of Manetric's attacks will even hurt Kyogre at this point but I have to try!"_ May thought, holding her final pokeball in hand.

"Manetric, go!" May finally released her final pokemon, Manetric, to face off against the legendary pokemon Kyogre. Manetric didn't recognize its opponent, but it did recognize how powerful Kyogre was and knew it would have to give the battle everything it had.

"Manetric, quick! Take Kyogre down with Thunder!"

"Kyogre, use Rest!"

Manetric roared and called down a bolt of lightning from the clouds to strike Kyogre. There was a flash of light throughout the stadium as the lightning bolt struck, and for a moment May thought she had gotten it for sure. When everyone could see again, however, Kyogre was sleeping peacefully.

_"Thats it then...I've lost..."_ May thought, hanging her head in defeat. _"The best Manetric can do now is Charge until Kyogre wakes up, but Kyogre would just deflect a charged Thunderbolt back at Manetric with Thunder. Kyogre's electric attacks are just too strong..."_

_"Wait, thats it!"_ May thought, smiling to herself with a renewed confidence. "Manetric, use Charge and build up electricity until Kyogre wakes up!" On May's command, Manetric's fur began to bristle with electricity, gathering a charge from the air and storing it in its body and mane for later use.

_"I thought she might do something like that."_ Melany thought to herself. _"She'll charge electricity and try to attack with Thunderbolt. I don't think she realizes just how powerful Kyogre is." _Melany shook her head sadly. _"This match is over..."_

May watched the sleeping Kyogre closely while Manetric continued to build up electricity. After almost a minute, May saw Kyogre's eyes starting to open. "Manetric, now! Thunderbolt!"

Electricity danced around Manetric's body and shot forward, building into a single large bolt of electricity before being shot straight toward Kyogre.

"Kyogre, deflect it with Thunder and finish this!" Kyogre called down a lightning bolt from the clouds, sending a massive pillar of electricity curving towards the oncoming Thunderbolt. Kyogre's Thunder was met with little resistance at all as Manetric's own attack served only to charge it further. The combined electric attacks barreled straight towards the electric pokemon.

"You're right, Melany. This IS over! Manetric, now! Charge!" Manetric began charging electricity from the air just as the massive lightning bolt struck it. Manetric growled in pain as the effort to absorb such a powerful attack was taking a toll on its body. Manetric nearly collapsed from the effort as the electricity finally dispersed, most of it being absorbed by Manetric.

"Manetric, hang in there! Thunderbolt!" Manetric released all the stored electricity from its body in one massive blast, sending a pillar of electricity at Kyogre that was several times wider than Manetric was.

"Interesting technique...lets see if it does you any good! Kyogre, deflect it with Thunder again!" Kyogre called down another pillar of electricity from the clouds, again directing it into the oncoming electricity from Manetric. The two attacks collided, and this time they continued to push against each other and build up into a ball of electricity.

"This has to work! Come on Manetric!" The pokemon seemed to be at a standstill, but Manetric kept pouring electricity into the attack and the growing ball of electricity started to slowly push towards Kyogre. Then, without warning, it suddenly took off.

The combined power of the electric attacks were suddenly on top of Kyogre and the entire pool disappeared under a wall of electricity. Kyogre cried out in pain and a sizzling noise could be heard as steam rose from the pool. When the electricity had all finally made it into the ground under the pool, there was barely any water left. The storm clouds overhead began to part, and at the bottom of the pool was an unconcious Kyogre.

"WOO-HOO! WE DID IT!" May jumped up into the air in her excitement. Manetric grinned, barely having even the strength to do that.

"-I..am...the god...of thunder...!-" Manetric managed to say before its legs gave out from under it. Absorbing Kyogre's Thunder, as well as its own Thunderbolt, had taken a tremendous toll on it.

"Manetric?" Manetric slowly turned its head back to look at May, still grinning to itself. "Manetric...congratulations! Take a well-deserved rest!" May recalled Manetric to its pokeball. Manetric was more than happy to rest its tired body after that battle.

"There you have it, folks! After a spectacular showdown and beating a legendary pokemon responsible for the disaster at Sootopolis, May Maple has emerged victorious! Congratulations, May!" The announcer finally declared the match to be over, and his announcement was quickly followed by a burst of applause and cheering from the crowd that remained at the stadium.

"May!" Angela rushed across the trainer's platform and latched onto May tightly. "Youdidityoudidit! You beat the monster!"

"Way to go, May!" Brendan congratulated May as he, Wally, and Suzy approached her as. "Knew you could do it all along!"

"Yep! And its all because..."

"Because we believed in you! Right May!?" Angela said excitedly, cutting May off. "The power of friendship saved the day!"

"Umm...right! We'll go with that!" May smiled sheepishly.

"Well I have to hand it to you May, I definitely wouldn't have stood a chance if I was battling in your place!" Wally said to her.

"You take that back, Wally!" Suzy shouted while grabbing Wally's shoulders and shaking him roughly. "There's no way you would lose to that cheating witch a second time! No way, you hear me!"

_"There's still one thing I don't get though...why did she want me to beat her?"_ May wondered. She turned around to ask her, but by then Melany was long gone. _"Huh? Where'd she go?"_

* * *

_"You know, I kinda feel sorry for Kyogre..."_ Melany thought as she made her way out of the stadium. _"Ever since being re-awakened its pretty much been one losing battle after another for it."_

_"Well Kyogre won't be your problem anymore anyway."_ Odari said to her. _"Which leaves only one more to go."_

_"You know, one of these days I'll get a powerful pokemon like Kyogre and actually get to keep it..."_ Melany replied, rolling her eyes. _"On that note, I need to figure out what I'm going to do about Rayquaza..."_

Melany continued down the corridor and out of the stadium, passing by Steven standing near the exit. Melany was deep into her conversation with Odari and didn't notice her brother standing there.

"Not staying for the ceremony?" Steven said to her after she passed by. Melany stopped in her tracks and turned around to face him.

"Like I told you before the tournament, I only entered to battle May." Melany replied then turned around and continued on her way. "Just don't forget to give her that message for me..."

"I suppose some things never change." Steven smiled and gave a light shrug, then went off into the stadium to start the closing ceremony.

* * *

After the final showdown between Melany and May the battlefield was quickly cleaned up for the closing ceremony. All of the trainers who took part in the battles were standing out on the field, with the exception of Melany and Vito.

Standing across from the trainers were Steven Stone, the president of Devon Inc., and the tournament co-ordinator. This time, the president was making the announcements. Steven was holding a master ball, which would be presented to the tournament winner.

"This year's tournament has finally come to a close, with some surprising turnouts and even more surprising battles." The president announced. He had a small microphone on the collar of his shirt, so the audience could all hear him through the stadium's speakers.

"That being said, this year's champion is one who has truly earned her title. She has endured against pokemon of truly terrifying power and emerged victorious. May Maple, congratulations! Please step forward and receive your prize!"

May stepped forward from the crowd of trainers and approached Steven. She first shook hands with the three officials before receiving her master ball and holding it up for everyone to see. Everyone in the stadium cheered loudly and applauded May's victory until Mr. Stone motioned for silence.

"Miss Maple, is there anything you would like to say to everyone?" The tournament co-ordinator asked her loudly enough for everyone to hear her over the speakers.

"W-what?" May stammered in response. She quickly looked around the stadium and noticed everyone was expecting her to say something now.

"Oh...well...uh...sure!" May replied hesitantly. _"What am I getting myself into?!" _Mr. Stone removed his microphone and handed it to May. May held it for a moment and looked around the stadium, trying to think of what to say. _"Lets see...hmm...ah! I know!"_

"Well, while it is true I had some tough competition, I was never battling alone." May began. "To me, my pokemon are trusted friends and companions, and together we battled as a team. Not only that, but my friends were cheering for me all the way. With support like that I couldn't afford to lose!"

"An inspiring ideal, indeed!" The president took his microphone from May. "Congratulations, May, on a hard earned victory in this year's tournament!" May returned to stand with the other trainers, amidst more cheers and applause from the audience. Again, the president signalled for silence so he could continue his announcement.

"Now, of course, we have prizes for other trainers as well. That being said, we will now call each trainer to receive their prize..."

Mr. Stone called each of the remaining participants up one by one to receive their prize for entering the competition, which were awarded either by Steven or the co-ordinator. Once everyone had received their various prizes, depending on where they ranked in the tournament, Mr. Stone made one final announcement.

"Finally, for all trainers involved even in the participating round, there will be a banquet held at Rustboro's 'Golem Inn'. The banquet will start in approximately half an hour and I invite all our participants to attend. Thank you, everyone, and I hope you enjoyed the tournament!" The audience and trainers applauded while Mr. Stone and the tournament co-ordinator packed up and left the field.

"Hey, May, are you going to the banquet?" Brendan asked her once the ceremony was over.

"Like you even have to ask!" May replied, giggling. "I hear that place has the best pasta! Besides, who would turn down free food?"

"Melany apparently, but perhaps it wouldn't quite count as free for her..." Steven interrupted the two, having quietly approached them after the ceremony. "Sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear you. May, Melany has suggested that you check your locker before you leave..."

"Check my locker?" May blinked in confusion. "Why? Did she leave something there?"

"Knowing her I would dare say there is a long and carefully thought out report for you explaining everything she did." Steven replied, chuckling quietly. "In any case, I suppose I shall be seeing you two at the banquet then..."

"Yeah, I guess I'll catch up with everyone after I check my locker then..." May sighed. "Would it have killed her to explain this in person though? Ugh..."

May left the field to head back to the trainer's lounge alone while everyone else went to the inn. When she arrived in the lounge she quickly tracked down her locker and opened it to see if there was anything inside.

"...Huh?!" May reached into the locker and took out a glowing blue crystal. "But this is...the sapphire?!" May looked at the crystal in shock, remembering all the trouble it had caused and also what Melany said about it allowing her to control Kyogre.

"There's a pokeball in here too..." May took a pokeball out of her locker next and held it in her hand. "She left the sapphire here...and a pokeball...so then, does the pokeball contain...?" May's mind began to reel at the thought of what pokemon might reside inside the pokeball. She didn't have to think on it long, though.

_"Kyogre is contained in that ball."_ May heard a voice say to her. She looked around quickly, but she was alone in the lounge. _"Also, I've been instructed to give you a series of numbers that you will apparently need in order to 'claim' it. I was told you would know what that means..."_

"Wait, wait, wait! Who's there? Show yourself already!" May demanded in confusion, glancing around the room again for any sign of the mystery voice.

_"Allow me to explain then. My name is Haruka, my conciousness resides in this sapphire."_ May stared at the sapphire with a dumfounded expression. _"I see we have much to talk about then, May..."_

* * *

Later that night, after the events of the day had long since passed...

"You know, I must have done something really horrible in a past life to deserve all this." Melany grumbled, stabbing hard at a piece of garbage with her stick then placing it into her bag. As part of her community service, Melany was being forced to pick up garbage around the stadium.

_"You're not trying to blame this on me now are you?"_ Odari asked her. _"I don't see how anything I did in my time could have caused this."_

"I'm sure I could think of a few things..." Melany grumbled in response.

"Hey, work faster! We don't want to be here all night!" One of the two guards, still keeping an eye on her, called down from the top of the bleachers.

"That makes two of us..." Melany muttered, returning to the task at hand. "This really sucks..."

* * *

Author's Notes: And thats a wrap for the tournament and pretty much every major arc so far. So where does that leave us for the next three chapters I have planned? Well, I'm sure someone will figure it out!


	73. Chapter 62: Hoenn League Challenge Pt1

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Sixty Two**

**Hoenn League Challenge Part One**

"So this is Evergrande City?" May hopped off Salamence's back and looked up at the 'city' stretched out before her. The entrance consisted of a large, red, double door and the city looked more like a fortress from the outside. It gave May the impression of a military installation rather than a pokemon stadium.

While May was gazing at the city, her Tropius landed nearby with her mother and father riding on its back. The two of them jumped off when it landed and Norman took a look around.

"Evergrande City...it feels like its been forever since the last time I was here..." Norman commented to himself. "Well, you're not getting cold feet now are you May?" He then asked his daughter teasingly. May quickly turned around to face him.

"No way! After the Devon Grand Prix, I'm definitely ready for this!" May turned back to the city, smiling with determination. "They just better be ready for me, I'd hate for this to be too easy!"

"My! You certainly sound confident, May!" Her mother noted, chuckling politely.

May recalled Salamence and Tropius and proceeded into Evergrande City. Her Elite Four challenge had already been cleared, and she already had her team selected, so May continued straight on into the stadium itself. Her parents proceeded to the audience stands.

"Right out of one tournament and into the Elite Four...but now I know for sure I'm ready to face them!" May thought as she walked through the corridor leading into the stadium.

"Explain to me again who these Elite Four are?" The voice of Haruka asked May. May sighed and stopped in the corridor.

_"I forgot I had an imaginary friend now..."_ May thought. _"The Elite Four are four of the strongest trainers in Hoenn. Along with the Champion, they are the final test for any trainer. Anyone who beats all five of them becomes the true champion."_

"Interesting." Haruka replied amusedly. "Well I suppose its only natural that my descendant achieve such a goal. With Raikou and Kyogre you can't possibly lose."

"I didn't bring Kyogre." May replied, rubbing the back of her neck. "I'm...I'm not really confident I could control it. I mean, what happens if I lose control and Kyogre goes on a rampage? Sure, I could probably beat it or return it eventually, but in a stadium like this it could hurt someone..."

_"A valid concern I suppose."_ Haruka replied in agreement. _"Kyogre is not truly controlled by the sapphire, you see. It was simply an agreement forged by Melany when her Alakazam caught Kyogre. If she was successful in catching it, Kyogre would obey whoever held the sapphire. An agreement it has held true to so far, but with a pokemon like Kyogre there is no telling what it might do."_

May started off down the corridor again and went through the doors leading out into the stadium. The stadium was about the size of the Devon stadium, except without the pool. Instead, it was split right down the middle with the left side of the stadium open water.

There were seats for an audience on either side of the stadium, though it was notably less crowded than the DGP. The audience consisted almost solely of friends and relatives of May, with a few people who had seen her exploits at the DGP and could afford to make it to Evergrande City to see her battle the Elite Four.

Among the audience gathered were her parents, who had arrived there with May. Wally and Suzy were there along with Wally's family, and Brendan was there with his father as well. Angela, the girl May had run into in Sootopolis, was also there to cheer on her idol and had copied even more of May's outfit. May was surprised the most, though, by the prescence of all the gym leaders who were also there to cheer May on.

_"Wow...there's more people here than I thought there would be..."_ May thought. She quickly looked around the stadium and frowned. _"No Melany though, but that doesn't surprise me..."_

"Welcome, May, to Evergrande City." May turned her attention to the other side of the field, where the Elite Four Sidney was now standing. "Since we've already met before, what do you say we skip the introductions and cut straight to the battle, eh?"

"Fine by me!" May quickly took a pokeball from her belt. "Blaziken, I choose you! Go!"

"Absol, go! Lets get this battle started!" May and Sidney released their first pokemon, May sending out the fire and fighting pokemon Blaziken while Sidney sent out Absol. Sidney was a user of dark-type pokemon, something May had learned before challenging the Elite Four. Each battle would be three on three, with no breaks in between, so May chose her pokemon accordingly.

"Blaziken, lets finish this quick! Sky Uppercut!" Blaziken threw its arms back and took off running across the field, quickly covering the distance between itself and Absol and leaving its opponent with precious little time to react.

"Absol, dodge with a Quick Attack!" Absol became a blur of movement, shooting off to the side just as Blaziken was close enough to attack. Blaziken came to a stop and brought its fist up in an uppercut, but its attack missed entirely. "Now, power up with Calm Mind!" Safely out of harms way for now, Absol closed its eyes and began to concentrate to increase its power.

_"Calm Mind? Whats he up to?"_ May wondered. _"That leaves him open long enough to attack, and Blaziken is hitting with physical attacks anyway. Absol won't be able to do any serious damage before Blaziken takes it down even if it knows a water attack..."_

"Blaziken, hit it with Sky Uppercut now while its using Calm Mind!" Blaziken reached Absol in only a few short steps and brought its fist up again. This time, Blaziken's fist connected with the side of Absol's body. It was a hard blow and sent Absol rolling across the ground until its hind legs hit the ground, at which point Absol flipped into the air and landed on its feet.

"Absol, now! Baton Pass!" Absol focused again. This time a red pulse of energy went up from its body and formed into a glowing, red baton. Sidney quickly recalled Absol at that point and sent out a Crawdaunt in its place. Crawdaunt immediately reached up to grab the baton with one of its pincers. The baton dispersed into Crawdaunt's body, giving it the benefit of Absol's Calm Mind.

_"So thats what he was doing..."_ May thought. "Blaziken, quick! Use Brick Break!" Blaziken quickly ran towards Crawdaunt, quickly closing the distance between itself and its opponent. Blaziken brought its fist up and connected with the blue marking on the front of Crawdaunt's body, knocking it back and into the water.

"Nice try, but thats exactly where we wanted to be. Crawdaunt, take Blaziken down with Surf!" Crawdaunt lowered its pincers into the water and moved them forward, sending up a wave towards Blaziken. The wave began to crash when it struck the edge of the pool, crashing down on top of Blaziken. The water washed over the fire pokemon, leaving it lain out flat on the ground.

"Blaziken, thats enough for now! Return!" May quickly recalled Blaziken before Crawdaunt could launch another attack, returning its pokeball to her belt. _"Ok, time to see how this one will do in battle like this!"_ May thought as she took another pokeball in hand and prepared to send out her next pokemon.

"Raikou, go!" The legendary electric pokemon Raikou emerged from its pokeball. Raikou immediately turned its gaze towards Crawdaunt and growled, pscyhing itself up for battle. The legendary pokemon was finally willing to listen to May now that she had the sapphire in her possession.

"Well! Looks like I finally get to meet the legendary pokemon Raikou! This should make things interesting!" Sidney said, smiling to himself. "Crawdaunt, I think its best you sat this one out!" Sidney said to his pokemon. Crawdaunt nodded in agreement and Sidney returned it to its pokeball.

"Ok, Cacturne! You can take this one on! Go!" Sidney took another pokeball from his belt and released Cacturne, a green cactus pokemon that looked like a scarecrow.

"Cacturne? Looks like its a grass type. Good thing we can handle those!" May thought, a light smirk crossing her lips. "Raikou, start off with Calm Mind!" Raikou closed its eyes and began to concentrate, focusing on increasing its power.

_"For someone who couldn't control Raikou, you know its abilities well."_ Haruka commented.

_"I've had no shortage of experience fighting it, believe me!"_ May thought with a laugh. _"Having a pokedex is a big help too..."_

"Don't think we're just going to let you get away with that! Cacturne, hit it with Leech Seed!" Cacturne aimed its right arm at Raikou and fired a single seed across the field. The seed landed square on Raikou's nose and immediately latched on, beginning to slowly drain its life.

"Really wish Raikou had a healing technique, but that shouldn't matter too much!" May thought. "Raikou, use Spark and get rid of that seed!" An electric current began to flow around Raikou's body, and briefly Raikou directed a charge at the seed on its nose to blast it off. Raikou then quickly charged across the field and tackled Cacturne to shock it with Spark. Cacturne staggered back from the impact and sparks briefly shot around its body.

"Cacturne, strike back with Dynamicpunch!" Cacturne quickly sprung back and smashed Raikou in the face with its left hand, creating a small explosion from the impact that knocked Raikou back slightly. Raikou seemed to endure it with no problems at first but then began shaking its head violently as confusion set in.

"Raikou, shake it off and use Hidden Power!" It took Raikou a moment to gain enough focus to attack, but despite the confusion it was able to use its Hidden Power technique. Several light blue orbs began to circle around it. With a simple gesture of its head, the six orbs were sent flying off towards Cacturne. The orbs hit Cacturne two at a time with the power of ice and after the last two hit Cacturne was knocked off its feet.

"Raikou, one more! Hidden Power!"

"Cacturne, Destiny Bond!"

Raikou managed to focus again for another Hidden Power attack, but as the blue orbs began to surround it a dark aura began to surround Raikou and Cacturne. The aura linked their fate's together and, when Raikou's Hidden Power attack struck Cacturne and knocked it out, the aura caused Raikou to suddenly faint as well. The Destiny Bond attack ended up in both pokemon fainting and being recalled to their pokeballs.

_"That would have been a good time for Raikou to be too confused to attack..."_ May thought with an exasperated sigh. _"Well Raikou lost...but that was my own stupid fault. Good thing I brought medicine!"_

"A good show so far, May. Lets see if you can keep it up!" Sidney called out to May. "Ok, Absol! You're up again! Go!" Sidney held up Absol's pokeball and released the dark-type pokemon for another round.

"Blaziken took a pretty bad hit from Surf before...I better use Heracross this time." May thought as she took out a pokeball. "Ok, Heracross! Your turn now! Go!" May released the bug-type Heracross from its pokeball, finally releasing the pokemon that had the biggest advantage over Sidney's dark-type pokemon. Heracross slammed its fists together when she appeared and was still proudly wearing her blackbelt.

_"A Heracross...this might be hard to deal with."_ Sidney thought to himself. _"Especially since Absol already took a hit from Blaziken..."_

"Heracross, use Megahorn!"

"Absol, take Heracross down with Flamethrower!"

Heracross took off running across the field, its horn taking on a greenish-yellow glow as it charged towards Absol to attack. Heracross ended up running straight into a blast of flames from Absol, but emerged almost unphased right in Absol's face. Heracross slammed Absol with its horn, sending it flying back and smashing off the wall of the stadium behind Sidney. Absol bounced off the wall and was unconcious when it hit the ground. Sidney stared in shock for a moment before finally recalling it.

"Amazing...your Heracross just shrugged off Absol's attack and took it down with one blow!" Sidney said to May.

"My Heracross has stood through stronger fire attacks than that and was still standing!" May replied proudly.

"-Yep, stood through a Blast Burn and didn't even get a shirt for it.-" Heracross stated, nodding to herself.

"I highly doubt I can beat you at this point, but as an Elite Four I can't just give up." Sidney said to May while reaching for his last pokeball. "That being said, time for Crawdaunt to take the field again!" Sidney released Crawdaunt from its pokeball, sending it out into the water half of the battlefield.

"Crawdaunt, dive down and power up with Swords Dance!" Crawdaunt immediately disappeared under the surface of the water, hiding out in the pool while it increased its strength with Swords Dance.

_"Need to do something about Crawdaunt before it can get too much stronger..."_ May thought to herself. _"I think I know just what to do, too!"_

"Heracross, dive in after it and use Seismic Toss!" Heracross ran towards the pool and dove straight in after Crawdaunt. After several moments, Crawdaunt was forcefully thrown up out of the water and landed on the ground with a confused expression on its face. Using Swords Dance left Crawdaunt unable to defend itself from Heracross' attack. Heracross soon jumped out of the water as well, landing behind Crawdaunt and putting itself between the water pokemon and the pool.

"Heracross, now! Megahorn!"

"Crawdaunt, block it with Protect!"

Heracross quickly moved to ram Crawdaunt with its powerful horn. Its attack was met by an impenetrable barrier surrounding Crawdaunt, protecting it from Heracross' attack and forcing the bug to back off.

"Now, Crawdaunt! Push it into the water with Strength!" Crawdaunt dropped its barrier and smashed into Heracross. Heracross caught Crawdaunt's attack and tried to stand its ground, but Crawdaunt was slowly pushing it into the water.

"Heracross, stop it with Leer!" Heracross looked Crawdaunt straight in the eyes and leered at it, causing Crawdaunt to hesitate momentarily.

"Now! Finish it off, Brick Break!" Taking advantage of Crawdaunt's hesitation, Heracross raised her fist back and gave Crawdaunt a quick punch. Crawdaunt staggered back from the attack, then collapsed on its side as it went into unconciousness. With that final attack, May's first match against the Elite Four was over. Sidney recalled his Crawdaunt.

"Well like I said, I didn't have much of a chance anyway!" Sidney said to May then gave a light shrug. "Eh, who cares? It was a good match anyway. Good luck with the rest of your challenge May!" Sidney turned and left the field so the next member of the Elite Four could take his place.

"Way to go, Heracross! You can rest for now!" May recalled Heracross to its pokeball, then reached back to pull off her fanny pack.

_"I should take this time now to heal my pokemon..."_ She thought. _"Or at least use a Revive on Raikou. I'll be using it in my next match, I'll have to be careful after this though. I only have revives and a few Full Restores, and there's no turning back either..."_

_"So you need to beat the strongest trainers, one after the other, with no chance to rest?" _Haruka asked May. _"I think thats a bit unfair..."_

While waiting for Phoebe, May released the unconcious Raikou from its pokeball and broke a crystal-shaped revive over it to restore Raikou to conciousness. This left Raikou at half strength, but May decided to put off using one of her full restores on it. She then returned Raikou to its pokeball as she didn't want to use Raikou unless she had to this time around.

"Well I had a feeling you would make it here eventually!" Phoebe announced as the approached the field. "I've been looking forward to this ever since Sootopolis. I'm looking forward to seeing just what kind of skill you have, May. There's just something special about you..."

"Well lets find out then!" May quickly placed Raikou's pokeball on her belt then took another one, a masterball, in hand. "Salamence, you can start this one off! Go!" May held up the pokeball and released the dragon pokemon Salamence out onto the field.

"A Salamence, huh? Impressive! Lets see how it fares against my ghosts!" Phoebe said while taking a pokeball in hand to release her first pokemon. "Dusclops, go!" Phoebe's Dusclops, a one-eyed ghost pokemon that somewhat resembled a mummy, quickly emerged from its pokeball to battle Salamence. It didn't look like much, but May knew Dusclops had some particularly nasty tricks up it's sleeve.

_"Ok, when I fought Jessica's Dusclops back at the tournament, she focused on techniques that weakened her opponent..."_ May thought to herself. _"I wonder if Phoebe's will do the same? I'll play it safe to start..."_

"Dusclops, weaken Salamence to start! Will-o-wisp!"

"Salamence, Protect!"

Dusclops held out its hands and cast a ghostly flame towards Salamence. By the time the attack had reached Salamence, the dragon pokemon had used its Protect technique to form a barrier. The flames dispersed on contact with the barrier and had no effect on Salamence.

"Salamence, use Crunch and grab its arm!" Salamence dropped its barrier and took off across the field, flying low to the ground. Salamence opened its mouth then bit down on Dusclop's right arm with a tremendous force, stunning Dusclops briefly as it reeled from the pain.

"Now, Salamence! Use Fly and drag it up with you!" Salamence gave on strong flap of its wings and took off straight up into the air, bringing Dusclops with it. Salamence had a good hold on Dusclops' arm and didn't look like it'd drop it anytime soon.

"Dusclops, shake it off with an Ice Beam!" Dusclops raised its free hand towards Salamence's head and fired a blue beam at point blank range. Salamence's head immediately froze under a sheet of ice, as did Dusclops' arm.

Both pokemon plummeted to the ground, separated only when the ice shattered on impact. Salamence was slow to get up after the attack and a little dazed as well. It took a pretty strong blow because of where it hit and was already looking pretty weakened. Dusclops was much better off than Salamence was.

"Your Salamence is undoubtedly strong, May. Unfortunate that ice attacks happen to be its Achilles heel." Phoebe said to May.

"I'll have to watch out for that Ice Beam then..." May thought to herself. _"I didn't expect that, but now that I know I'll just have to be more careful."_

"Now lets see you dodge this! Duscops, use Shadow Punch!"

"Salamence, Fly!"

Salamence flapped its wings and took off straight up again. A shadowy fist appeared out of Salamence's shadow as the dragon took off, just narrowly getting high enough into the air to avoid it. Salamence continued to fly straight up, putting itself out of range of any of Dusclops' attacks.

"Dusclops, get ready to attack with Ice Beam when it dives." Dusclops cupped its hands, forming a small blue orb between them as if about to use Ice Beam. It held the attack, ready to fire it on a moment's notice.

_"That rules out a straight-out dive attack..."_ May thought. _"Or does it? Maybe I can take advantage of this!"_

"Salamence, dive straight down on top of it!" Salamence performed a vertical u-turn, turning towards the ground to come straight down on top of Dusclops.

"Now! Use Hydro Pump!" While in its dive, Salamence opened its mouth and released a wide stream of water straight down towards Dusclops. Dusclops fired its Ice Beam as Salamence was coming into range, but the beam struck the oncoming ice instead.

Dusclops' Ice Beam was strong enough to freeze the water as it fell and even build more ice onto it, but the beam didn't reach Salamence at all. The chunk of ice fell on top of Dusclops and shattered, spreading shards of ice across the field.

Salamence soon struck Dusclops as well, driving straight down on top of it. The collision knocked both pokemon out temporarily, but they were on their feet before either of them could be considered out of the fight. Both pokemon were looking pretty exhausted by now.

"Dusclops, finish it off quick! Shadow Punch!"

"Salamence, Protect!"

Dusclops punched the ground to trigger its attack, causing a shadowy fist to pop up from under Salamence. It looked like the attack would hit its target, nearly striking Salamence in the stomach before being caught in a barrier. The shadows dispersed, leaving Salamence untouched.

"Now! Dragon Claw!" Salamence raised its right foreleg back and dashed towards Dusclops, raking the ghost pokemon with its claws in one quick attack. Dusclops staggered back from the strike then collapsed to the ground as it was knocked out. Phoebe recalled it to its pokeball.

"Not a bad start!" Phoebe said to May. "Ok, Sableye, now its your turn!" Phoebe held up a pokeball and released her next pokemon. The ghost pokemon that emerged onto the battlefield looked like a brown-skinned imp with gems for its eyes and a green gem under its chin.

_"I don't know what pokemon that is, but its almost definitely a ghost."_ May thought to herself. "Ok, Salamence! Thats enough for now! Return!" May held up Salamence's pokeball and recalled her pokemon. She mentally made note to use a full restore on Salamence after the battle.

"Crawdaunt, your turn now! Go!" May called out as she released her Crawdaunt from its pokeball. Crawdaunt snapped its pincers together and stretched its arms when it emerged. It had been a while since Crawdaunt had been in a battle, and May had chosen to take Crawdaunt because she didn't have a ghost pokemon and Crawdaunt was her only dark-type.

"Crawdaunt, start off with Crabhammer!"

"Sableye, counter with Double Team!"

Crawdaunt scuttled across the field, raising its claw to attack, but stopped in its tracks when it suddenly found itself surrounded by Sabeleye. Crawdaunt hesitated for a moment before striking out with its claw, but the Sableye it hit simply vanished. Crawdaunt was still surrounded and open to attack.

"Sableye, attack now! Night Shade!" The Sableye surrounding Crawdaunt all began to seem larger, casting a chilling shadow as they loomed over it. Crawdaunt seemed to recoil in pain as the darkness overcame it. After the attack, all but one of the Sableye then disappeared, leaving only one standing to the left of Crawdaunt after the attack.

_"Ok then, first things first..."_ May thought. "Crawdaunt, use Taunt!" Crawdaunt raised one of its pincers at Sableye, taunting the ghost pokemon while clicking its pincer together. Sableye narrowed its eyes in an angry expression.

"A smart move, but Sableye won't need indirect attacks." Phoebe said to May. "Sableye, Night Shade again!"

"Crawdaunt, quick! Use Protect!" An illusionary Sableye began to expand outwards from the ghost pokemon, casting a shadow over Crawdaunt. The shadow touched Crawdaunt briefly before it was able to put up a barrier and block the attack.

"Now, Crawdaunt! Crunch attack!" Crawdaunt dropped its barrier as Sableye's attack was ending and scuttled across the field. Crawdaunt opened its mouth then clamped down on Sableye's snout with a powerful bite. Sableye let out a pained screech as it was attacked and tried to pull back away from Crawdaunt, but Crawdaunt had a firm grip on it.

"Sableye, use Fury Swipes and knock Crawdaunt off!" Sableye began furiously scratching at Crawdaunt in an effort to loosen it's grip. Crawdaunt was hardly bothered by the attack though and kept the ghost pokemon firmly gripped in its mouth.

"Crawdaunt, strike back with Crabhammer!" Crawdaunt raised its pincer back and slammed Sableye hard in the chest. Sableye's body went limp briefly and it would have fell if Crawdaunt wasn't holding it. Unfortunately for Sableye, Crawdaunt was also keeping it from getting back on its feet very easily.

_"Her Crawdaunt is stronger than I thought..."_ Phoebe thought to herself. _"She didn't use it at all in the DGP, but obviously not because it was weak. I thought for sure Sableye's Fury Swipes would be strong enough to throw it off. After all May's been through, I wonder if we, the greatest trainers in Hoenn, are even a challenge to her now..."_

"Now! Toss it and use Bubblebeam!" Crawdaunt quickly turned its head to toss Sableye to the ground. Crawdaunt then turned towards Sableye before the ghost pokemon could get back to its feet and blasted it with a stream of bubbles fired from both its claws. Sableye winced as each bubble hit it consecutively, eventually collapsing again as it lost the strength to fight back. Phoebe recalled her Sableye to its pokeball.

"Your pokemon are tougher than I expected, May. I'm now down to my last pokemon, while all three of your's are still standing. Ever since becoming one of the Elite Four I have never been on the losing end of such a one-sided battle before." Phoebe held up a pokeball, preparing to send out her final pokemon.

"Don't think I plan to fold though. You still have to face my Banette!" Phoebe released her final pokemon from its pokeball, sending out the ghost-type Banette onto the field. The pokemon that appeared looked almost like a cloth puppet with a zipper for its mouth.

_"Another ghost pokemon, of course."_ May thought to herself. "Well its not like I'm expecting one of the Elite Four to forfeit a match anyway!" May replied to Phoebe. "I came here with the full intention of battling and defeating the Elite Four!"

"Then I will just have to try to slow you down! Banette, use Thunderbolt!"

"Crawdaunt, Protect!"

Sparks began to dance around Banette as it quickly gathered electricity for its attack. Banette fired the charged electricity at Crawdaunt in a single bolt of lightning from its body, but by the time Banette attacked Crawdaunt already had a barrier around itself. The electricity crackled around Crawdaunt's barrier and fizzled.

"Now, use Mud Sport!" Crawdaunt quickly blasted the ground with a few bubbles to make mud then started rolling around in it to cover its body in mud.

_"Well all that means is Thunderbolt is only normally effective rather than an attack Crawdaunt is weak to."_ Phoebe thought to herself. _"Given Banette's remaining attacks though, Thunderbolt might still be my best option for inflicting damage on this pokemon."_

"Banette, weaken it with a Will-o-Wisp!" Banette held its arms out towards Crawdaunt and fired a ghostly flame towards it. The flames surrounded Crawdaunt then closed in on it to immediately inflict a burn. Crawdaunt growled in pain and quickly got back to its feet, staring at Banette angrily.

"Now, follow it up with a Thunderbolt!" Banette quickly charged electricity and fired another Thunderbolt attack at Crawdaunt.

_"Well here goes nothing..."_ May thought. "Crawdaunt, knock it away with Knock-Off!" Crawdaunt raised its claw and took a swipe at the incoming bolt of electricity. The electricity was scattered as it impacted with Crawdaunt's claw, knocking some of it away while the rest continued on to shock Crawdaunt. Crawdaunt's combined efforts to reduce the strength of Banette's attack, but Crawdaunt still didn't seem like it'd be able to take another attack.

_"I'll have to make my attacks count..."_ May thought, noticing Crawdaunt's exhaustion. "Crawdaunt, attack Banette with Crunch and toss it!"

Crawdaunt quickly scuttled forward and opened its jaws. Crawdaunt clamped down on one of Banette's arms with all its might and then twisted violently to throw Banette to the ground. It was a strong attack against Banette but, because it was the first attack Crawdaunt got in against it, Banette was already starting to float back up off the ground.

"Quick! Follow up with a Bubblebeam!" Crawdaunt quickly pointed its pincers at Banette as the ghost pokemon was rising up off the ground and let loose with a stream of bubbles. The bubbles pounded Banette relentlessly, but hindered it very little.

"Banette, finish Crawdaunt off with a Thunderbolt!" Banette focused electricity while still under a constant barrage from Crawdaunt. Banette quickly fired the bolt of electricity from its body, sending it through the oncoming bubbles to strike Crawdaunt. Although the layer of mud dampened the attack, it was still enough to finish Crawdaunt off. Crawdaunt stopped its attack and collapsed, prompting May to recall it.

_"I'll have to use a Revive on Crawdaunt after this match..."_ May thought. She examined her opponent's Banette and noticed that, after two attacks from Crawdaunt, it seemed to be fairly weak. _"Raikou is only at half strength, but thats better off than Salamence and should be enough to finish Banette..."_

"Ok, Raikou! You can finish this! Go!" May called out, releasing the legendary electric pokemon from its pokeball again. Raikou growled menacingly when it emerged, trying to look intimidating.

"Banette, attack Raikou with a Shadow Ball!" Banette held its arms out towards Raikou began to form a black ball of shadowstuff. Once the attack was fully formed, Banette flung the ball towards Raikou.

"Raikou, dodge it and charge Banette with a Crunch attack!" Raikou swiftly dodged to the side of Banette's attack and charged towards the ghost pokemon at a breakneck pace. Raikou then leapt towards Banette as it closed in, latching onto the ghost pokemon with its powerful jaws and tackling it to the ground. Banette was KO'd almost instantly and recalled by Phoebe.

"Looks like I lost too...but I guess that was to be expected." Phoebe said to May. "There is definitely a strong bond between you and your pokemon. I think you'll definitely walk away from Evergrande City as a champion, May..." With the battle over, Phoebe turned and left the battlefield.

"Phew...you know, if something went wrong there and she beat Raikou I could have lost." May said, breathing a sigh of relief. "Well anyway, thats two down and only two more to go!"

* * *

Author's Notes: At one point I was actually going to have a chapter for each Elite Four and actually have them use their full team. The Elite Four teams tend to be uninteresting, though, because of the repeat pokemon. Using 3 on 3 battles alleviated this though, and with the shorter battles I decided to put two to a chapter. So two chapters and two Elite Four per chapter. Two more chapters left to go now.


	74. Chapter 63: Hoenn League Challenge Pt2

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Sixty Three**

**Hoenn League Challenge Part Two**

Within the Evergrande City stadium, May was making her challenge against Hoenn's Elite Four. With two Elite Four down, May was already halfway through her challenge. Next up she would face Glacia, who had just arrived in the field to face off against May.

"Well congratulations, May, on beating the first two Elite Four." Glacia said as she took her position on the field. "Your feats are already becoming legendary, facing down legendary pokemon on several occassions. I look forward to going all out against you, May."

"Sealeo, you will start this off! Go!"

"Blaziken, this one's all your's! Go!"

Glacia started off with Sealeo, the middle evolutionary phase for the Spheal family and a water and ice type pokemon. Sealeo barked and clapped its flippers together when it appeared, showing off. To combat Glacia's ice pokemon, May chose to lead off with her fire-type Blaziken. Flames briefly erupted from Blaziken's hands as it slammed its fists together, showing off before the battle just as Sealeo was.

"Blaziken, start off with Bulk Up!" Blaziken closed its eyes and focused while flexing its muscles, forcing them to expand slightly and increase its strength.

"Sealo, begin with Hail!" Sealeo clapped its flippers together again before starting its attack. Sealeo then exhaled a cold wind that began to swirl in front of it. The wind began to expand out and snow began to form, creating a swirling hailstorm around the battlefield.

"Blaziken, charge through the snow and attack Sealeo with Brick Break!" Blaziken took off running, charging through the snow and hail to reach its target. Glacia had no intention of sitting around and waiting for it, though.

"Sealeo, slow her Blaziken down with Body Slam!" Sealeo jumped forward as Blaziken was approaching it. Sealeo's attack caught Blaziken off guard and knocked Blaziken off its feet. Blaziken fell to the ground and Sealeo landed on top of it, slamming down on Blaziken with all its weight.

"Blaziken, use Brick Break and knock it off!" Blaziken quickly brought its right fist hard into Sealeo's side, knocking the pokemon off and sending it rolling to the side. With Sealeo off its chest, Blaziken quickly jumped back to its feet.

"Follow it up! Double Kick!" Blaziken jumped towards Sealeo in a single movement while it was still recovering from Blaziken's attack. Blaziken delivered one quick kick, knocking Sealeo on its side again, then followed up with another kick that sent Sealeo rolling into the wall of the stadium. Sealeo crashed into the wall with a dull thud and rolled onto its feet, shaking its head in a daze and looking pretty weak after taking several strong physical attacks from Blaziken.

"Now, finish it with Flamethrower!" Blaziken opened its beak and let loose with a stream of flames, engulfing Sealeo in fire and once again getting Sealeo while it was still recovering. Blaziken kept the attack up for several seconds and when it finally stopped, Sealeo was rendered completely unconcious and covered in scorch marks. Glacia recalled Sealeo to continue the battle with another pokemon.

"I see you're as good as I've heard. Lets see if you can handle this one, then." Glacia released her next pokemon from its pokeball, sending out a blue walrus-like pokemon. It was the evolved form of Sealeo, Walrein, and it was released near the water side of the stadium but still fairly close to Blaziken.

_"She's definitely going to head into the water..."_ May thought. _"I'll keep my distance for now and use Bulk Up again!"_

"Blaziken, move back from Walrein and use Bulk Up again!" Blaziken turned around to face Walrein and walked backwards a few steps to distance itself. Blaziken then focused again while flexing its muscles, expanding them to increase its strength further.

"Walrein, let us end this in one attack! Sheer Cold!" Walrein began emitting a cold chill from its body, lowering the temperature of the air. Soon, ice began to form on Blaziken's body. The fire pokemon hardly seemed worried though, even as the ice completely encased its body. May wasn't worried either and kept a calm composure despite her pokemon seemingly being struck by a one-hit KO technique.

_"She made no attempt to counter my attack..."_ Glacia thought to herself. _"She must be up to something..."_

"Since you're one of the Elite Four, I'm sure you already know that instant knock-out technique fail completely if the target is even slightly stronger than the user." May said to Glacia. "Now I'll show you who's stronger! BLAZIKEN, BRICK BREAK!"

The ice that had formed around Blaziken shattered, sending shards of ice everywhere as Blaziken came charging out towards a startled Walrein. Blaziken delivered a punch straight out of its charge, sending the heavy walrus pokemon flying across the water and into the far wall of the stadium. Walrein bounced off the wall and fell into the water, looking to be unconcious for a moment before its head finally rose above the surface. Walrein looked pretty pissed at this point.

"Even stronger than my Walrein? Amazing...perhaps I should have started with Walrein and denied you the chance to strengthen your Blaziken." Glacia said to May while grinning to herself. "However, now that my Walrein is in the water the advantage is mine. Walrein, take Blaziken down with a Surf attack!"

Walrein raised its body up out of the water and came down with a splash, sending a wall of water rolling towards the edge of the pool. Blaziken braced itself as the water crashed against the edge and came down on top of it. The force of the water knocked Blaziken to the ground and left it completely soaked, but Blaziken wasn't showing any outward signs of fatigue when it jumped back to its feet.

"Blaziken, get back from the edge of the water and power up again with Bulk Up!" Blaziken hopped back several feet from the water and flexed its muscles. Its body bulged noticably, further increasing Blaziken's already incredible physical strength. Blaziken was out of range of further Surf attacks from the water now as well, putting Glacia into what May thought was a tricky position.

"Walrein, start up a storm with Hail!" Walrein exhaled a blast of cold air that began swirling around the field. The cold air soon began to form ice and expanded until the entire battlefield was covered in a swirling hailstorm, pelting Blaziken with hail. Walrein, being an ice pokemon, was completely unharmed by it.

"Now, attack Blaziken with Blizzard!"

"Blaziken, use Flamethrower!"

Walrein opened its mouth again to attack, sending out a blast of cold air mixed with driving snow to assault Blaziken. Walrein's attack was met with, and promptly melted by, Blaziken's Flamethrower attack. The intense flames melted any part of Walrein's attack that would have hit Blaziken, with the rest blowing by it harmlessly.

"Now! Finish it with Brick Break!" Blaziken took off charging through the hailstorm before Walrein could launch another attack. Blaziken jumped into the air and raised its fist back as it prepared to strike.

"Walrein, knock it back with Water Gun!" Walrein spat out a stream of water up at Blaziken, but the attack did little to deter it. Blaziken's fist contacted directly with Walrein's attack and punched through it, falling down towards Walrein to bring its fist into contact with Walrein's face. Walrein let out a shocked cry and was knocked back into the side of the pool and knocked out. Glacia was awestruck for a moment at Blaziken's power before she recalled Walrein.

Blaziken fell into the water after delivering its attack against Walrein. Blaziken winced in pain, but the fire pokemon had no problem stay afloat and quickly swam to the edge of the pool to pull itself out. Blaziken stood up as it got out of the water and shook itself dry. Flames soon erupted from its wrists, signalling the activation of its Blaze ability.

"Your Blaziken alone is proving itself to be a worthy adversary..." Glacia said to May. "At this rate, it may even beat all my pokemon on its own. Despite this, the battle must go on. Glaile, go!" Glacia held up a pokeball and released Glaile out onto the battlefield. The icy pokemon that emerged had the appearance of a hockey mask created from ice.

"Blaziken, lets take this one down quick! Blast it with Flamethrower!" Blaziken opened its mouth and released a blast of flames towards Glaile, who was released close enough to Blaziken for the attack to reach it. The Flamethrower was powered up by Blaziken's Blaze ability, resulting in a wider and more intense blast than the one used against Walrein.

"Glaile, counter with a Light Screen!" Glaile quickly erected a shimmering, yellow barrier around its body. The barrier didn't protect it completely from Blaziken's attack, but it halved its power by blocking out some of the flames.

"A Light Screen, huh? Alright then! Blaziken, smash it with a Brick Break!" Blaziken raised its fist back and charged towards Glaile, moving in for the finishing blow.

_"The hail is slowly wearing Blaziken down, if I can slow Blaziken down with an Ice Beam it might be enough for the hail to finish it off before Blaziken can reach Glaile."_ Glacia thought before issuing her next command. "Glaile, slow it down with Ice Beam!"

A blue glow began to form at the tip of Glaile's horns. A beam fired out on an angle from each tip then combined to fire off at Blaziken as a single Ice Beam attack. The attack managed to strike Blaziken square in the chest, briefly coating it with ice. The attack barely slowed Blaziken down at all, however.

Blaziken finally reached Glaile and struck out at it, striking the black diamond between its eyes. The yellow barrier of its Light Screen flashed with the impact and subsequently shattered and vanished. Glaile took the full impact from the attack and was sent crashing into the wall behind Glacia.

Glaile was instantly knocked out by the attack, forcing Glacia to admit defeat and recall her pokemon. After delivering the final blow, Blaziken collapsed to its knees and fell unconcious as well as the remainder of its strength was sapped by trying to endure the dying moments of the hailstorm. May also ended up recalling her fallen pokemon, but by then it didn't matter. She still had two pokemon left, and Glacia had none.

"Your Blaziken is truly a powerful pokemon, May, and the perfect pokemon for combatting my own icy pokemon..." Glacia said to May, then chuckled to herself. "Of course, you already knew that I'm sure. Your strong bond and fiery spirit easily overcame my techniques. Congratulations and good luck in your upcoming battles."

Glacia turned and left the battlefield, leaving May to make her preparations for the next battle. However, this time, May didn't have any preparations to make.

_"Blaziken won't be able to fight Drake's dragon-type pokemon very well, so I'll put off using a Revive for now."_ May thought to herself.

_"You know, for being some of the strongest trainers around, they certainly aren't putting up much of a fight."_ Haruka noted.

_"Well, after all the training I went through and the battles at the Devon Grand Prix, they kind of have a tough act to follow..."_ May admitted with a slight shrug. _"Still though...its hard to believe how far I've come. I mean, look at me! I'm just breezing through the Elite Four like they're nothing!"_

"To beat three Elite Four in such a short time, you must be quite the trainer." Drake, the dragon trainer and final member of the Elite Four, stated as he approached the battlefield. He already had a pokeball in hand to start the match. "However, unless you know what it truly takes to be a great pokemon trainer, you will not be able to overcome the power of my dragon pokemon..."

"So you're the last trainer I have to fight before facing the champion?" May replied, reaching for a pokeball as well. "But you've seen me battle, and you know what my pokemon are capable of! You should already know if I have what it takes!"

"We will find out soon enough." Drake stated calmly. "Flygon!" Drake held up the pokeball he was carrying and released his pokemon, sending out Flygon onto the battlefield. The dragon pokemon emerged from its pokeball standing tall before its trainer. Drake's Flygon appeared to be almost a foot taller than May's own Flygon.

"Tropius, go!" May released the grass pokemon Tropius from its pokeball to lead off the battle. The grass pokemon stretched its wings as it appeared, preparing itself for its first battle since May's attempts to catch Raikou. Despite the lack of recent battle experience, Tropius looked stronger than ever and was more than ready to put all its effort into the battle.

"Flygon, begin with Flamethrower!"

"Tropius, block it with Gust!"

Flygon flapped its wings and flew towards Tropius, closing in on it until Tropius was in range of its Flamethrower attack. Flygon breathed out a stream of fire at Tropius, but by then Tropius was already flapping its wings hard. The strong wings were enough to stop the Flamethrower dead in its tracks, forcing Flygon to stop or risk burning itself as its own attack was blown back.

"Now, Tropius! Use Steel Wing!" Tropius flapped its wings to fly up and propel itself towards Flygon. Its right pair of wings then began to take on a metallic appearance. Tropius flew by Flygon with the dragon pokemon passing on its right, allowing Tropius to strike Flygon with its wings as it flew by. Flygon grunted and moved down slightly but remained hovering without hitting the ground.

"Flygon, strike back with Dragonbreath!"

"Tropius, drop down and use Leech Seed!"

Flygon quickly turned around and fired a stream of blue flames at Tropius, but Tropius easily evaded the attack by suddenly dropping to the ground. It then turned its neck towards Flygon and spat up a seed, managing to land it on Flygon's tail. The seed quickly sprouted vines and latched on to begin draining away Flygon's health.

"Now, Tropius! Use Sunny Day!" Tropius spread its wings and an energy began to flow through its body. An orange ball of energy then shot up from its back and burst over the pokemon's heads, creating an intense sunlight.

_"With that sunlight, using Flamethrower to be rid of the Leech Seed would be too risky."_ Drake thought. _"I will simply have to go on the offensive, and with Sunny Day in effect it will hurt her Tropius immensely."_

"Flygon, attack Tropius with another Flamethrower attack!" Flygon opened its mouth and breathed out a more intense blast of flames at Tropius. Tropius cried out in pain as the intense flames seared its body, leaving it pretty badly charred once Flygon had finished its attack.

"Tropius, use Synthesis!" Tropius quickly gathered sunlight through its wings, gathering a large amount in a short time thanks to Sunny Day. It was able to use the sunlight to restore itself to full strength again.

_"She has me at quite the disadvantage it seems."_ Drake thought. _"Perhaps I should switch, but would Salamence really fair much better? Kingdra most certainly wouldn't. I'd best try to delay Tropius until Sunny Day wears off..."_

"Flygon, use Dig!" Flygon flew up then took a sharp dive towards the ground while spinning, drilling deep into the ground to stall for time.

_"He's definitely only trying to buy time, he'd know Tropius can just fly up to avoid the attack." _May thought to herself. _"But it won't...one more Solar Beam should end this. I just need to time this right..."_ May focused her gaze on the ground and pictured Flygon's movement in her mind, predicting its path to know when to attack.

"Tropius, now! Aim Solar Beam at the ground!" Tropius' leafy wings glowed briefly as it absorbed energy to attack. It then opened its mouth and fired a beam formed from the absorbed sunlight straight at the ground.

The ground burst open under Tropius feet and Flygon's head emerged just in time to take a direct hit from Solar Beam. The beam blasted Flygon back into the hole and, due to the confined space, the energy from the attack was cracking the ground and blasting out the hole. The opening of the hole became widened and the ground shook and cracked until the energy was finally used up.

Flygon seemed to have survived the attack at first as it emerged from the hole, climbing out on its hands and knees. One Flygon was out of the hole, however, it collapsed out of exhaustion. Tropius grinned to itself, having taken down the dragon pokemon with still plenty of fight left in it. The sunlight finally faded as well, but too late for it to be of any help to Flygon.

"We gave it our best..." Drake stated quietly as he recalled Flygon. "Salamence, continue where Flygon left off!" Drake called out as he held up another pokeball and released Salamence out onto the battlefield. Tropius wasn't at all shaken by the appearance of the intimidating dragon, however May didn't intend to let Tropius fight it anyway.

"Tropius, good job! Return for now!" May called Tropius back to its pokeball, then took out another pokeball to switch pokemon. "Ok, Salamence! You can handle this one! Go!" May released her own Salamence from her pokeball. The dragon pokemon emerged from its pokeball and grinned when she saw what seemed to be a worthy opponent. Drake's Salamence narrowed its eyes at her.

"Salamence, start off by using Fly!" At Drake's command, his Salamence began flapping its wings and took off straight up into the air.

_"What will he try from up there?"_ May wondered. _"Is he just going to attack or does he have a plan? If he's going to try to dive and attack, I'll be ready for him..."_

"Now! Dive and use Dragon Claw!" Drake's Salamence stopped in the air long enough to focus power into its claws. It then dove towards May's Salamence, claws outstretched and held back to strike out of its dive.

"Salamence, counter with an Iron Tail attack!" May's Salamence prepared to counter its opponent's attack, tensing its muscles to strike quickly while its tail gained a metallic appearance to it. May's Salamence quickly brought its tail around to intercept its opponent's attack, Iron Tail briefly coliding with Dragon Claw. Drake's Salamence was forced to back off from the impact and jumped back several feet while May's Salamence turned to face it again.

"Salamence, use Dragonbreath!" Both trainers called out their attacks almost simultaneously, and the two Salamence responded by breathing out a fiery, draconic breath at each other. The flames met in the middle and neither dragon gained any ground as the two attacks began to push against each other. Drake's Salamence eventually started to lose steam, though, and its opponent's breath attack began to push past it.

"Salamence, stop and duck!" Drake's Salamence stopped its attack and ducked in time to avoid the incoming flames. "Now, keep low and strike with Dragon Claw!" Drake's Salamence continued low to the ground and dashed towards May's Salamence. May's Salamence stopped its Dragonbreath in surprise of the maneuver, just before being raked across the chest by its opponent's Dragon Claw attack.

"Salamence, strike back with Crunch!" May's Salamence quickly recovered from the attack and bent its neck down, opening its mouth and snapping its jaw tightly around its opponent's neck. Drake's Salamence roared in pain as its opponent's powerful jaws crunched down on its neck, leaving it with little room to maneuver without hurting itself.

"Shake it off with a Dragon Claw attack!" Drake's Salamence raised its right foreleg to make a quick strike at Salamence. Though its attack was hindered by the jaws clamped down on its neck, it still managed to land a good hit at the base of its opponent's neck. The attack caused May's Salamence to grunt in pain and release its grip on Drake's Salamence.

"Salamence, quick! Use Dragonbreath!" May's Salamence quickly retaliated before Drake's Salamence could distance itself and fired a stream of blue flames down at it. Drake's Salamence growled in pain as the flames surrounded its head briefly and quickly backed off to avoid the rest of the attack. Both pokemon were starting to look fairly exhausted now as they stared each other down.

_"If Salamence can land a good strike with Dragon Claw, maybe it'll be enough to finish this..."_ May thought to herself. "Salamence, use Dragon Claw!"

"Salamence, counter with your own Dragon Claw and finish this!" Drake called out to his own pokemon. Both Salamence raised their claws back and lunged at each other to strike. The right forelimb of May's Salamence met the left forelimb of Drake's Salamence and the two continued to push hard while staring each other down, neither pokemon willing to concede an inch to its opponent.

"Salamence, now! Attack with your other...foot!"

"Salamence, block it!"

May's Salamence raised its remaining clawed forelimb to attack Drake's Salamence, but this attack was also met with an opposing Dragon Claw attack. Both pokemon were pushing against each other with their forelimbs while standing on their hind legs, putting all their strength into their attacks to try to gain the upperhand. At this point, with both pokemon standing on their hind legs, it would be all over if one of them fell.

"I'm afraid this is where this battle ends." Drake stated quietly. "Salamence, now! Use Flamethrower!" Drake's Salamence opened its mouth and spewed out a stream of flames into the face of May's Salamence. Though the fire caused little damage, it distracted May's Salamence and it was starting to lose ground to Drake's Salamence. However, May didn't appear to be at all worried about it.

"You're right Drake, this is where it ends!" May replied enthusiastically. "Salamence, now! Hydro Pump!"

The flames surrounding Salamence's head quickly gave way to a blast of steam as May's Salamence fired out a powerful stream of water, quickly pushing back the Flamethrower and putting an incredible pressure on its opponent's head. Drake's Salamence snapped back from the strength of the pressure, which was enough for it to lose its focus. Drake's Salamence was quickly knocked onto its back by May's Salamence, stunning it briefly and leaving it vulnerable.

"Now! Finish it with Dragon Claw!" May's Salamence quickly raised its claws and brought them down onto its opponent's stomach. Drake's Salamence bellowed loudly in pain and then fell silent, its head falling back against the ground as it fell unconcious.

_"A Salamence that can use Hydro Pump...rare indeed..."_ Drake noted as he recalled his fallen Salamence. _"But to think she would not only beat me, the dragon master, not only using a dragon pokemon of her own but the very same pokemon? I am beginning to see how she made it this far..."_

"So then, it comes down to this. My final pokemon against three of your's. Outnumbered, but the battle is not over until my final pokemon falls." Drake took his last pokemon in hand and released his next pokemon out into the pool. "Kingdra!" The dragon pokemon, Kingdra, materialzed in the water as Drake called out its name.

"Salamence, thats enough for now! Return!" May recalled Salamence as Drake's Kingdra appeared on the field, choosing to use her third pokemon against Drake's final pokemon. She clipped the Master Ball containing Salamence to her belt, then took another pokeball in hand to release her next pokemon.

"Raikou, your turn now! Go!" Raikou emerged from its pokeball as May held out out in front of her, standing ready for the upcoming battle.

_"So now I too will once again face the power of a legendary pokemon..."_ Drake thought, recalling his Salamence's defeat at Groudon's hands. _"I lost to Groudon then, but from the previous battles with the other Elite Four I can tell Raikou is not as frighteningly powerful. It is still a strong pokemon, but even so, May will have to work for her victory..."_

"Raikou, start off with Calm Mind!"

"Kingdra, Dragon Dance!"

Both pokemon started off by increasing their power. Raikou closed its eyes and concentrated to raise the power of its special attacks while also increasing its defense against such attacks. Kingdra, meanwhile, became surrounded in a fiery aura as it called upon draconic energies to increase its attack power and speed.

_"Looks like his Kingdra will be using power and speed to try to win."_ May thought. _"Luckily, I can defend myself against both!"_

"Raikou, slow Kingdra down with a Thunder Wave attack!"

"Kingdra, dive to avoid it!"

Raikou quickly fired a pulse of electricity at Kingdra, but the dragon pokemon was already under the surface of the water by the time Raikou's attack reached it. The electricity was too weak to have any effect once it hit the water and dispersed without even so much as a shock to Kingdra.

"Well in that case, we'll try the direct approach! Raikou, use Thunder on the water!" Raikou growled and raised its head, calling out to the sky with a loud roar. A bolt of electricity suddenly shot down from the air, striking the pool where Raikou had last seen Kingdra go under. The lightning bolt struck the water with a strong enough blast that the electricity reached Kingdra, shocking it enough to force it back to the surface.

"Kingdra, use Double-Team! Then dive and use Dragon Dance until you're at full power!" Kingdra focused for a moment to split into several fake copies of itself. Kingdra, along with the fakes, then all dove down into the water.

_"Attacking is pointless now..."_ May thought to herself. _"By the time I find the right spot to hit, Kingdra will be too powerful. My best bet for now is to keep using Calm Mind again. I don't really like that strategy but its the best chance I've got..."_

"Raikou, use Calm Mind and don't stop until I tell you to!" Raikou closed its eyes and focused again, concentrating to increase the power of its electric attacks. Meanwhile, under the water, Kingdra was using its Dragon Dance technique to increase its own power as well. Both pokemon were biding their time while increasing their strength.

_"I won't go to full strength."_ May thought. _"I'll attack early with a strong enough Thunder to force Kingdra up, then I'll need to hope Raikou can hang on to finish Kingdra off. I think I know a way I can pull this off though..."_

May waited a few moments while Rakou powered up. In her mind, she was trying to determine the best time to launch her attack. May counted off enough time in her mind for Raikou to have effectively used a technique three times in a row before she decided that was enough.

"Raikou, now! Use Thunder on the water!" Raikou let out roar, calling down another lightning bolt out of the sky. The lightning bolt struck the pool in the middle of where Kingdra and its copies were. The bolt of electricity was strong enough to reach Kingdra with a powerful charge, forcing it back to the surface.

"A futile effort. Kingdra, finish Raikou with Double Edge!"

"Raikou, quick! Use Reflect and follow up with Thunderbolt!"

Kingdra moved towards the edge of the water in the blink of an eye, its speed enhanced by Dragon Dance. A blue barrier began to form around Raikou as Kingdra jumped from the water. Raikou just barely completed the barrier in time, softening Kingdra's attack as it threw its body into Raikou. It was a powerful blow that sent Raikou rolling back across the ground, but also knocking Kingdra to the ground from the recoil.

After enduring Kingdra's attack, Raikou ignored its own pain to quickly flip back onto its feet while sparks began to move about its body. The sparks gathered together and fired off towards Kingdra in a pair of powerful lightning bolts. Kingdra could hardly move to avoid them and cried out in pain as the attacks struck it and electricity flowed through its body. The attack was short lived, but when it was over Kingdra's body was left lying limp and scorched.

"So even my Kingdra falls..." Drake stated quietly, recalling his Kingdra. With the battle finally over, Raikou collapsed onto its side and rested its body. Enduring Kingdra's Double Edge took a lot out of it, even with Reflect.

"Well congratulations, May, you have managed to defeat me." Drake said to her. "However...having come this far, do you realize yet what it takes to become a pokemon champion?"

"Of course! I've known all along!" May replied confidently. "It takes a strong bond between trainer to become the champion!"

"Good enough answer..." Drake chuckled to himself and pulled his hat down slightly. "Yes, what a trainer needs is a strong and virtuous heart. May, I believe you have what it takes to go far. Even the Elite Four prove to be little challenge to you now. I am finished here. You have but one more battle ahead..." Drake turned around sharply, tossing his coat behind him and walking away from the battlefield.

_"Right...one more battle left now..."_ May thought. _"Now that I've beat the Elite Four, all that remains...is the champion..."_

* * *

Author's Notes: Well thats another two Elite Four down for May. That leaves only one chapter remaining, so look for the closing chapter next week as well as something completely new (which I'll mention in the end notes for next week's chapter). Other than that, not much else to say here. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	75. Chapter 64: Battle With The Champion

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own pokemon and am in no way affiliated with Nintendo or Gamefreak, or other companies that write or produce pokemon. Now that that legal stuff is out of the way, on to the story!**

**Pokemon Emerald**

**Chapter Sixty Four**

**Battle With The Champion**

Wallace, champion of the Elite Four, walked through the corridor leading out onto the battlefield. May could already see him approaching from where she was standing, and Wallace was clapping his hands together as he entered the field.

"Congratulations, May, on your victory over the Elite Four." Wallace said to her, ceasing his applause. "You have come far. Now only I, Wallace, stand before you as your final opponent."

"Wallace, I didn't come this far just to lose either!" May declared to Wallace. "I plan to walk away from here as the true champion!"

"Very well then..." Wallace removed a pokeball from his belt. "Let the final battle of your Hoenn League challenge commence..."

"Right! Heracross, go!" May called out her first pokemon, sending the powerful bug pokemon Heracross out onto the battlefield.

"I believe my pokemon requires no introduction..." Wallace stated with a slight smile crossing his lips. He held up his pokeball and released his pokemon out into the pool. The energy released from the pokeball began to expand, growing to an enormous size before finally materializing into a Wailord. The large water pokemon was almost half the size of the pool in both length and width, leaving it very little room to maneuver.

_"What the heck is that thing?!"_ Haruka asked May in shock. _"Its even bigger than Kyogre!"_

_"A pokemon that big could only be a Wailord!"_ May thought in disbelief. _"I can't believe Wallance would use such a big pokemon, but size isn't everything! Heracross can take it!"_

"Heracross, attack with Brick Break!"

"Wailord, knock it back with Water Spout!"

Heracross charged towards the edge of the pool and jumped into the air to clear the water, raising its fist back to attack Wailord from the air. Wailord intercepted it with its Water Spout attack, sending a pillar of water up at Heracross from its blowhole. The water pushed Heracross high up into the air and sent it back towards the ground. Heracross managed to maneuver itself in the air to land on its feet, lessening the impact. It was still a strong blow, however.

_"Ok...looks like that approach won't work."_ May thought to herself. _"So maybe if Heracross goes at it from the side..."_

"Heracross, use Focus Punch and come at it from the side!" Heracross raised its fist back, focusing its power for the attack. Once it was ready and assured Wailord couldn't counter before Heracross stuck, Heracross took off towards the pool and jumped into Wailord's side. Heracross delivered its Focus Punch attack, striking Wailord with enough force to move it over a few feet in the water. Heracross then kicked off from Wailord's side to land on the edge of the pool, looking triumphant.

"Wailord, roll and use Water Spout." Wailord rolled over on its side, aiming its blowhole at Heracross and firing another pillar of water at Heracross. The attack was a bit weaker this time but still had enough power to send Heracross sliding across the field. Heracross slowly got back to its feet, already starting to feel a bit exhausted from Wailord's Water Spout attacks.

_"That Water Spout really packs a punch..."_ May thought. _"I'll need to be more careful in attacking Wailord. Attacking from above didn't work, and the side wasn't much better. This would be easier if I could get Wailord out of the water...but can I?"_ May paused for a moment to think about it. _"Well...its worth a shot!"_

"Heracross, grab it by the tail!" Heracross nodded and ran along the side of the pool. Wailord tried to follow as Heracross went for its tail, but Heracross was able to run faster than Wailord could swim. Heracross reached out and grabbed Wailord's massive tail in its claw-tipped hands, then held on tight to keep Wailord from moving.

"Now, Seismic Toss!" Heracross blinked slightly and cast May a look of disbelief. "I know you can do it, Heracross! Put all your strength into it and throw Wailord out of the water!" Heracross nodded and started pulling at Wailord's tail, making a seemingly feeble attempt to throw it but not really achieving anything.

_"I could stop this easily..."_ Wallace thought while observing Heracross' attempts. _"However, it'll certainly be interesting to see whether or not she can pull it off. May, show me the power your pokemon possess! Show me the strength that overcame the titan of the sea!"_

Heracross stopped pulling for a moment and took several deep breaths. She happened to glance down at her belt and recalled the match she won against another trainer's Hariyama to receive it.

Remembering her battles, Heracross pulled with a renewed strength. Wailord's body began to lift out of the water, to the whale pokemon's utter shock. The small crowd gathered to watch the battle let out a surprised gasp as well. Heracross pulled Wailord over her shoulder by its tail, lifting it up and slamming its body into the ground hard. The stadium shook with the impact and Wailord groaned loudly in pain.

"-I...did it...-" Heracross mumbled while trying to catch her breath. The attack took a lot of effort out of her, but it also caused a lot of pain to Wailord as well. The whale pokemon was practically crushed under its own weight upon impact and was barely conscious.

_"Well, well, well...she actually did it!"_ Wallace thought, smiling to himself. _"There's not a doubt in my mind now who will win this battle..."_

"Just one more attack, Heracross! Brick Break!"

"Wailord, it is time to strike back! Double Edge!"

Both pokemon were moving sluggishly as they prepared to attack. Heracross stepped towards Wailord, raising her fist back to strike. Wailord could move very little, however, except for rolling. It was forced to do exactly that to attack, slowly rolling towards Heracross. Heracross delivered a punch as Wailord was rolling, stopping Wailord briefly with the attack while Wailord was on its side. Gravity soon took over again though and pulled Wailord down on top of Heracross, knocking both pokemon out.

"An impressive showing, even if it ended in a draw." Wallace said to May as they recalled their pokemon. "Your Heracross is quite the fighter..."

"We're just getting started!" May replied while quickly drawing another pokeball. "Crawdaunt, your turn now! Go!" May released Crawdaunt from its pokeball, sending it out onto the ground portion of the battlefield.

"An interesting choice..." Wallace noted as he prepared to send out his next pokemon as well. "My next pokemon shall be...Tentacruel! Go!" Wallace sent out Tentacruel next, a large jellyfish pokemon with a sharp beak. Like May, Wallace also released his pokemon on the ground instead of in the water. Tentacruel lifted itself up on its tentacles, using them like legs.

"Tentacruel, begin with a Toxic attack!" Tentacruel thrust its body forward while opening its beak, spraying out a purple glob of poison at Crawdaunt.

"Crawdaunt, block it with Protect!" Crawdaunt quickly raised one of its pincers defensively, forming a blue barrier around itself. The poisonous substance splattered onto the barrier and then dropped onto the ground.

"Tentacruel, now! Wrap it!" Tentacruel jumped towards Crawdaunt to attack. Though Crawdaunt still had its barrier up it was starting to fade and by the time Tentacruel reached it, Crawdaunt was wide open to attack. Tentacruel wrapped its tentacles around Crawdaunt and started to squeeze tightly. Tentacruel's many tentacles almost completely covered Crawdaunt.

_"Crawdaunt can't really attack while being constricted like that..."_ May thought, noting that Crawdaunt's pincers were being held firmly at its side. _"It could probably still use Bubblebeam or something, but I think I might be better off trying to take the time to power up a bit. Wallace will probably back off too, giving me the chance to attack."_

"Crawdaunt, power up with Swords Dance!" A blue aura began to surround Crawdaunt, but it was hard to see past Tentacruel's tentacles. Crawdaunt used its technique to increase its attack power even while still being squeezed by Tentacruel.

_"Hmm...staying on might be too risky with Crawdaunt getting stronger..."_ Wallace thought. "Ok, Tentacruel. Use Toxic again then let go!"

Tentacruel opened its beak and removed enough of its tentacles to get in a clear shot on Crawdaunt, then spat out a purple blob of poison. The poison landed on Crawdaunt's face and began to seep into its body, inflicting it with a powerful poison. Tentacruel then let go of Crawdaunt completely and jumped back away from it.

"Crawdaunt, quick! Use Vice Grip and toss it!" Crawdaunt quickly lashed out at Tentacruel and managed to grab one of Tentacruel's tentacles in its pincers. Crawdaunt held tightly and pulled Tentacruel over its head, slamming it into the ground behind Crawdaunt.

"Now use Hyper Beam!" Crawdaunt brought both its pincers together as it turned to face Tentacruel, preparing to fire off its most powerful attack at only a few feet away.

"Tentacruel, weaken the attack with Barrier!" Tentacruel quickly formed a blue barrier around its body in an effort to block the attack, just barely getting it up before Crawdaunt fired off its Hyper Beam. Tentacruel was swept up by the beam, but held firm to its position by latching its tentacles to the ground. Courtesy of the barrier, Tentacruel was able to get back up again after enduring the attack. It was a bit shaky on its tentacles from the punishment it had endured, however.

"Tentacruel, attack with Sludge Bomb while Crawdaunt is resting." Tentacruel opened its mouth and raised its head back while building up the poison inside its body. Tentacruel then lurched forward and spat out a ball of sludge. The sludge hit Crawdaunt head on while it was resting to regain energy from using Hyper Beam, then exploded and splattered all over its body. The sludge burned Crawdaunt briefly before falling to the ground.

"Good, now Wrap it from behind!" Trying to get in one more attack on Crawdaunt and pin it down, Wallace ordered Tentacruel to use Wrap again. Tentacruel began maneuvering behind Crawdaunt to get in the attack, but Crawdaunt was far from helpless by then.

"Crawdaunt, Protect!" Crawdaunt quickly held out its pincers and formed a bubble around itself just as Tentacruel lunged from behind. Tentacruel bounced off the barrier and nearly fell at Crawdaunt's feet.

"Now, finish it with Vice Grip!" Crawdaunt quickly dropped its barrier and reached out towards Tentacruel with one of its pincers. Crawdaunt opened its pincer and clamped down, gripping directly onto the top of its head and crushing down on it. Crawdaunt's attack quickly knocked Tentacruel out. The unconcious pokemon slumped to the ground in a heap.

"Well played..." Wallace commented, recalling his Tentacruel. "Gyarados, go!" Without a moment's pause, Wallace took out another pokeball and released his next pokemon. He sent out the serpentile pokemon into the pool near Crawdaunt, where it would be ready for a direct confrontation.

_"Crawdaunt's not going to last much longer out there..."_ May thought, noticing how exhausted Crawdaunt seemed to be. _"With that poison, Crawdaunt will only have enough strength for one more attack. I have to make this count!"_

"Crawdaunt, one more attack! Hyper Beam!"

"Gyarados, counter with Hyper Beam!"

Crawdaunt raised its claws and Gyarados opened its mouth, each pokemon bringing their respective methods of attack to bear. They both fired out a blast of energy at each other, their attacks coliding half-way. Crawdaunt's more powerful Hyper Beam easily pushed back against Gyarados', but not without some of the energy being expended as it blasted through.

Crawdaunt's weakened Hyper Beam eventually blasted Gyarados in the face, sending it stumbling backwards and collapsing into the pool. Crawdaunt collapsed soon after as the poison from Tentacruel finally brought it down. Gyarados slowly rose back up from the pool, but Crawdaunt was down for the count. May recalled Crawdaunt and wasted no time in sending out another pokemon, aiming to take advantage of Gyarados while she could.

"Salamence, you can take this one! Go!" May released Salamence from its pokeball, sending it out near Gyarados to take advantage of it. Gyarados still had to rest from using Hyper Beam.

"Salamence, attack Gyarados with Dragon Claw!" Salamence flapped its wings and flew up to attack Gyarados, raking its claws along the side of Gyarados' head. Gyarados growled in pain and reared back from the attack. Salamence stopped in the air and flapped its wings to hover, turning around to look down at Gyarados in anticipation of its next attack.

"Gyarados, thats enough for now. Return!" Gyarados slowly dematerialzed as Wallace recalled it back into its pokeball. _"At this point, Gyarados might not last long enough to use Dragon Dance. I'd best put it off for now..."_

"Whiscash, it is time to turn the tide! Go!" Wallace's next pokemon soon emerged from its pokeball, and a catfish-like pokemon materialized in the pool where Gyarados had been previously.

"Whishcash, start off with Amnesia!" Whiscash thought for a moment then seemed to have a dumbfounded look on its face as it forgot something, using up a small portion of its memory to increase its resistance to special attacks.

_"Not like I can't attack from the physical side..."_ May thought. "Salamence, use Headbutt!"

Salamence flew down the battlefield, then came back around skimming across the water. It lowered its head to the water and rammed Whiscash, tossing the fish pokemon back in the water. Salamence then pulled up and turned back around while hovering in the air, again waiting for futher commands.

"Whiscash, commence using Curse!" A dark, crimson aura surrounded Whiscash. Using dark energies, Whiscash began trading off speed in exchange for increased physical power and endurance. Whiscash continued to use the attack, becoming stronger with each passing moment.

"Curse...Amnesia...this is the same strategy Melany kept using with the Regis!" May thought, frowning slightly. "Well as long as he doesn't have a healing technique like Rest, I can take him. I'll have Salamence use Focus Energy first, just to be sure..."

"Salamence, use Focus Energy!" Salamence closed its eyes and focused, creating a soft aura around it as it concentrated its energy. By doing this, Salamence would gain insight into striking its opponent's weakpoints.

"Now, attack with Dragonbreath!" Salamence's eyes snapped open and it unleashed a blast of its draconic breath, sending a stream of blue flames at Whiscash. Salamence managed to get a good hit, striking Whiscash in the face and hitting its whiskers in particular. Whiscash let out a gurgled growl and staggered back, but was quickly stopped in its tracks by paralysis. May's Salamence had gotten lucky twice with just one attack.

"Whiscash, take a break and use Rest!" May's eyes went wide with shock even as Wallace called out the attack. Whiscash closed its eyes and fell asleep, fully restoring its health and even freeing it from paralysis in an instant.

_"His Whiscash does know Rest! I need to hit it with everything I've got!"_ May thought quickly. "Salamence, attack with Dragon Claw!"

"Whiscash, feel free to Snore!"

Salamence quickly dove down to attack, its claws glowing with a draconic power as it raised them to strike. Salamence raked its claws across Whiscash's back, but before the dragon pokemon could pull up it was blasted by a powerful sound wave and tossed to the ground. While asleep, Whiscash let out a loud Snore that was strong enough to actually inflict damage on Salamence.

"Not good! It can attack me while asleep!" May's mind was racing. Unlike with her battle against Melany, she didn't have the option of striking a weaker defense with a surprise attack. She needed to come up with a plan, and fast.

"Ok...think...I need some way to keep it from attacking, and get some good attacks against it. If I could keep it from using Rest too..." May quickly glanced from Salamence to Whiscash, then sudden;y got an idea.

"Salamence, Crunch! Then Fly up with it!" Salamence nodded and quickly darted towards Whiscash, clamping its jaws tightly around the fish pokemon. Salamence then started flapping its wings rapidly, struggling with the extra weight for a moment before taking off straight up into the air.

"Whiscash, Snore again!"

"Salamence, quick! Throw it upwards!"

Thanks to Whiscash's slow reflexes, Salamence had time to stop and throw Whiscash straight upwards to avoid the attack. Whiscash let out another Snore in an attempt to attack Salamence while sleeping, but by then it was too far above Salamence for its attack to reach. Whiscash finally woke up at that point and began to plummet.

"Now! Hit it up higher with Iron Tail!" Salamence's tail began to form a metallic layer around it while Whiscash came down towards it. Like a baseball player, Salamence spun around and swung its tail up into the falling Whiscash. While the attack had very little effect on Whiscash itself, the force of the attack sent Whiscash even further up in the air than when Salamence threw it up. Whiscash was knocked clear out of the stadium.

_"She has me at a clear disadvantage now..."_ Wallace thought to himself, smirking lightly. _"To be expected, I suppose. But with one attack..."_

"Whiscash, strike back with Hyper Beam!" Whiscash maneuvered itself to aim downwards, then fired a powerful Hyper Beam attack down at Salamence. Prior to firing the attack, Whiscash was about to start falling again. However, the force from firing it kept Whiscash hanging in the air very briefly.

"Salamence, dodge it and strike from below with Hydro Pump!" Salamence quickly rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding being KO'd by the beam. Salamence then flew up towards Whiscash and opened its mouth to blast Whiscash from below with a steady stream of water. The Hydro Pump pushed Whiscash up higher and kept it suspended in the air while Salamence continued to close in.

"Now! Strike it down with Iron Tail!" Salamence stopped its attack and flew to the side while powering up its tail for an Iron Tail attack. Whiscash began to plummet again, and Salamence followed its movements to time its attack. As Whiscash fell past Salamence, Salamence's tail came down to hit it from above. Whiscash was sent rocketing downward even faster and continued to pick up speed as it fell.

_"Need to make sure I finish this so Whiscash can't heal..."_ May thought. "Salamence, follow it down and hit it one more time with Dragon Claw!" Salamence folded its wings back and took off diving down towards Whiscash, catching up with it just before striking the ground. Salamence delivered one final slash from its claws then pulled up to avoid hitting the ground with Whiscash.

Whiscash struck the ground with an incredible force, sending a shockwave throughout the stadium. The shockwave was nearly as strong as when Heracross threw Wailord into the ground. The ground cracked open and created a crater at the point of impact, sending up a cloud of dust around Whiscash. When the dust finally settled, Whiscash was lying unconcious in the crater. Wallace sighed and recalled his pokemon.

"Your pokemon truly are powerful, May. I felt for sure I had you that time." Wallace stated regretfully. "However, I am not finished yet...Gyarados!" Wallace held up a pokeball, releasing Gyarados out into the water side of the battlefield again. Gyarados eyed Salamence, still remembering their previous encounter.

"Salamence, good job! You can rest for now!" May called out, then recalled Salamence into its pokeball. She placed the pokeball on her belt and then took a different one in hand to send out her next pokemon.

"Tropius, you can take this one on! Go!" The pokeball in May's hand opened up, releasing Tropius out onto the battlefield. Tropius spread its wings and flapped them once, readying itself for battle.

"Gyarados, begin with Dragon Dance!" A flaming aura surrounded Gyarados as it called out its draconic power, increasing its strength and speed.

"Tropius, use Leech Seed!" Tropius opened its mouth and launched a seed at Gyarados. With Gyarados busy using Dragon Dance, the seed landed on the front of the pokemon's body without any trouble.

_"Leech Seed will limit Gyarados' time somewhat."_ Wallace thought to himself. _"However, Gyarados is a tough pokemon. Even if May attacks, I'll still have time to use Dragon Dance one more time and then retalliate and defeat her Tropius."_

"Gyarados, continue using Dragon Dance." Gyarados didn't move from its position and maintained its technique. The flaming aura continued to surround it. Even with Leech Seed draining its strength, Gyarados continued to power up unhindered.

"Still powering up? Well in that case, we'll do the same!" May called out to Wallace, throwing out her arm for dramatic effect. "Tropius, use Sunny Day!"

An orange glow flowed around Tropius, giving off quite a bit of heat before forming into a ball of energy between its wings. Tropius flapped its wings upwards, sending the ball into the sky above the stadium. The ball exploded and spread out over the stadium, increasing the sun's energy radiating down on the two pokemon below.

"That is enough of that now, Gyarados!" Wallace called out to his pokemon. The glow around Gyarados faded, then Gyarados waited for further commands. "Gyarados, attack Tropius with Return!" Gyarados quickly launched itself out of the water and floated low over the ground as if levitating, quickly approaching Tropius.

"We're ready for it! Tropius, use Synthesis!" Tropius braced itself for the incoming attack while drawing in sunlight for its Synthesis technique. Tropius had barely begun the technique when Gyarados began to attack, flipping around to make several repeated strikes with its tail. After knocking Tropius back and forth with its tail, Gyarados lunged forward to finish the attack with a quick bite on Tropius neck.

Shortly after enduring the beating, Tropius had finally gathered enough energy to restore itself. The energy Tropius had gathered from the sunlight spread throughout its body, restoring it to full strength and allowing it to endure another round of attacks from Gyarados if necessary.

_"Gyarados is steadily weakening, I should take care to make sure I at least defeat her Tropius."_ Wallace thought. "Time is of the essence! Gyarados, end this with Hyper Beam!"

Gyarados quickly let go of Tropius and raised its head up over the grass pokemon. Gyarados opened its mouth and fired down upon Tropius with its Hyper Beam attack. Tropius cried out as it was blasted and fell over onto its side. Gyarados continued to blast Tropius with the attack until it was out of energy and needed to rest to recharge.

Tropius began to rise to its feet once the attack was over, much to the dismay of Wallace. Tropius was looking very exhausted and its body was covered in scorch marks from the blast, but it still had the will to fight. Gyarados was also looking pretty exhausted by this time, the continuous drain from Leech Seed was wearing it down.

"Tropius, finish it off with Magical Leaf!" Tropius flapped its broad, leafy wings and set loose several sharp leaves. The leaves immediatled homed in on Gyarados and slashed along the sides of its body. Gyarados roared in pain and collapsed at Tropius feet, leaving it unconcious.

_"That didn't quite go as planned..."_ Wallace thought, recalling his Gyarados. _"To survive such a powerful Hyper Beam under those conditions...her Tropius can certainly take it."_

Wallace reached down to his belt and took another pokeball in hand. "Ludicolo, I believe you are up next!" Wallace announced as he held up the pokeball and released his next pokemon. The water and grass type Ludicolo appeared near Wallace on the battlefield, and it had a notably more serious expression than May's usually did.

_"Tropius won't be able to take much more..."_ May thought. _"Good thing Sunny Day is in effect, Tropius will be able to act first and restore itself with Synthesis."_ May wasted no time in taking advantage of Sunny Day and called out her command. "Tropius, use Synthesis!"

Tropius spread its wings and began absorbing energy from the enhanced sunlight, using the energy to completely restore its strength. Within a matter of seconds, Tropius went from barely on its feet to as good as new. It was as if the battle with Gyarados had never happened.

_"Hmm...I suppose the first order of business will be a change of weather..."_ Wallace thought. "Ludicolo, let the rain commence! Rain Dance!"

Ludicolo began dancing and spinning around on the battlefield. In response to Ludicolo's dancing, the increased sunlight began to fade and clouds began to gather overhead. The clouds soon darkened and a torrential rain began to fall down to the battlefield. The rain provided Ludicolo with the benefit that the sunlight had been giving Tropius, increased speed.

_"Even with that in effect, does his Ludicolo even know an attack thats effective against Tropius?"_ May wondered. She debated with herself for a moment about whether or not to continue to battle with Tropius. Realizing the weather change would allow Raikou to more accurately strike with Thunder, she decided it would be best to switch.

"Tropius, you can rest for now! Return!" May recalled Tropius then switched its pokeball in her hand for another from her belt. May held up the new pokeball and pressed the button to release her next pokemon. "Raikou, you can take this one on! Go!" The pokeball opened up and released the legendary pokemon Raikou onto the battlefield.

"So now I, too, get to meet the legendary Raikou." Wallace said, nodding solemnly to himself. "As a trainer of water pokemon, faced with a legendary pokemon of thunder, it would seem the odds are highly against me. However..." Wallace looked across the battlefield at May with a slight smile. "I wouldn't be the Champion of the Elite Four if I simply surrendered. Even with only two pokemon remaining, I will do my best to put up a strong offensive against your Raikou!"

"Well I don't plan to hold back just because the odds are in my favor either! Raikou and I are going to hit you with everything we've got!" May called back. Raikou nodded its head in agreement.

"Very well. Let the battle commance!" With a wide gesture of his arm, Wallace prepared to make the first move. "Ludicolo, Leech Seed!" Ludicolo quickly leaned over and forcefully fired off a seed from the top of its 'hat', aiming the attack at Raikou from a long distance.

"Raikou, intercept it with Thunder!" Raikou focused on its power over electricity to gather a static charge in the clouds, then called it down in a bolt of lightning. Raikou was able to exert an amazing amount of control over it, curving the bolt to zap the incoming seed and then continue on to blast Ludicolo. Ludicolo let out a startled cry as the bolt struck it and electricity coursed through its body, but Ludicolo was able to take the attack fairly easily due to being part grass type and having a strong resistance to special attacks.

"Hmm...Leech Seed didn't work." Wallace noted. In his mind he quickly went over his options. "Ludicolo, use Surf!" Water rose up from the ground under Ludicolo, raising Ludicolo up then starting to move forward like a wave. The water quickly traversed the battlefield, moving rapidly towards Raikou.

"Raikou, attack with Thunder again!" With only seconds before impact, Raikou called down a bolt of lightning from the clouds. The bolt struck Ludicolo, shocking it with a powerful jolt of electricity and knocking it off the wave. The water continued to move on without Ludicolo and eventually crashed down on top of Raikou. Raikou staggered and was briefly knocked over, but quickly jumped back to its feet.

"Ludicolo, use Giga Drain and absorb energy from Raikou!"

"Raikou, strike first with Quick Attack!"

Ludicolo pointed its hands at Raikou in preparation before its attack, but Raikou was gone in a flash of movement. Ludicolo didn't have time to lock on with its attack, and didn't have time to brace itself either before Raikou tackled it at full speed. Ludicolo staggered back, swinging its arms wildly to maintain balance, but it was only a light hit.

Before the next commands could be issued, the rain stopped and the clouds dispersed. May took this into consideration when choosing her attack. "Raikou, bring Ludicolo down with Spark!" Raikou's body sparked with electricity and it tackled Ludicolo again. Raikou brought Ludicolo to the ground this time and stood over it while the electricity around Raikou's body shocked Ludicolo.

"Ludicolo, now's our chance! Giga Drain!" Ludicolo focused and began draining Raikou's energy, the direct contact between them making the process much easier. The sparks around Raikou's body died down as well, relieving Ludicolo of the damage they were causing.

"Raikou, lets finish this with the same method! Thunderbolt!" Raikou's body sparked with electricity again, charging for its Thunderbolt attack. Raikou forced the electricity straight out of its body and into Ludicolo, blasting Ludicolo directly with the attack just like Ludicolo was doing with its Giga Drain attack.

The two pokemon continued their attacks for several tense moments until Ludicolo began to lose focus. Its hold on its Giga Drain technique began to fade, and soon it lost conciousness completely. Raikou let up on the attack and stepped off Ludicolo's body, allowing Wallace to recall his pokemon. The power struggle between the two put far more strain on Ludicolo, and Raikou emerged victorious as a result.

"It has come to this then." Wallace took a pokeball from his belt and held it up for everyone to see. "As my old teacher once taught me, one should save the greatest performance for last!" Wallace pressed the button on the pokeball, opening it and releasing a red pulse towards the pool. The pulse took the form of a beautiful, serpentine water pokemon.

_"That pokemon...its a Milotic!"_ May realized, and suddenly it dawned on her just who Wallace's teacher was. _"Juan trains water pokemon, and he also used a Milotic last. Juan must have been Wallace's trainer!"_

"Milotic, begin with a Toxic attack!" Milotic reared her head back, then lunged forward to spit out a purple blob of poison at Raikou.

"Raikou, quick! Dodge it with a Quick Attack!" In a flash of movement, Raikou bolted off to the side and easily evaded Milotic's Toxic attack.

_"Ok, this is his last pokemon. I don't want to take any unecessary risks, having come this far."_ May thought, carefully planning out her first attack against Milotic. "Raikou, paralyze Milotic with Thunder Wave!" Raikou charged up electricity in its body then fired it a static pulse at Milotic. The static electricity went through Milotic's body without causing any harm to it, but the attack instantly inflicted it with paralysis.

"Now follow it up with Thunderbolt!" Raikou quickly gathered electricity in its body again, then fired off a powerful bolt of lightning at Milotic. May couldn't see the smirk on Wallace's face as Raikou attacked. He had been waiting for this.

"Milotic, bounce it back with Mirror Coat!" A reflective barrier formed around Milotic's body just before Raikou's attack struck it. The lightning bolt wasn't hindered at all by this, passing through and striking Milotic. Milotic cried out in a melodic tone as the electricity coursed through its body.

Both May and Raikou realized what was about to happen next. While Milotic was still under attack, a blast of lightning shot back at Raikou. The lightning bolt was far stronger than Raikou's own attack and struck it with twice the power it had against Milotic. Raikou roared in agony then collapsed on its side. The powered up bolt was more than Raikou could take.

May recalled Raikou after it fainted and thought over the situation. _"Ok, so his Milotic has Mirror Coat just like Juan's did. Looks pretty tough too, it took Raikou's Thunderbolt fairly easily."_ May blinked in disbelief. _"Wait a minute, how was it able to shrug off that hit?! Its a water pokemon and Raikou's Thunderbolt is strong enough as it is!"_

"Its too bad you tried to use Thunder Wave first..." Wallace said to May, as if he knew what she was thinking. "If you didn't, your Raikou would have at least scored a decent hit. Though I will still likely lose, Raikou's defeat at the hands of a water pokemon is certainly noteworthy..."

_"So...because I used Thunder Wave first, it was able to shrug off Raikou's Thunderbolt?"_ May thought this over for a moment. _"Milotic must have a special ability that raises its defenses when its paralyzed then..."_

"Alright then, lets see what else this Milotic can do..." May quickly took Salamence's Master Ball from her belt and held it up to release her pokemon. "Salamence, go!" Salamence emerged from the Master Ball, materializing on the battlefield before May and a good distance from Milotic.

"Salamence, use Dragon Claw and give it everything you've got!" Salamence flapped its wings and took off flying towards Milotic. Milotic made a vain attempt to escape, but it was moving far too slowly due to paralysis. Salamence reached out with its claws as it flew over Milotic and raked across the top of its head. Milotic dropped down slightly and winced as Salamence's claws struck it.

"Milotic, bring Salamence down with Ice Beam!" Milotic looked up at the retreating Salamence and fired out a blue beam. The beam quickly struck Salamence from behind and formed a thin coat of ice on the back of Salamence's body. Salamence cried out in pain and was sent crashing into the ground, shattering the ice on impact. For a moment, it looked like Salamence was out cold already, but it slowly began to rise back onto its feet. It still had a bit of fight left in it.

"Now, finish this with another Ice Beam!"

"Salamence, use Protect then fly up!"

Salamence quickly formed a barrier around itself, blocking another Ice Beam attack from Milotic. Ice formed on the barrier, but fell to the ground and shattered when Salamence dismissed it to fly straight up into the air. It was slow to take off, though, as it was still recovering from the previous Ice Beam.

"Milotic, using Twister should end this now!" Milotic focused and, through a draconic power, formed a violet twister around Salamence. The twister pulled Salamence out of the sky and sent it crashing to the ground, this time knocking it out for good. May hesitated for a moment out of shock before recalling Salamence.

_"It knows Ice Beam...the only pokemon I have left is...Tropius..."_ May felt her confidence starting to drain away. One wrong move and Tropius would be taken out by an Ice Beam from Milotic, and she didn't use a Revive on Blaziken because she didn't think it would be able to fight Wallace's pokemon. _"I...I don't think I can win..."_

_"Now what kind of an attitude is that?"_ Haruka's voice said to her in her mind. Haruka had been keeping quiet to let May battle, but she now felt the need to speak up. _"You only have one pokemon left, sure, but so does he. This battle isn't over until one of them falls in battle. If you go in thinking you've already lost, then you WILL lose! His pokemon might be tough, but its no Kyogre. Now the same trainer who not only beat Kyogre, but beat it while fully powered, is afraid of a less powerful water pokemon thats already at a disadvantage?"_

_"N-no way!"_ May replied quickly, shaking her head. She took Tropius' pokeball in hand and gritted her teeth in determination. _"There's no way I'm going to give up that easily!"_

_"Thats the spirit! Now get in there and do Hoenn proud!"_ May nodded in agreement. She held up the pokeball in her hand and released Tropius from its pokeball.

"My Blaziken is still fainted after the battle with Glacia, so its only my Tropius against your Milotic now!" May called out to Wallace. "Even if your Milotic knows Ice Beam, we're ready for you now!"

"Even after losing two of your strongest pokemon, you remain undeterred.." Wallace chuckled to himself and clasped his hands together. "Lets waste no more time then! This will be the deciding match, so show me your best!"

"You bet we will!" May called back. "Tropius, start off by using Leech Seed!" Tropius opened its mouth and spat out a seed at Milotic. Again, the paralyzed pokemon was moving far too slowly to evade the attack. The seed landed just below Milotic's head and latched on, then began to drain away Milotic's energy and feed it indirectly to Tropius.

"Milotic, Ice Beam will work on this one too! Fire away!" Milotic opened her mouth and fired off an Ice Beam attack, but this time May was more than ready for it.

"Tropius, block it with Steel Wing!" Tropius folded its wings over the front of its body like a shield while they began to gain a metallic coating around them. Milotic's Ice Beam struck Tropius head on, but its steel-coated wings took the attack, and left Tropius almost completely unharmed. What little damage it caused was quickly restored by the energy drained from Milotic.

"Now! Magical Leaf!" Tropius' wings reverted to normal and spread out quickly, firing out several sharp leaves. The leaves all homed in on Milotic and flew into it unerringly, slashing across Milotic's body. Milotic's Marvel Scale ability reduced the effectiveness of the attack, but Milotic was starting to look pretty weak by now from the punishment it had taken.

"Milotic, now you must use Recover!" Milotic's body shimmered as healing energies flowed through its body, restoring it almost fully.

_"Even with the type advantage, Tropius can't get much damage on Milotic because of that special ability."_ May thought to herself. _"But while Milotic is busy using Recover, we'll gain the upperhand!"_

"Tropius, now's our chance! Use Sunny Day!" A warm, glowing energy began to gather within Tropius body. Tropius formed this energy into a sphere and tossed its head back, throwing the sphere into the air. The sphere exploded and spread out over the field, creating an effect that enhanced the sun's rays.

_"This gives it quite an advantage..."_ Wallace thought to himself. _"However, she is not likely to use a technique like Solar Beam now. Not unless she knows she can win in one attack, knowing Mirror Coat will likely take out Tropius in return. We shall go on the offensive instead."_

"Milotic, attack with Ice Beam again!" Milotic opened its mouth and fired another beam. This time, the Ice Beam struck Tropius directly and ice briefly formed on its body. The ice shattered, leaving Tropius incredibly weakened and almost falling over. Tropius managed to catch itself, however, and obviously still had a fair bit of fight left in it.

"Tropius, use Synthesis to recover! Then follow it up with Growth!" Tropius spread its wings and gathered sunlight into its body, then used the energy it gathered to restore its strength completely. It then focused briefly, and its wings and body seemed to grow ever so slightly to increase its special attack power.

_"Hmm...perhaps it will be in my best interest to cancel her sunshine afterall..."_ Wallace thought. "Milotic, time for a new forecast! Rain Dance!" Milotic raised her body out of the water slightly and began to wriggle in a sort of dance. Clouds began to form overhead, blocking out the sun and causing a downpour.

"Tropius, keep it up! Use Growth again!" Tropius focused again, causing another almost unnoticable growth in its wings and body. May thought for a moment, taking into account Milotic's Mirror Coat and how strong Tropius' attack would likely be, and decided now was a good time to attack.

"Now, Tropius! Attack with Magical Leaf!" Tropius flapped its broad, leafy wings and sent out a barrage of sharp leaves. There were even more leaves this time, courtesy of Growth. Milotic cried out in pain as the leaves once again slashed across its body. As May had anticipated, Wallace didn't try to retalliate with Mirror Coat.

"That was a strong attack...but even if I used Mirror Coat, Tropius would have endured it and ended the match with another attack." Wallace thought. He was right, of course, as Tropius was at full strength after Synthesis and was a durable pokemon to begin with."Milotic, Recover again!" Milotic's body shimmered with a healing energy again, restoring it almost to full strength.

"Use Sunny Day while its recovering!" Tropius gathered energy for Sunny Day again and quickly released it up into the sky. The energy quickly expanded over the battlefield, increasing the heat and energy reaching the field from the sun.

"Milotic, use Ice Beam again!" Milotic opened her mouth to use Ice Beam, but winced and recoiled as paralysis gripped its body. After having gotten through the rest of the battle without becoming fully paralyzed, Milotic found itself unable to move at a crucial moment.

"Good! Now finish it off with Solar Beam!" Tropius quickly gathered energy from the sun. Tropius then opened its mouth and focused the gathered energy there before firing it in a beam towards Milotic. The beam expanded as it moved away from Tropius and was wide enough that every visible inch of Milotic was blasted by the energy. The beam exploded in a flash of light as it struck Milotic. Milotic collapsed backwards into the water and was knocked unconcious by the attack. Wallace recalled Milotic and, with his final pokemon defeated, the match was over.

"Well, congratulations May! You've won the match, and that means you are now the true champion of Hoenn!" Wallace began applauding May's performance, and the small crowd gathered joined in. May turned to the crowd and took a bow. Wallace addressed her again when everyone was done applauding her.

"May, with your victory here, there is only one more thing for us to do. Please come with me..." Wallace turned around and motioned for May to follow him as he left the field. May ran across the field to catch up with him. Wallace lead May through the corridor, past various offices and other rooms, until finally reaching the end of the corridor.

Wallace opened the door and stepped through, leading May into the darkened room. On the far end of the room was a large screen, and under the screen was a podium with room for six pokeballs.The other members of the Elite Four were in there as well, standing next to the podium. Once she was in the room, Wallace stepped off to the side.

"May, this room is where we honour trainers such as yourself. Trainers who overcome the odds to defeat not only the Elite Four, but the champion as well. Not only the trainer, but their pokemon as well are recorded here for all eternity in the Hall of Champions." Wallace gestured out towards the podium. "May, place your pokemon's pokeballs on the podium so you and your pokemon can be recorded."

May stepped forward towards the podium and placed each of her pokeballs into a slot on the top of it. The screen above turned on and showed each of her pokemon one by one, registering the six pokemon she used to defeat the Elite Four. May looked up at the screen and watched her pokemon appear one after the other.

_"There's someone missing..."_ May thought, though each of her pokemon were being registered.

_"Who might that be?"_ Haruka asked her curiously. _"You only have six pokemon..."_

_"You, of course."_ May replied. _"You were there to spur me on when I was starting to lose confidence, and if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have been able to use Raikou. Haruka, thank you..."_

* * *

When May finally left the stadium, everyone was outside waiting for her. She was congratulated by her friends and family, and then returned home with her parents. Within only a few hours, her parents had a party going and all of Littleroot was celebrating her victory against the Elite Four. Everyone who was able to make it on such a short notice was there, including Wally and Brendan of course.

"Swampert, attack his Gardevoir with Mud Shot!"

"Gardevoir, block it with a Psychic attack!"

Brendan and Wally started battling soon after the party began, with the winner getting the honour of battling May. May was sitting off to the side at one of the tables they had set up, watching the battle with mild interest.

"Well now what?" May wondered aloud to herself. "I've actually managed to beat the Elite Four...but where do I go from here?" May didn't at all notice another girl who had managed to sneak up from behind her.

"I might be able to help you with that..." May quickly turned around, recognizing the voice and looked slightly annoyed when she faced Melany.

"Melany...you didn't show up to watch my battles but you'll show up here?" May asked her in an annoyed tone.

"I already knew how they'd end anyway..." Melany replied with a slight shrug. "Anyway...I just came by to drop off this..." Melany held out an envelope to her. May hesitated for a moment before taking it from her. She opened the envelope and found a picture of a four-legged pokemon with brown fur and a white mane billowing along its back.

"Entei..." May murmured in shock. She recognized the pokemon almost immediately.

"That picture was taken by an amateur photographer near Celadon City in Kanto. I thought it might interest you..." Melany said to her. "Anyway, I just dropped by to deliver that. I want to be out of here before a certain co-ordinator notices me..."

_"So Entei is in Kanto..."_ Haruka noted thoughtfully. _"Raikou was in Hoenn as well, maybe ths is some kind of test..."_

_"A test? What kind of test?"_ May wondered.

_"You will find out soon enough, I'm sure."_ Haruka replied. _"By the way, wasn't there something you wanted to say to Melany?"_ May blinked, snapping out of her thoughts and finally noticing Melany was leaving.

"Melany, wait! I..." May hesitated for a moment and looked off to the side. "I was..." May swallowed hard and managed to work up the courage to say what was on her mind. "I was hoping to talk to you again...about that whole Alex thing..."

"May, you don't need to worry about that right now." Melany said, interrupting her. "We can talk about that anytime, you should just relax and enjoy your party..."

"I guess you're right..." May sighed. She still wasn't entirely sure what to think of the whole situation and she had put it aside while she went on to battle the Elite Four.

"Tropius, your turn now! Go!" May looked to where Brendan and Wally were battling. Brendan had just recalled his pokemon and was now sending out his Tropius. Seeing Brendan's Tropius reminded May of her own Tropius, as well as her promise.

"Melany, I..." By the time May turned around again, Melany was long gone. May let out a sigh. "Typical...its no wonder I never caught on..." May took Tropius pokeball from her belt and left the party to find a secluded area. When she was sure no one would see her, she released Tropius from its pokeball.

"Well Tropius, you're a lot stronger now, so I guess you'll be wanting to go back to your herd..." Tropius thought for a moment then nodded. "You were already a strong Tropius when I caught you, but you've gotten a lot stronger now. You'll become leader of your herd again for sure!"

May placed Tropius pokeball on the ground and backed away. "I'm not strong enough to do it..." She explained to Tropius. "So you'll have to break the pokeball. Then you'll be free."

Tropius looked down at the pokeball, then looked back at May and shook his head. Tropius gave one strong flap of its wings, creating a gust of wind that sent the pokeball rolling towards May.

"Tropius...? But don't you want to go back?" Tropius nodded its head slightly. "Then why won't you break the pokeball?"

_"Isn't it obvious, May?"_ Haruka said to her. _"Tropius wants to rejoin his herd, but he still wants to be your pokemon as well."_ May blinked in surprise, then smiled to herself.

"Ok, now I understand...you still want to be my pokemon, right?" Tropius nodded to May. May reached down and picked up Tropius pokeball. "Well, I'm sure I'll be able to work something out then." May looked up at Tropius and smiled again.

"Well, in that case, I'll call on you if I need you. Until then, you should go back to your herd." Tropius smiled and nodded. It flapped its right wing once, as it waving goodbye, then took off into the air. May waved and watched as Tropius flew off into the distance.

"MAY! There you are!" Suzy called out to her. "Brendan and Wally are down to their last pokemon! You're going to miss the match!"

"Sorry! I'll be right there!" May replied apologetically.

"Well whatever you're doing, hurry it up!" Suzy shot back before running off back to the battle.

_"Well I hope this won't take long then..."_ She thought, smiling to herself. _"Afterall, I have to pack up for my trip to Kanto!"_

- End -

* * *

Author's Notes: Just barely over a year old and my monitor dies. If it hadn't, I probably would have had this up yesterday. Anyway...

Well, thats it! Pokemon: Legends in Hoenn is finally over. In her most challenging match against the Elite Four, May's come out as Hoenn's new champion. I'm treating May's status as champion and Wallace's status as champion as being entirely different, mainly because dialogue/post Elite Four events in the newer games seem to suggest the same thing. That is, you've beaten the Elite Four but you're not the new champion of the Elite Four.

Anyway, as many probably realized, there's still a lot of loose ends. They'll all be tied up in another series, the first chapter of which I'm posting today. So look for Pokemon Legends: Kanto Saga. It starts off following another trainer in Kanto on her pokemon journey (no prizes for guessing who), with plots that have been hinted at previously. Much later in that series, it'll cross over with and continue where Pokemon: Legends in Hoenn left off. So look for it!


End file.
